文/ 梅拉妮·皮诺拉 译/杨心彤

By Melanie Pinola

Before You Decide to Telecommute在决定远程办公之前

文/ 梅拉妮·皮诺拉 译/杨心彤

ByMelanie Pinola

A work from home arrangement isn’t always for everyone.

在家工作可能并不适合每一个人。

Telecommuters (a.k.a., remote workers or teleworkers) enjoy many great benefits, but there are also downsides. Before you decide to explore a remote work arrangement or ask your boss to let you work from home, here’s what you should consider and ask yourself.4 questions you can ask yourself before you consider becoming a telecommuter:

居家办公一族（也称作远

距离工作者或远程办公者）享有许多优势，但也面临诸多问题。所以，在你决定尝试远程工作的模式或向老板要求在家工作之前，请先思考下面的这些内容。

在决定居家办公之前先问自己4个问题：

1. Do the telecommuting pros outweight the cons for you?

1．远程办公对你来说利大于弊吗？

It might seem like working from home—and ditching the commute—is the ideal work situation, but there are tradeoffs as well. Telecommuters enjoy:

More flexibility and controlover working environment and schedule.

Increased productivity:Fewer distractions from coworkers’/bosses’

在家工作摆脱了通勤的奔波，看似理想，实则充满了权衡与妥协。居家办公一族享受：

更强的灵活性和支配力：无论是对工作环境的选择，还是对时间的安排。

更高的效率：来自同事、老板的干扰更少，还可以按照自己的节奏工作。interruptions and the ability to work at your own pace.

Less stress:Avoid rush hour, office politics, cubicles, and harsh lighting.

Greater work/life balance:Stay closer to the people you love and more flexibility with scheduling non-workrelated events.

However, telecommuters are also more vulnerable to:

Isolation:You may feel left out of or miss office socializing.

Distractions at home:chores, home deliveries, family interruptions, etc.may replace office disruptions.

Becoming a workaholic:without firm boundaries, you may feel like—or end up—always working.

2. Do you have the personal qualities needed to be a successful remote worker?

Not everyone is cut out to work remotely, and that’s okay. If you don’t have certain qualities, however,remote work will be a bust for you and you won’t be happy attempting it.Teleworkers need to have:

Self-sufficiency and motivation:Since no one’s watching over your shoulder, you need to be self-motivated.

Good communication (especially writing) skills:Email and phone will replace most in-person communications.

更少的压力：避开了上下班高峰时段，不用参与办公室政治，不用在狭小的隔间和刺眼的灯光下工作。

工作与生活之间更好的平衡：离你爱的人更近，能够更好地安排与工作无关的事情。

然而，居家办公一族会更加脆弱，因为他们需要应对：

孤独感：你也许会觉得被冷落，或者会想念办公室的社交活动。

家中的干扰因素：家务、送货上门服务、家人的打扰等都可能取代办公室中令人分心的事物，成为新的干扰因素。

变成工作狂的风险：因为没有严格的界限，你可能会想（或最终）没完没了地工作下去。

2．你具备成为一名成功的远程办公者所需的个人品质吗？

并不是所有人都适合远程工作，这也无妨。但如果你不具备某些特定的品质，远程办公的尝试终将以失败告终，而尝试的过程也不会使你感到愉悦。远程办公者需要拥有：

自给自足的能力和积极性、主动性：没有其他人的监督，你就必须有自主工作的热情。

良好的沟通技巧（尤其是写作技巧）：邮件和电话会取代大部分面对面的交流。

Outside relationships:Since you’ll be away from the in-office community,you may need to establish stronger friendships outside of work.

Organization skills:Your desk and your files are reallyyoursto maintain.

General technology comfort:Telecommuters need to be able to perform basic computer tasks and use online technologies like email, IM, and web conferencing.

3. Do you have an appropriate office for remote work?

Sure, technology makes it easy these days to stay in touch anywhere and anytime, but if your proposed remote work environment is your unfinished leaky basement and all you have is dialup Internet service, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully, the tech requirements and general guidelines for setting up a home office are really minimal. If you have a computer, decent Internet connection,and can carve out a comfortable,productive space for working at home—it doesn’t have to be an entire room—you should be fine.

4. Is your job suited for remote work?

办公室以外的人际关系：远离了办公室这个小群体，你可能需要在工作之外建立更牢靠的友谊。

整理技巧：你只能靠自己来打理桌面和文件。

对常用技术的掌握：远程办公者需要完成基础的计算机任务，掌握互联网技术，其中就包括电子邮件、即时通讯以及网络会议等。

3．你是否有合适的办公室用于远程工作？

诚然，现如今技术使得人们能够随时随地保持联系，但如果你计划中远程工作的环境是尚未装修好又漏水的地下室，网络连接方式还是拨号上网的话，这注定是一场灾难。

万幸的是，建立家庭办公室只要求掌握最基本的技术和注意事项。如果你有电脑，网络连接良好，并且能够在家中营造出一个舒适的工作空间——不一定是一整个房间，就足够了。

4．你的工作适合远程办公吗？

这个问题至关重要，而且将由你的主管或雇主进行评估，所以要诚实地告诉自己，你的工作有多少可以远程完成。

This is a make-or-break question that will be evaluated by your supervisor/employer, so be honest with yourself about how much of your work can be done remotely.

Most knowledge-based work can be done outside of the office, but jobs requiring your physical presence (e.g.,teaching or medical care) will be tougher to negotiate for telecommuting.A sign of the times, however—half of US school districts offer online courses and online doctor consultations are growing. So even traditional occupations may be translated into telecommuting positions.

The key here is finding out how well the telecommuting workstyle fits you.

尽管大多数知识型工作可以在办公室外完成，但需要本人到场的工作（像教学或医疗护理）想要实现远程办公，就更加难以协调。不过，半数的美国学区提供在线课程，在线医生咨询的数量也不断增长，这是这个时代的特征。因此，即使传统工作也可能转化成可以在家办公的职位。

这里的关键就在于弄清楚远程办公的工作模式在多大程度上适合你。

（译者曾获第五届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛优秀奖）

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