With remote work, small amounts of time add up to large chunks of time.
I had always heard that time savings with remote work was one of the biggest bonuses you could get. After working remotely for about a month, here are my initial thoughts on the time savings that comes with remote work.
Commute Time Savings
Admittedly- my commute has not been horrible for most of my work life. My previous worksite was about 4 miles from my house which translates to about 10-15 minutes in the morning if no traffic and 20-30 minutes in the afternoon with traffic.
In total, I would usually leave my home about 30 minutes before my start time to allow me to get to the office on time- maybe even 5 minutes early- a habit I have always liked to have. The evening commute was roughly the same. Given traffic at that time of day, and the routine of closing up the office, it was easily about 30 minutes as well.
Overall, I estimate I have gained about 1 hour in my day. That’s 5 hours per week, and about 20 hours per month. 20 HOURS PER MONTH and 240 HOURS PER YEAR. Translated to days, that is 10 days per year that I am not sitting in my car. Definitely and advantage to remote work.
Office Distractions:
My previous office was not very chatty. Most of us would hunker down and do our jobs, reaching out usually if we needed something, occasional small talk, or to see if someone wanted to take a break and go for a walk. I honestly liked the office chatter overall, and it was one thing I thought I would miss not being there.
However, I have noticed that I am able to focus a bit better in my home back office. I keep track of the tasks at hand better. And overall seem to be able to maintain focus longer. Will have to see how this looks in the longer term.
Time with kids:
In the past, I was usually out of the house before my spouse and the kids would get up for school. I didn’t see them in the morning, and usually wouldn’t see them until about dinner time.
However, now I can wake my son up to get to the bus and give him a hug before he leaves. I can do the same for my daughter who has a later start time than him. In the afternoon, I usually greet my son when he gets home from the bus, and we chat about his day for 10-15 minutes.
I suppose overall this is about 45 minutes per day more time with them than before. In a week, that’s about 225 minutes or 3.75 hours. In a month that is 15 more hours of interaction PER MONTH and 180 hours PER YEAR with my kids that I wouldn’t have before.
Slivers of time that add up to a lot of time over a month, and certainly a lot over the rest of their childhood, and truly an advantage of remote work.
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