Today, more than 4.7 million people work from home either full or part-time. According to the International Workplace Group, remote work has now become “the new normal” rather than just a nice job perk. Many job seekers now consider the possibility of working remotely when considering career opportunities. When done right, the American Psychological Association says working from home can improve productivity, creativity, and morale. Not to mention, telecommuting reduces carbon emissions.

At BigSpeak, we consider telecommuting to be part of our business model. More than 35% of our employees telecommute either full or part-time. From the comforts of their homes, located all over the U.S. and in Santa Barbara, our virtual team provides great customer experiences. We couldn’t be successful without them.

To find out more about the benefits and challenges of telecommuting, we reached out to our virtual team during Telecommuter Appreciation Week to get their take. Overall, we found our virtual team enjoyed spending less time in the car and more time with their family but also found they needed to be more disciplined when working alone.

Here are their views on telecommuting in their own words.

Sondra, Texas: “I love working from home in my workout clothes, without makeup on and my dog in my lap. It has been over 20 years that I have been a remote employee and it is the best!”

Samantha, Georgia: “I enjoy the flexibility of owning my schedule. As a working mom, I appreciate the ability to still be present for my kids when they’re little while still being fulfilled in my career. Remote work requires a ton of self-discipline to ensure success but as long as you stay organized it’s great. Only having a flight of stairs as my commute doesn’t hurt either.”

Craig, Massachusetts: “There are challenges too—it’s not just benefits. But I like that I can work in peace and quiet here. Open office layouts are too noisy and distracting to me. I like not having to commute. I like not having to leave my house. I like that I can dress for comfort and not appearance.”

Michelle, Massachusetts: “The best thing about telecommuting is not having to commute to an office. Most everyone I know who commutes spends at least an hour each way getting to work. As a full-time working mom trying to balance work and kids, not having to spend 2 hours of my day commuting is a huge value!”

This article was originally published by BigSpeak Mar 5, 2020