#WFH!

Have you noticed the acronym WFH cropping up everywhere recently? Or maybe the hashtag #WFH on social media? It’s been trending like crazy on LinkedIn, which is hardly surprising given that anyone who can is now Working From Home.

For obvious reasons, home working has become a big topic of conversation right now. We reckon there are three categories of people out there who are currently WFH. There are those who already work from home, either some or all of the time. For these people, they are set up with everything they need and are used to the joys and challenges of working away from a traditional office environment. There are those who have always thought about working from home, but have never had the opportunity to do so. These people will hopefully be enjoying their new working arrangements. And there will be those who cannot contemplate that home is a place where work can be done, and will find the upheaval somewhat distressing.

You can form your own views about which category a lot of lawyers might fall into! Though we suspect there may be a differing view across generations and levels of seniority.

Many of the lawyers at nexa law work from home some or all of the time. We’ve got lawyers with a variety of different working arrangements from the simple kitchen table set up to those with full office suites built in their gardens or garages. The most common arrangement is somewhere in between, with many having a dedicated home office set up in a spare room. For nexa law, #WFH is the rule and not the exception! Our lawyers know a thing or two about home working, and now much of the population will be learning about it too. We think that working from home has some great advantages…

WFH means no more commute! Have you discovered the joy of having those extra hours in the day when you’re not sitting in traffic or packed onto a train?

WFH gives you the ultimate in flexibility! Want to start work a little later than usual, go ahead! Expecting a delivery? You’re right where you need to be!

WFH helps you spend more time with your family (and not just when they’re all forced to be at home too!). Home working gives you the opportunity to be around to take the kids to school or be there when they get home. You don’t have to miss mealtimes, bath times and bed times like so many people do when they’re stuck in the office.

WFH allows you to develop your own timetable and work when it suits you. If you’re a morning person, feel free to start work when the sun rises. If you’re better in the evenings, why not take some time out for yourself in the day and work when everyone else is going to bed? It’s up to you!

WFH often gives you an opportunity for peace and quiet without the usual distractions you find in an office environment. Of course, those with kids at home right now might be longing for the peace and quiet of their office!

But it does have to be said, that WFH does take some adjustment and not everyone will see the advantages. As a homeworker, you have to be disciplined. Up until now, those who have never done it probably imagine that people who work from home do so in their pyjamas from under the duvet. But the reality for most homeworkers is very different.

Separating home life from home-work life is important. Getting in the right frame of mind to get the job done is crucial, but you also have to be able to leave work behind at the end of the day. At nexa law, our Consultant Lawyers fit their work around their life and not the other way around. But sometimes that may mean sending emails from the sofa in the evening or answering a call whilst trying to make dinner. And whilst there is a danger that those work and home boundaries can become blurred, the flexibility which affords and the time it frees up, means that the occasional encroachment of work into home life is a small price to pay.

If you’re an experienced lawyer who has been enjoying WFH, you might find that you’re cut out for life as a Consultant Lawyer. We’ll be interested to see whether law firms go back to enforced office working once the lockdown is lifted, or whether some may have seen the light! Either way, you can’t beat the lifestyle benefits of becoming a Consultant Layer at nexa law.

For more information about becoming a Consultant Lawyer with nexa law, contact our Recruitment Manager David Roth using info@nexa.law.