We dish out the dirt on the battle of the sexes when it comes to working from home, do women find it easier to leave their desk jobs or are men better suited to a home office?
Women vs. Men
Overall, I believe that women have a tougher time being productive at home than men because of isolation. Social psychology research suggests that women thrive by having a supportive network of other women around, and by establishing meaningful workplace friendships. They are able to make things happen because co-workers like and trust them — and vice versa. The solitary confinement of many work-from-home arrangements can be stifling for some women. A related reason involves emotional cues. Numerous research studies have demonstrated that women are more effective at decoding and responding to nonverbal cues than men, and for this reason, tend to be more effective communicating in person. When nearly all interaction takes place over email, women find it more difficult to decipher and manage challenging work situations and political minefields. The final reason relates to the bigger picture. Women are skilled multi-taskers. Men tend to be linear thinkers, moving directly from one task to the next — so they are less likely to be derailed by personal and professional distractions that pop up at home. In fact, in a recent study conducted by the National Science Foundation, researchers illustrated that women tend to divide their attention more than men and cannot tune out extraneous information as effectively as men can.
Working Mums
This probably won’t surprise you, but it’s even harder for mothers to work from home than at the office. When children see their parents, they want to be with them. And based on my own anecdotal experience, Mum has a tougher time saying no and shutting the door than Dad. I don’t want to give the impression that women cannot be just as efficient and effective working from home as men, because they can and they are. But when people ask me if it’s harder for them, my honest answer is a resounding yes.
How to Troubleshoot
No matter what gender you are, there are things you can do to make working from home less stressful. Combat isolation, for instance, by setting up networking lunches at least once a week. Learn to read your colleagues better by going out of your way to meet each of them in person, and visiting the office as often as you can. Be more mindful of your productivity. Understand how you are spending your work hours and what tends to lead you off task. Applications like RescueTime run in the background of your computer’s operating system and allow you to track exactly what you’re doing, when, and for how long. Learning how to exit phone conversations effectively will also help you be more productive at home. When conversing with a colleague, set an expectation upfront that you have a deadline or meeting or that you only have two minutes to chat. When it’s time, use a concluding statement that is either relevant to your conversation or creates a follow-up commitment: “I’ll send you a meeting request.” This keeps the interaction going without the other person feeling like they’ve been cut off. Finally, if possible, set up your home office on a floor apart from the kitchen, the TV room, and the main thoroughfare of home-bound children — and equip it with collaboration freeware and other tools. Sometimes, small things make a big difference.