The new norm of working from home has seen a rise in productivity and a newfound appreciation of balance in one’s life. But you can work from home in so many different ways. You can batch your work in a short timespan, and spread your work out across the day and into non-working hours. People work from home, in spas, coffee shops, and in foreign countries. You can take a call in your car picking your kids up from school or on the treadmill while you get your steps in. But, what happens when you change the environment that you work in so drastically that you actually don’t even leave your bed?

The benefits of working from your own bed

That’s right. Working from bed. It seems to be a beautiful solution for those of us who don’t like to socialize while we work. Shut into our bedrooms, laptops open with our planners and other materials spread out on the comforter next to us. In fact, there are some notable perks besides having a bigger workspace to consider.

Working from bed is great for small work environments

Those of us who work from studio apartments and smaller work-from-home environments have fewer options to choose from when it comes to surfaces to work on. Digital nomads may find themselves in a hotel or rented environment that is a little more cramped than they are used to. If you have no hard connection for your internet, wifi could be scarce in particular areas of your home. Another big factor? People who are in the middle of moving are often at a loss for reliable spaces to really delve into their work.

Live with roommates or other family members? (59.7 million United States residents live in multi-generational homes, which can get a little distracting at times.) Feeling kind of cramped or out of options for where to conduct your work during business hours? Your bedroom may be the one place that feels quiet and abandoned, away from it all so you can be productive.

Working from bed allows for maximum rest opportunity

Some days, you just have lower energy than others. Many people who work from home opt to take naps or rest their bodies throughout the day, which leading research shows are beneficial for memory and cognitive function and can be optimal for bouts of productivity. If your body is in constant motion or glued to a desk, it can be difficult to find a breaking point in your day to rest. When you are already in bed, you can lean into the moments when you’re feeling down or tired. Simply set your working material aside (on a table, the floor, or the bed beside you), set an alarm, and rest for a while.

Working from bed encourages comfort

Besides the rest that working from bed can make more accessible to you, there is also the comfort factor. Your bed is a safe space. Sometimes, you’ll find your dog, cat or other beloved human sprawled out next to you. Having the comfort of snuggling alongside your creature comforts at home can really bring pleasantness to the work atmosphere that you cannot quite experience anywhere else.

Working from bed is optimal for productivity

Working from home cut down on unnecessary travel time, air pollution, expenses and more. If you are able to do it, you are already experiencing a little more ease in time and finances. Working from bed? That truly cuts out the middle man. You are already in your office when you open your eyes. As long as your laptop is charged or the cord is at your disposal on a constant basis, there’s no telling how many times you can hit snooze before rolling (physically) into your work tasks.

Working from bed is great for recovery

Had a bad day? A rough weekend? Going through some grief, mental health issues or health problems? A comfortable environment is a key to recovery in any instance, be it illness or sunburn or overwhelm. In fact, people who experience chronic pain or health setbacks have been touting the work-from-bed lifestyle for a while now, and we can definitely see why.

But working from bed has its setbacks

While there are many advantages to working from bed, balance is absolutely everything. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, 72% of American workers admitted to working from bed from time to time. A staggering one in ten of those polled had spent the majority of their workweek in bed during this time. This isn’t a surprise, as many people found themselves at a loss at the beginning of the pandemic without a proper desk, table, comfortable ergonomic chair or work from home setup to really get started with. But when you really take a deep dive into the lasting effects of working from bed, it can seem quite tragic.

Working from home can discourage chores

Making a habit out of working from bed can encourage so much comfort that everyday activities lay by the wayside. Staying in one place for most of the day can make it near impossible to take stock of your living environment, so simple household chores like taking the trash out, cleaning the bathroom and doing the laundry are often de-prioritized. (Yes, even if you’ve crafted the perfect to-do list.)

Working from bed is awful for metabolism

Working from bed can be so comfortable that the idea of natural movement–getting those 10,000+ steps in, hitting the elliptical, dancing between meetings–can seem almost impossible. But, as we all know by now, staying sedentary for too long can really impact your metabolism. If you are going to work from bed, be sure to incorporate a workout into your schedule–in the morning, if you can–to jumpstart your metabolism, increase energy and send you into the workday feeling great.

Even working from home without staying in bed can have some physical drawbacks too. Not having to leave your house can promote general laziness, and a lack of office-specific ergonomic workstation equipment can have a negative impact on your body. So if you are working from home on an ongoing basis (even if you don’t stay in bed), it’s important to set your workstation up for optimal wellbeing as well as productivity.

Working from bed blurs lines

A big benefit to having a set office space in your home is that you can properly separate your work life from your home life as much as possible. The pandemic presented the challenge of being given more time at home for work/life balance, but we had to find the tools necessary to keep our brains off of work in our downtime and vice versa. Maintaining boundaries can be difficult when working from any environment you also spend your free time in. If you do choose to work from bed or home, be cognizant of how it impacts your ability to feel detached from your job in your downtime. (And be sure to give yourself downtime. Looking at your screen at night before you go to sleep can have a real impact on your melatonin levels and eyesight.)

If you are planning to work from bed for any one of the listed benefits above, consider keeping it an option one to two times per week. For example, rewarding your efforts at the end of the week by taking calls and meetings from bed on a Friday can be relaxing and help you ease into the weekend. For optimum balance and outside inspiration, try working from a coffee shop or beer garden. If you live close to a park or an outside location with greenery and wifi capability, the fresh air and other psychological and social health aspects are great for brain activity.