Why I love working from home?

For a long time I have aspired to be able to work from home and now I am so glad to have the opportunity to do so. Working from home is such a bliss for me and it's definitely one of the positive outcomes of the current pandemic outbreak.

Here are my top 5 reasons for loving working from home:

1. I have more time in the morning

Mornings used to be such a mad rush for me to get up and catch (often) the first train to London to beat the rush hour and be able to get a seat on the public transport. Instead, now, I spend my mornings pursuing my passion project, working on Gloriously Good, enjoying homemade barista coffee made by my husband and doing things that make me happy. No more running for the train, trekking across London to get to the office without taking the tube to save money, but instead I can wake up when I feel like, without the dreadful sound of the alarm and use the glorious hours of the morning when my mind is crystal clear and full of energy to think, write, create and build this dream business.

Now I can even enjoy a pampering shower or bath in the morning, when I get to exfoliate sing Gloriously Good Body Scrub, which leaves my skin silky smooth due to its Dead Sea Salt content rich in minerals and natural goodness. This is in such a stark contrast to how my mornings used to be before the pandemic, when I would be rushed out of my bed by the alarm and would jump straight in the shower where I would try to wake myself up and get ready in as little time as possible in order to not waste any precious commuting time, as that would mean getting stuck in traffic or missing the train. 

2. I can create a stimulating work place

A few years ago when I realised how much time I spend working and how often I don't feel my best in the process, I started looking for ways to create an inspiring workspace that could boost my mood and improve my productivity while at work. That's how I arrived at the idea of surrounding myself with "happiness artefacts" which I detailed in this article.

I love to adorn my work space with leafy green plants to freshen up the air around me. However, what I love the most is to be able to light candles and create a calm ambiance. Even when I was working in an office I tried to create a spa-like atmosphere at work that could keep me motivated throughout the drudgery of the workday and brought with me to work some vanilla scented battery-powered flickering candles.

Fortunately, now that I work from home, I can burn candles all day in my home office. I try to stay away from candles made with paraffin wax and toxic ingredients, as I don't think it's healthy to inhale those fumes, and instead opt for a Gloriously Good candle made of natural ingredients like soy wax and fragranced with only pure essential oils like Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Rose Geranium, Vetiver and many others.

3. I can have a nutritious home-cooked lunch

Buying lunch every day is expensive, so throughout my working life so far, I had tried to save money by bringing lunch from home. However, I soon realised that eating from Tupperware boxes was not an enjoyable way of nourishing myself and started craving home cooked lunches. 

Thankfully now I can enjoy my home cooked goodness to my heart's desire eaten on normal plates and with stainless steel cutlery and most importantly in the company of my beloved husband, while we indulge in our favourite pastime (playing chess).

I often like to cook my lunch meals from early morning, because as soon as I sit down to work I get swept up in the busyness of the day-to-day work demands and therefore can never find the time or energy to take time out to cook lunch.  

4. I can spend time in my husband's company

Before the working from home guidelines were put in place, I was only spending with my husband about 4 hours a day and 2 days at the weekend. The rest was spent at work in the company of other people.

However now, things have taken a turn for the better and, thankfully, I am no longer obliged to spend more time with my co-workers and work superiors than with the love of my life. I can spend my days with my sweetheart, the one with whom I cherish every moment spent together. Whenever we used to go on holiday, I used to dream of being able to have breakfast together at home before work and now we can even enjoy lunch together. It's so blissful and something I hope we'll be able to continue to enjoy for many more months to come.

5. I can keep on top of my domestic chores

Paradoxically, I've noticed that I've managed to maintain my house clean and tidy ever since I started working form home. From previous experience, I thought that working from home, and implicitly being at home more, would mean that my house is always in a state of being a "living" space, with things piling up in my workspace and the kitchen being always full of things to put away. But, on the contrary, I am proud and pleased to say that I have managed to maintain it spanking clean ever since I started working from home, more clean than before when I used to be out of the house for more than 10 hours a day.

I think this paradox can be explained b the fact that I have had more time and energy to tidy up throughout the day and clean my workspace at the end of each work day. In contrast when I used to work in an office, I would come home exhausted (from the work day and the commute itself) and the first thing I would want to do would be to "cleanse" myself of my work clothes by just taking them out as quickly as possible to get into my comfiest clothes to put the work day behind me, without much energy and enthusiasm to pick them up from the floor and put them away. Fortunately, now I no longer have to experience this feeling. I also manage to use some of my morning time on Fridays to clean up the bathroom, change the bedsheets and vacuum. I love doing this before I sit down for he last work day of the week, it sets me into such a productive state of mind and, most importantly, it gives me the peace of mind, that once the last work day of the week is over, I can just enjoy the weekend, free of domestic chores.