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I Only Work Remotely

shift.newco.co

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Re: I Only Work Remotely

#21

Post by Jaruzel »

One of the opening lines resonated with me:

  "...I cannot trust employers to provide me with an adequate work environment."
This is becoming more and more the default position, especially in the contract market.

A recent contract I had, had quite poor office space - small old desks, old 17" monitors, no personal storage, chairs in poor repair, and a badly working hot-desk system (I have yet to encounter 'working' hot-desking). As a designer, I was expected to work on these 17" monitors (or 15" laptop screens) do multiple large document work, and loads of complex diagrams in Visio. Not a fun experience.

In comparison, my home office contains an executive office chair bought to my specifications, a large desk laid out just for me, and a nice 24" 1920x1200 monitor (soon to be replaced with a 27" 2456x1440 one). I have Skype for audio and video calls, and my kitchen has food and drink in it that I actually like.

When I'm in the zone, and working from home, my productivity is doubled compared to working in a poor open plan environment, so where I can, I request work from home arrangements in my contracts.

Like the author of the article, I too am not a morning person - people may scoff at this, but it's a real thing. Before noon I am almost useless, the proverbial bear with a sore head. Once the sun is past the yard arm however, my focus kicks in, and I can power through my tasks until about 8pm-10pm. It's a full working day, just offset.

I don't really know the point I'm making here... but I do empathise heavily with the article author.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#22

Post by smonff »

chukye wrote: post #9

I smoke weed to get creative, drink a lot of coffee and do a lot of online meetings, have some crazy hours, but I also get my work done before(better?) everyone else. I would never fit in any workplace (tried a few but none fit), I have a big chair, 3 big monitors and a bong, also can talk with my team fellows every time I want, but we really don't need to talk too much, if you understand your product, understand you…

Can you elaborate on smoking "weed to get creative"? Wich kind of tasks do you achieve by doing this?

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#23

Post by gcp »

bitwize wrote: post #18

Don't you just love it when someone with zero direct reports thinks he can tell managers how to manage? It's a job , it's not a fucking Montessori school, or a correspondence course. If you don't want your employability to dry up once rockstar ninjas become commonplace enough that the demand bubble for them pops, you will cultivate the essential skills of showing up when and where your employer demands and otherwise…

Understanding that cost of housing, commute length and variability and paycheck are intrinsically linked is a first-line test of employers not being stupid. That's why employees ask it of you.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#24

Post by Jaruzel »

bitwize wrote: post #18

Don't you just love it when someone with zero direct reports thinks he can tell managers how to manage? It's a job , it's not a fucking Montessori school, or a correspondence course. If you don't want your employability to dry up once rockstar ninjas become commonplace enough that the demand bubble for them pops, you will cultivate the essential skills of showing up when and where your employer demands and otherwise…

That is an utterly antiquated position. I bet you don't even let poor Bob Cratchit have time off at Christmas.

In this day and age, dependability is delivering your tasks accurately and on time. Everything else is just chaff.

More managers should get with the program, and understand that skilled workers want to Work to Task, Not To Time.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#25

Post by gcp »

Jaruzel wrote: post #21

One of the opening lines resonated with me: "...I cannot trust employers to provide me with an adequate work environment." This is becoming more and more the default position, especially in the contract market. A recent contract I had, had quite poor office space - small old desks, old 17" monitors, no personal storage, chairs in poor repair, and a badly working hot-desk system (I have yet to encounter 'working' hot-…

In most engineering offices I've been into being a morning person would mean you have less overlap with everyone else, since coming in late and staying late is the norm.

In one company I consulted for, a morning person almost got fired when a regional manager noticed he left 2 hours earlier than everyone else. It was hilarious, in the saddest possible way.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#26

Post by kdelano »

smonff wrote: post #22
chukye wrote: post #9

I smoke weed to get creative, drink a lot of coffee and do a lot of online meetings, have some crazy hours, but I also get my work done before(better?) everyone else. I would never fit in any workplace (tried a few but none fit), I have a big chair, 3 big monitors and a bong, also can talk with my team fellows every time I want, but we really don't need to talk too much, if you understand your product, understand you…

Can you elaborate on smoking "weed to get creative"? Wich kind of tasks do you achieve by doing this?

For my part, after taking THC(tincture) I "get creative" on architecture solutions, new feature ideation, and things like that. I generally keep any code I write during this time in a separate branch to code review while sober before merging in - it's the ideas that are most important, not the actual code.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#27

Post by codingdave »

The "I cannot trust employers" statement struck me. I agree with it strongly, but react differently. Rather than dictate my working environment to people I do not trust to take care of me, I just say no. If I do not trust an employer, I am fortunate enough to have enough savings in the bank to be able to say no to the job offers and walk away until I find someone I can trust. It works well... It makes job changes take a bit longer, and the searches are difficult, but the end results are good.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#29

Post by battlebot »

kdelano wrote: post #26
smonff wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on smoking "weed to get creative"? Wich kind of tasks do you achieve by doing this?

For my part, after taking THC(tincture) I "get creative" on architecture solutions, new feature ideation, and things like that. I generally keep any code I write during this time in a separate branch to code review while sober before merging in - it's the ideas that are most important, not the actual code.

Maybe try not using drugs as a crutch? It reminds me of a perverse version of what athletes use steroids for. Be your own man, not some chemically altered monster.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#30

Post by greyman »

I currently work from home, but before I also worked in an openspace and also in the cubicle with just 4 people. I still can't say openspace is worst... probably depends on one's own preferences. Yes, sometimes it gets noisy and productivity goes down, but if I was stuck on something, and could just immediately get up and walk 10 meters and ask a more knowledgeable colleague made up for that.

But if your work is clearly defined and you have easy access to all the information, then probably yes, being completely alone is most productive for me. But for example in the past I worked on a project with ~100 other developers, and not every information required to do the job done was readily available...sometimes it was acquired only by discussing with a colleague, and doing that in person is often the quickest way.

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