Work From Home. Work from Anywhere: The New Mark of Quiet Luxury
How reduced commuting, increased autonomy and time sovereignty are quietly reshaping mental wellbeing, financial health, and modern definitions of success in an increasingly flexible world of work.
I’ve recently moved into a new neighbourhood and while trying a new morning walk routine, something struck me. The number of others walking and exercising mid-morning during traditional business hours. Professional status was only recently defined by corporate offices and moving swiftly between back-to-back meetings. Today, a quieter trend is reshaping what success looks like. Work from home or work from anywhere is the professional freedom subtly transforming our daily lives in ways many traditional work perks can’t.
1. Know the real financial and mental cost of your commute
Commuting has its benefits, as it creates a transitional space described as “liminal space”, supporting you in detaching from roles. But stressful commutes can quickly undermine the benefits.
Studies have shown that longer commutes have been linked with higher levels of stress, anxiety and lower life satisfaction. Eliminating the commute is associated with increased job satisfaction and more satisfaction with leisure time.
In Australia, people are commuting 15 per cent less compared to pre-pandemic levels. But, this is an active choice many are making, supporting previous research that they are willing to pay for the luxury with a lower salary. The average person who works from home could earn around $4,400 less than someone who does not.
Five years on from the pandemic, the stats showed, 36% of Australians are still regularly working from home, including 60% of professionals and managers.
What they have given up in salary is offset by savings in commute costs and time.
2. The New Rich
As the pandemic forced many into working from home, many experienced a luxury others had long been striving for.
Many had previously followed Timothy Ferriss’ No.1 work from anywhere movement in his
New York Times best-seller, The 4-Hour Work Week, which still boasts a cult following.
At the time of its release, it challenged nearly all conventional norms of working.
Ferriss defined the New Rich has having unrestricted mobility:
“The guard is changing. Being bound to one place will be the new defining feature of the middle class. The New Rich are defined by a more elusive power than simple cash - unrestricted mobility.”
Through remote working when necessary, the New Rich have plenty of both time and physical freedom.
3. Building careers, personal brands and businesses that can work from anywhere
Not everyone has the luxury of working from home or working from anywhere. It relies on smart systems and building personal brands and businesses trusted to perform anywhere.
If you are employed in a traditional 9-5, and envy the work-from-home lifestyle, actively seek roles with favourable work-from-home or hybrid policies. If your existing or potential employer doesn’t have this, sharpen your negotiation skills to propose at least one or more work-from-home days. This requires you to:
Understand the value you bring to the role, with clearly quantifiable evidence.
Recognise the equity issues this creates across other staff and be prepared to address this.
Acknowledge the impact working from home has on performance and establish strategies to mitigate against these.
If you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer, you’ll also still need to build a trusted personal brand while working from home. To do this, consider:
Taking extra steps to increase the credibility of your business. Without a bricks and mortar presence, present a polished work-from-home business and personal brand.
Create systems that elevate your brand’s operations and allow you to automate more. Ferriss is able to earn more while working less. For him, the goal is profit and fun.
The New Rich work on their business and not in it. Creatives have long understood what more traditional corporates are now realising.
Robert Frost said:
“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.”
In our always-on culture, even 12 hours is a dream for many. But the New Rich work differently. For many managers, being replaced is a fear. For the New Rich, being replaced is the goal:
“Being a member of the NR is not about working smarter; it’s about building a system to replace yourself.”
Ferriss' view was also popularised by Michael E Gerber in his cult classic, The EMyth Revisited, where he presents ‘The Franchise Prototype’, focused on developing entire systems.
Ray Kroc’s McDonald’s exemplifies ‘the turnkey revolution’. Which created not just a business franchise, but a ‘Business Format Franchise’. It’s not just what you sell, but how you sell it. The true product of a business is the business itself.
Kroc is also highlighted in Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad, revered for the premise that the rich don’t work for money, their money works for them:
“Our assets are large enough to grow by themselves. It’s like planting a tree. You water it for years, then one day, it doesn’t need you anymore. Its roots are implanted deep enough. Then the tree provides shade for your enjoyment.”
4. What quiet luxury looks like now
While they may not have flashy offices and commutes in comfy cars, by joining the New Rich, you quietly gain:
Autonomy over your schedule
Control over your environment
More mental space before and after work
More time spent in sunlight
The space to create healthy meals
Reclaimed time for family, friends, creativity and wellbeing
Financial efficiency that doesn’t need broadcasting
Performance over performative
Working from home is the new mark of quiet luxury. It signals you are trusted and outcomes-based, not presence-based. That your calendar bends to your life, not the other way around. You choose, when you work, where you work and how to structure your day. No announcements, no hussling hard humble brags, just more control of your career.
