Remote workers struggle most to switch off from work

According to a Remote.co survey of 200 full-time remote workers, unplugging after work hours (40 percent) is the biggest challenge remote workers face in their working lives. The survey, conducted in September and October of this year, claims that other challenges for people who work away from their firm’s  main office for a significant proportion of their time include dealing with non-work distractions (32 percent), developing strong relationships with co-workers (25 percent), loneliness (23 percent), troubleshooting technology problems (21 percent), and working across different time zones (19 percent).

“One of the biggest misconceptions about remote workers is that they’re not actually working, or that they’re less productive than their in-office counterparts,” said Sara Sutton, founder/CEO of Remote.co. “As multiple studies confirm, though, such workers tend to not only be more productive, but also happier and more engaged at their jobs. Disconnecting from work when you have a home office can be difficult, though. Managers of remote workers need to really encourage their teams to develop healthy boundaries between home and office — and model that behaviour for them as well,” Sutton concluded.

Additional findings from the survey include:

About full-time remote work:

• The remote work lifestyle is extremely important to remote workers:
  • 83 percent say they couldn’t imagine returning to an on-site office.
  • 16 percent say that the remote work lifestyle is somewhat important to them.
  • Only 1 percent say it would not be a big deal to give it up.
• Only 5 percent worry a lot that working remotely will negatively impact their career progression.
• While 43 percent report that they feel a lot of people work remotely, 51 percent say they think very few do it.

On the job as full-time remote workers:

• 94 percent of remote workers work primarily from their home offices (vs co-working spaces, libraries, or coffee shops).
• 46 percent never have to travel for work-related events, 32 percent travel 1-2 times a year, 13 percent travel 3-4 times a year, and 9 percent travel 5 times or more each year.
• 59 percent say working from home is very or somewhat conducive to developing meaningful relationships with co-workers.
• 13 percent of full-time remote workers plan to take more than four weeks of vacation this year.