Martha Stewart Doesn't Think Working Remote Is Productive, But I'm Proof It Is!

The pandemic brought a new debate to the spotlight about the best place to work. What's more productive - working from home, the office or a hybrid model?

Martha Stewart recently said she thinks remote working isn't as productive as working in an office. She's clearly not a fan of the hybrid remote working model, but I'm not sure she fully understands the other side to this debate.

I LOVE working from home. I can't imagine working in an office full time after working from home for the past four years, and on and off for years before that. And I'm super productive seven days a week!

I've been working from home full time since the summer of 2019. I actually started working from home back in 2007 but here and there ended up in an office until 2019. And let me tell you, I wouldn't change this for anything.

Let me preface, I have a few jobs and they are all done from home. With all my jobs, I make my own schedule. So maybe I have a slight advantage to someone who works from home but has a set schedule, but regardless, the outcome is quite the same.

I'll let you in on what I feel are the pros and cons about working from home.

Pros: I'm here for my children and don't miss huge gaps out of the day from seeing them and I'm easily accessible to them if they need me. I don't waste any time commuting to and from an office to do exactly the same thing I can do in my house. I save money on gas, wear and tear on the car, coffee, food, and work clothes. I work in my pajamas or other comfortable clothes and don't have to wake up an hour earlier to get ready. I can throw a load of laundry into the washer or dryer during the day so that's not something I have to do at night before bed. When the weather is nice, I can take my office out to the back deck to enjoy the scenery while I work. Getting sick is lessened because you're not around lots of people all the time. The list goes on and on.

Cons: I don't pass any stores between my bedroom and my office to stop and grab something for dinner. That's about it. And is that really a con? I don't honestly think so, but maybe to some people it might be.

As a single mother, I'm able to have multiple streams of income BECAUSE I work from home and don't have to take time away from the kids to do so. When I'm done with one job, I simply switch gears to the next. No wasted commuting time. This is the definition of "work smarter not harder" in my eyes.

And again, my favorite pro is definitely being there for my kids. I don't miss out on their events, games, or just hearing about their day when they get home from school. I'm able to give work and my family 110 percent because I'm literally always here and focused.

I would say that I'm a fan of Stewart's and I often agree with her stances. I think she's a fascinating person, honestly. But this is one thing we don't see eye to eye on and I believe it could just be because we are in different places in life. Although, I know she's a very hard worker and so am I, so we at least have that in common. But I'm thriving in my career partially because I'm working from home, or at least that's how I see it.

Stewart recently told Footwear News, "You can't possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely." Maybe that is true for some people, but I don't think that's a fair blanket statement.

She compared the U.S. with France. "Look at the success of France with their stupid … you know, off for August, blah blah blah. That’s not a very thriving country. Should America go down the drain because people don’t want to go back to work?"

I personally think it's not that people don't want to go back to work, they don't want to return to a crowded office that they have to commute to when they can do the same exact thing from the comfort of their own home.

While I can't fully dispute the hybrid working model since I work from home every day and not just some days, I will say that I'm way more productive being at home, especially since I am able to make my own schedule.

If I realized I forgot to do something for work, it's easily done right then and there and not something that would have to wait until I'm in the office again. I feel like I'm way more productive, and I actually get more done by multitasking than if I was in an office surrounded by distractions. I also don't have "business hours" so if work comes in at 9 p.m. and I'm available, I'll work regardless of the time. You'll never hear me say no to work because it's not "business hours" and that's solely because I work from home.