Work Near Home: Exploring an Alternative Flexible Working Style
“Exploring an Alternative Flexible Working Style: Work Near Home” by Reece Samuels from Westminster Business Library
Let’s be honest. London isn’t the cheapest city to live in; most western Cities are quite expensive. Finding a decent place to study or work can really eat into your piggy bank. Earlier this year, I had to juggle between my Part Time Masters and my full-time job—I really struggled to adjust to the idea of working from home. Still, at the same time, I didn’t want to travel across London, especially during the pandemic.
Work Near Home Instead of Work From Home
So, I ditched the whole ‘working from home’ idea and decided to ‘work near home.’
Working from home was once a need, the only option many of us had—considering we were fortunate enough to do our work from home instead of being furloughed. But now we have many other options at our disposal; many employers want to drag the employees back into the office—however, is this the right option? A recent survey published in June has revealed that roughly 1 in 3 workers has suffered a negative impact on their mental health upon their return to the office. But the social isolation we’ve all experienced in some form from ‘working from home’ needs to be avoided.
Engage with Your Community by Working Near Home
‘Working near home’ is the future. In my opinion, it will allow us to be within reaching distance of friends and family. More importantly, it’ll get us to know our community better. Many of us spend most of the hours commuting miles away to get to work. Then, after spending long hours, we go back home, groggily missing the rich community we bypass with each working day. The workspace company, The Instant Group, have said, “Employees could save over £2,200 a year and get back 98 mins a day” if we began to adopt a ‘work near home’ culture. That is money that we could spend in our local coffee shop, instead of a big high street chain. It’s also time to invest in our hobbies—things that we can do within our community.
Some of our community spaces have a lot to offer to our well-being and be places of convenience. As someone that likes to write a bit of poetry in my spare time, it’s nice to work in a community space that is creative, vibrant and engages with me on a personal level, things which the office just usually can’t offer me.
Time to Explore New Ways of ‘Flexible Working’
No one really knows if we are moving into a world without the need for a lockdown. But what I do know is that we must explore all of the options for how we work, why we work, and how long. Long before the pandemic started, the catchphrases ‘flexible working’ & ‘agile working’ often circulated in corporate culture. But perhaps we should give some thought to how we can achieve those goals.
About the Author
Reece Samuels currently manages Westminster Business Library, a brand-new enterprising space offering very affordable coworking spaces & meeting rooms, state of the art book collections, online resources, events and much more. Westminster Business Library was launched with the idea of supporting local startups, SMEs, freelancers and anyone making a change in their professional careers, helping them learn, network and grow within the communities they serve.
Find out more about Westminster Business Library here.
