It may not a popular opinion, but there may be a hidden cost associated with working from home, especially if you’re in the early stages of your career and are trying to get noticed. Being at home and ‘out of sight, out of mind’ isn’t a good thing. Working from home, more than you really need to, could be costing you valuable exposure.

I feel like this advice is so important to share, especially for those in the early stages of their career with big ambitions. In an age where working remotely is so popular, being in the office more frequently can provide an advantage. For instance, working from home just once per month rather than once per week would mean 40 more days in the office with face to face time — 320 more hours a year. Even working at home twice per month rather than once per week could mean 20 more days or 160 more hours.

Maximizing exposure, preferably face to face time, with your boss and your boss’ boss could help accelerate your career.

Now, context is everything and this isn’t one size fits all advice. I appreciate that not everyone has the same situation. Some have to work from home full time out of necessity. And companies have different cultures and views on things like working from home. Many organizations have work from home programs. Flexibility is huge when it comes to work life balance — and I’ve always been a supporter when arrangements can be made to benefit both the person and the business.

I’m not saying never work from home. Personally, I end up working at home on average once per month over the course of a year.

I think there is value in self-awareness of your ambitions and whether or not you’re willing to do things differently than others to potentially advance your career. I see many people asking how to get noticed or recognized and an undeniable truth is the power of being ‘in sight’ and ‘in mind’ by the decision makers and leaders in your organization. If you want access to opportunities, it helps to be visible.

I’m not trying to convince you. You need to decide what is best. But I think your work from home habits are worth thinking about.

Some final thoughts…

Sure, there is an abundance of audio and video conferencing technology out there. How often is it used effectively? Do you get the same experience and value out of attending meetings on the phone as you do in person? How many casual hallway conversations that yield valuable information or insight are you having when isolated at home?

And, are you truly more ‘productive’ when you’re at home? Maybe you’re getting through more emails and feel less distracted, but is that a full picture of productivity and effectiveness? In the long term, relationships trump just about everything. It’s hard to build them and maintain them in isolation.