Working from home in 2020, combined with accommodating our kids’ e-learning schedules, required making a few adjustments. Beyond trying to maintain our mental and physical health, one of our biggest challenges resulted from the lack of dedicated workspaces in our homes.
The coziness of your home probably became glaringly apparent the first time you sat down at your kitchen table for a scheduled Zoom call with your boss — with kids making noise in the background, your dog barking his need for a potty break, and your spouse running around trying to keep everyone quiet while putting in their own remote-work hours.
While working at home presented a whole new set of challenges, you’ve adapted to the new pandemic-induced, stay-at-home lifestyle. Now, you probably feel more comfortable and appreciate the flexibility of working from home. No daily commutes. Fewer office interruptions. Shorter online meetings. The list goes on. But, are you prepared to continue teleworking on a long-term basis?
With the working-from-home trend more widely accepted than ever before, many homeowners plan to embrace the post-pandemic world in 2021 by constructing dedicated home-office spaces in existing floor plans, building an addition with better privacy and soundproofing options, or even adding exercise rooms to maintain their physical health.
Surveys say remote work to continue post-pandemic
According to a March 2020 survey from San Diego–based Global Workplace Analytics, a research and consulting firm, 86% of North American workers said they felt highly productive working from home. The survey also showed the three greatest predictors of work-from-home success are: self-discipline, high quality remote collaboration, and well-being.
For 2021, the remote-work trend is expected to continue, with nearly 80% of employers expanding their work-from-home policies, according to a survey from 451 Research, an advisory firm based in New York City.
On the work-from-home preparedness front, a recent Houzz study found 1 in 8 homeowners felt their home lacked a dedicated workspace or exercise area (13% and 12%, respectively). The study also found homeowners were ready to double down this year on creating more efficient office spaces, work nooks, or even a backyard cottage or she-shed to escape to for online meetings, videoconferencing, and more. It sure beats hiding in the bathroom to take an important call.
Desire for home offices and exercise rooms on rise, pre-pandemic
In the most recent consumer preference study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders in 2018, 65% of recent and prospective homebuyers indicated they wanted a dedicated home office. The NAHB study also found 40% of homebuyers wanted a dedicated room for exercise, too.
Rather than continuing to share kitchen table and desk space with everyone in your household, or skip your daily workouts because local gyms remain closed, the NAHB predicts the demand for building home offices and exercise rooms to grow post-pandemic as millions of professionals continue to work from home.
Ready to build a home office or exercise room?
As you struggled to adapt to your new work-at-home environment, thoughts of remodeling to better accommodate your needs likely popped into your head more than once. Building a room addition with two or more separate workspaces, along with a private exercise room to relieve the stress, would solve most of your problems, right?
At Central Construction Group, we specialize in custom-home building and remodeling, so let our 10 years of experience guide you. Contact CCG today at (317) 213-6246, and we’ll help bring your inspirational work-from-home ideas to life.
