Remote working or working from home: Motivation and procrastination
By Alison
Thorne llb lpc Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Practitioners
Director and
Legal Recruiter LEX Recruitment Ltd www.lexrecruitment.co.uk
I am very lucky to be able to work from
the sanctuary of my own home, avoiding traffic, office politics and the
continual struggle of trying to look vaguely presentable. I established LEX Recruitment in 2007, having
read law at the University of East Anglia and then the Legal Practice Course at
the University of West of England. I
soon married a soldier and children came along which meant that committing to a
training contract was problematical.
When the time to start work again arrived, working from home, placing
lawyers seemed like a sensible option. I
had years of recruitment experience behind me and this was a way of using my
legal training.
However, there are real issues with working from home
alone. Isolation and loneliness can be a
problem and occasionally I can find myself having lengthy conversations with
myself, out loud. Afraid of going too bonkers,
I probably find someone in Tescos to chat to.
Also, I have a tendency to think that housework is far more important
than it actually is. By the time all the
windows are clean I know that I have no other jobs to do and I should really
get the desk work done. I have developed
the art of being constantly busy without actually achieving anything. It would be great to have a boss to give me a
look out of the side of their eye to encourage me to focus and stop messing
about. Otherwise, I am able to carry on
avoiding desk duties indefinitely.
By procrastinating I am preferring to deal with low priorities
rather than high priorities. This
eventually starts to cause me stress and guilt.
However the pressure of the guilt can often mean that once I have turned
the corner and start the work again, I am capable of herculean tasks and I work
efficiently and effectively. It is a
sporadic work method, but as I am a mother with horses, home and family to
manage, it seems to works somehow.
Occasionally I envy the 9-5 work method in the office. It would be lovely to leave the other
responsibilities behind sometimes.
Lawyers are now able to work remotely from home and access
the firms’ case management and databases, as if they were in the office. There are other lawyers who have chosen to
work independently from home. Mark Foley
a Collaborative Family solicitor and founder of Linked Law believes that there are great benefits to
working independently and from home. Overheads
are low, you have the flexibility to work when you want. He is able to work relatively paper free and
visits clients in their own homes which has many benefits. Mark has developed a network of independent
lawyers who are able to cross refer work from each others’ clients http://www.linkedlaw.co.uk/. When I mentioned I was writing this article
he laughed out loud and declined to comment.
This has led me to assume that perhaps we all struggle with home alone
working sometimes.
But it does work; working from home is, in the main, very
successful. I have the flexibility to
work all hours. I regularly work through
the night sorting emails, searching candidates and resourcing for potential
clients. I think that I do miss seeing
people on a daily basis, which is now partially compensated with Linked in and
Facebook. Home alone working requires
discipline and commitment. Pressure and
fear of failure keep me motivated and on track.
