The year 2020 will go down in history for many things. One example will be the year that (almost) everyone started working from home. The big question is going to be, how much will this continue? There is a strong argument for the continuation of home-working as a viable option for many employers. We know it suits a reasonable proportion of employees as it saves time and money due to the lack of commuting. It also allows more flexibility for family life and childcare.
History of Home Working
Working from home is very much a modern trend. In the past, certain keen individuals may have taken paperwork home to do a little extra in the evenings, but this was certainly not the norm. Only with the advancement in communication technologies has it become easier to work from home full-time.
The real driver has been the internet, at first, email in the 1990s and then video conferencing later on. Now we have fully integrated work-flow management software that can take care of communications, task assignments, and managing online projects.
Ease of Making Money
In addition to working for an employer from home, there are countless opportunities to work for yourself.
There are the classic types of businesses you can set up from home. One particularly new development is the ability to trade online.
I have been getting to grips with trading in cryptocurrencies over the last year, and it’s been a real winner, with a few mistakes along the way. The key to this type of investment is to learn about how the value of a certain coin rises and falls. Learning how to convert cash into Bitcoin and then Bitcoin to cash is the easy part. Be prepared to make mistakes along the way, and never invest money you cannot afford to lose.
Technology
Technology is always going to be the driving force behind how many of us can work from home, and there are always going to be job roles that could never work remotely. These include roles such as retail worker, cleaner and bar staff. But others could surprisingly work, we have already seen drone pilot emerge as a serious profession, and surgeons now work with the aid of robotics. Could we see a day when your surgeon could operate from their spare room?
Experience
If there is one thing we can take from the harrowing experience that 2020 has been, it must be that we all know a lot more about how remote working operates in practice. Most office workers, and managers, have been pleasantly surprised at how much normal work can be achieved to the same level without visiting the office. We are all now experts in optimizing our homes for remote work, and for some, this has been more of a challenge than for others. But, if we can work this around homeschooling, stress, and lockdowns, then there’s no reason it cannot work under more normal circumstances as well.