2. You’ll be more productive
Studies have consistently shown that working at home boosts the productivity of workers. Of course, this makes perfect sense, because there are a myriad of distractions at the office.
Distractions include a co-worker stopping by your cubicle to tell a joke, your neighbor’s way-too-loud conversation with a client, and the pungent aroma of microwave popcorn pervading the office.
A study jointly sponsored by Stanford University and Beijing University found that call center employees working at home spent almost 10 percent more time on the phone than those working in the office.
After implementing a work-at-home option, Cisco Systems calculated its increased productivity at $195 million for one year. Other companies have reported similar results – which has contributed to the trend toward employers offering the work-at-home option.
This argument will become even stronger if you can cite situations where your productivity was reduced because of some disruption or problem in the office. It might have been a network breakdown that resulted in loss of access to a shared drive for an afternoon, a noisy conga line of employees celebrating their team’s completion of a big contract that made concentration impossible, or even a building fire drill that cut an hour out of your day.