What’s harder: working from the office or working from home?

Our reader poll today asks: What’s harder: working from the office or working from home?

• Office: lots of distractions. I focus better at home and doing things on my own. 41.4%
• Home: lots of distractions and temptations. I need the structure and social aspects of an office. 58.6%

Working from home is hard. Many of you reported being challenged working from home. It seems like a great opportunity until you actually try it. Distractions, lack of structure, and lack of coworker contact are all huge challenges. Having worked from home for 15+ years, I’d suggest a few things. 1. Set and maintain a schedule. Hit your desk at the same time every day. Finish work at the same time. 2. Manage family expectations. Tell them if your door is closed, you’re not there or available. 3. Have a hard break away from work at the end of the day to signal you’re “home” again. Work out. Take a walk. Make it a consistent routine. 4. Make time to socialize. Call or video chat with at least two coworkers per day. Carve out the time to do it. 10 to 15 minutes is all it takes. The more structure and routine you can build around working from home, the easier it is to avoid temptations and deal with distractions.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.