The Solitude of the Home Office Pod: Redefining Remote Work for Better Productivity

For some, solitude is the key to productivity. Every interruption can throw you off your groove. But when you work from home, interruption is a two-way street. Just ask Ben Hallam.

Based in rural NSW, Ben works entirely from home as a strategic business development manager for a multinational healthcare company. Fielding international calls at odd hours of the night is a common occurrence for him. Today, he does so without fear of waking up his family from his home office pod. But it wasn’t always so. Here’s how Ben found peace and productivity.

Ben’s story echoes that of many professionals around the world. When he first contacted us, he was sharing his workspace with his family, and it wasn’t ideal for either party. The dining room in the house he’d just bought served as his office. The issues of sharing workspace and the need for mental separation between where we eat, work, and rest was becoming increasingly apparent.

“The noise was… too much,” he says. “I couldn’t focus. It wasn’t working for me; it wasn’t working for the family.”

Ben’s experience highlights a key issue discussed in a BBC article about how our space shapes the way we view remote work. The article sheds light on how the quality of our working environment affects our work performance and overall job satisfaction, especially in shared spaces.

Midnight phone calls aren’t uncommon in the Hallam household due to the international nature of Ben’s work. This only complicated his situation further. He needed a place he could pop into and out of as he pleased, so he joined an all-hours coworking space.

“There was a shared workspace around the corner from my house,” he recalls. “It was just a short walk – so I gave it a go.”

But Ben’s experiment didn’t last long.

“Turns out the hot desk wasn’t for me,” he says. “There wasn’t much privacy, and I wasn’t being as productive as I’d hoped.”

Reality was staring Ben in the face: his problem couldn’t be solved by a change of scenery. He needed a workspace that was his. Only his.

After some time researching his options for a private, comfortable workspace, Ben narrowed things down. After an email, a phone call and an overview of the Harwyn process, Ben had made up his mind. It was Harwyn or the highway.

His new personal workspace now sits nestled in his leafy backyard. Away from the house. Away from distractions. Away from the world. We delivered Ben’s new home office – a Harwyn Pro-ii – in May 2022. And it was the best decision he could have made.

“My productivity increased dramatically when I moved into the pod,” Ben says, relief in his voice. “I can work during school holidays now!”

No more DIY workspaces. No more fear of late-night phone calls waking up his kids. Just good work. Uninterrupted.

Tired of being pulled out of your work-from-home flow? A separate, secluded space could be your saviour. Get in touch for a no-obligation chat.