WORKING REMOTELY: WAY BEFORE 2020

Content Creator, the name itself sounds like the most boring job. A bubble where it is you, google and your laptop. For me, at GM, it has been a completely different story. I am Sakina Nayani working remotely since 2018.

When nobody offered work from home, GM did. He believes in a team who can own the brand and be the support behind it. Credentials matter more than demographics. He wanted to shift the paradigm and skip the whole corporate environment; we were different even before the pandemic happened. We are always connected during office hours and we keep communication professional. With the creative job descriptions that we all have in the team by working from home we all get plenty of personal space which helps us in producing top notch deliverables for the company.

However, all this comfort comes at a cost for sure. To keep the team spirits up, we regroup at the end of the week to talk, discuss and chill. That is how we function. Working remotely can easily make you lethargic and tardy. It can cause delays in making deadlines and severely affect your motivation. But let’s see if the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros

1. Save, save and save

Unlike every other employee, half of my salary is NOT spent on commute and lunches. My only commute is from my bed to my workspace which I have designed with plants, a Netflix screen, and my To-do board soft. My lunches are homemade, and I can manage my caffeine intake by switching between green tea and coffee! The money that I save is spent in treating myself over the weekend with exotic meals and getaways.

2. Casual Fridays all week

All I do is put on a super cute scarf for meetings while I am in my pyjamas. I don’t have to press my clothes or plan my outfits every day. I only think about where to get more comfortable pyjamas from.

3. Unscheduled breaks

GM really does not have to know all the time if I am sitting with my face in my laptop or not. If I get drained and can not work any further; I nap, eat, chill or watch something to recharge. I also do yoga or go on walks to refresh my mind.

4. Save more than a day in commute

The no commute rule has benefitted me beyond my imagination. I save so much time that I have started my side hustle of teaching. I save at least 32 hours each month by not commuting to any office or by getting stuck in traffic. Not haggling with Uber and public transport, the amount of energy and brainpower I save is what gave me the motivation to do MORE.

Cons

1. Discipline

The toughest thing to deal with when you are working remotely is your self discipline. It takes a while to get the hang of it but by the end of my first month I realised how to strictly discipline myself. I scold myself when I procrastinate during work hours and delay my work because there is nobody sitting in the next room worrying if I am working or not.

2. Clients want you 24/7

Since I do not go to an office, in the minds of my clients I am always available. They automatically assumed that I would respond to their emails and calls whenever they reached out to me. I had to create boundaries and explain it to them politely that just because I am working remotely does not mean I do not have a life outside of work.

3. Lack of Inspiration

I change and redecorate my workspace almost every 15 days. But still sometimes, without meeting any people or working from home gets me really off my game. Sometimes out of desperation, I go out just to do some errands which could have easily been postponed or ignored completely. But seeing new faces on the roads is also a blessing on somedays.

4. No water cooler gossip

Staying at home, I only get family gossip??? And yes, that is interesting but there is a limit to how many stories I can hear about cousins my age having kids. I would like some juicy gossip about who is kissing GM’s ass every now and then. It would lift my spirits a little.

The cons are sometimes too much to deal with, but I still do not think I would ever give up my space and go work in a cubicle with a hundred people dancing on my head. I am happy, a little distressed at times but at the end of the day always happy with my chill Netflix and work routine.