This would be funny if it weren’t serious. People the world over are actually reluctant to stay at home as many authorities are advising in the ongoing efforts to contain the coronavirus. I think the reluctance is down to the fact that many of us live hand-to-mouth with no savings to fall back on in times like these. The hustle for daily bread is real and you need to go out there every day or there might not be food on the table at the end of the day. But there’s also the fact that in our part of the world, we’re just not equipped to work from home. Society has conditioned us to believe that one must leave in the morning and only return in the evening to be seen to be working and many employers have the same mentality. They want to “see” you at the office and wouldn’t entertain any suggestion of you working remotely because how would they then boss you around? Generally speaking, millennials and women are more likely to be the ones comfortable with the idea of working from home: Millennials because of the Gig Economy, and women because traditional roles have long dictated that women stay at home to take care of the family. But women are also known to be quite the multi-taskers, ingenious as well as entrepreneurial, so there have always been housewives and stay-at-home moms with a garden at the back and a small kiosk—selling everything from vegetables, fruits, eggs and chicken to baskets, jewellery, embroidery and other crafts that they somehow find the time to make, on top of all the housekeeping and childminding. For the typical nine-to five worker though, working from home can be a challenge. So many distractions and interruptions you wouldn’t have to deal with at the office. The neighbours dropping by unannounced, the kids who’re now home too since school is closed, so you have to be really disciplined to get anything done. There’s also the fact that many of us live in modest homes, inherited, built, rented or otherwise, so there’s not a lot of room to set up a proper home office. It’s different for the Beyoncés, Oprahs and Beckhams of this world who have extensive mansions. Someone can be home and you wouldn’t even know it because there’re probably on a separate floor and with 10 or so rooms compared to the three-bedroom house your average person is lucky to have, they probably need to call someone upstairs to come down while the rest of us just yell for whatever we need from the person in the next room! That said, working from has its advantages. No boss breathing down your neck for that report or annoying co-workers to deal with. Plus, you get to save on transport, lunch and similar expenses so if you have the tools and your job allows it, then go for it.
