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The life of a telecommuter

redgirlsays.com

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Re: The life of a telecommuter

#11

Post by redgirlsays »

ben1040 wrote: post #8

Unlike the author, when I was telecommuting I was never able to be effective while working in my pajamas. When I would wake up I'd go down the hall to the office and read the first 5-10 new mails in my inbox to give me something to ponder while in the shower (that's where I get my best thinking done anyway). I did the whole morning routine and put on clothes I could be seen outside in, and then back to the desk to wo…

I actually do tend to change out of my pajamas, just into a clean pair of pajamas (or similarly comfy clothes).

What I absolutely cannot do is work in bed, under the covers--I'll doze off. Laying top of the covers, sitting on the couch, or at a desk or table works just fine though, for me.

Re: The life of a telecommuter

#12

Post by redgirlsays »

hippo33 wrote: post #7
redgirlsays wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a tech blogger and co-founder of a small start-up. I have a background in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

@Redgirlsays, you mentioned Campfire, but I'm curious if you and your co-founders use other tools to try to make things seem "closer?"

Lots of emailing and instant messaging, occasional Skype chats, and sharing photos and videos (generally work related, occasionally random or just for fun). Dropbox accounts also make it easy to share larger files, but that's less a 'closer' feeling than just making things more accessible and connected.

Re: The life of a telecommuter

#13

Post by gchucky »

I've been on a telecommuting project for the past several months or so. At some point we realized that we weren't really functioning as cohesively as possible, and the solution ended up being in finding a group chat tool. The author here uses Campfire, but we went with Hipchat (http://www.hipchat.com/). It certainly helped us with the sense of being isolated from the team.

Now as to dealing with being in my apartment for what can be huge swaths of time...

Re: The life of a telecommuter

#14

Post by Aqua_Geek »

zazi wrote: post #9

I transitioned from an office environment at a big corporation to telecommuting for a small startup recently. Working from home has been great so far and I'm loving it. One thing I have observed is that my home life is slowly merging with my work life. While I am at home, I am working almost 90% of the time. This has been great for my productivity but I'm worried that it might be detrimental in the long run. As it is…

I've been telecommuting for about a year and a half now. If there's one piece of advice I have, it's to keep a clear distinction between work and home.

For about the first 8 months, I would be logged in to work for about 14 hours/day (not necessarily working, but logged in and checking/responding to emails and IMs) and even found myself quickly logging in before going to bed - just to make sure nothing new popped up (which it rarely, if ever, did).

Eventually, I had to force myself to keep "normal" hours - no more sleeping in until 10 and then working till 1. "Clock out" at 6 and leave it at that - everything will still be waiting for you tomorrow, I promise. =)

Re: The life of a telecommuter

#15

Post by zazi »

Aqua_Geek wrote: post #14
zazi wrote: post #9

I transitioned from an office environment at a big corporation to telecommuting for a small startup recently. Working from home has been great so far and I'm loving it. One thing I have observed is that my home life is slowly merging with my work life. While I am at home, I am working almost 90% of the time. This has been great for my productivity but I'm worried that it might be detrimental in the long run. As it is…

I've been telecommuting for about a year and a half now. If there's one piece of advice I have, it's to keep a clear distinction between work and home. For about the first 8 months, I would be logged in to work for about 14 hours/day (not necessarily working, but logged in and checking/responding to emails and IMs) and even found myself quickly logging in before going to bed - just to make sure nothing new popped up…

Thanks for the advice. Were the first 8 months of 14 hour days in a start up environment? And, if you don't mind sharing, what changed to prompt you to transition to 'normal' hours?

Re: The life of a telecommuter

#16

Post by Aqua_Geek »

zazi wrote: post #15
Aqua_Geek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been telecommuting for about a year and a half now. If there's one piece of advice I have, it's to keep a clear distinction between work and home. For about the first 8 months, I would be logged in to work for about 14 hours/day (not necessarily working, but logged in and checking/responding to emails and IMs) and even found myself quickly logging in before going to bed - just to make sure nothing new popped up…

Thanks for the advice. Were the first 8 months of 14 hour days in a start up environment? And, if you don't mind sharing, what changed to prompt you to transition to 'normal' hours?

Yes and no. About a year before I started this job, I founded a digital publishing company with a friend, so I was working this 40 hr/week job AND on my startup whenever I "got done" for the day.

It got to the point where I finally took a step back and realized that I was killing myself. My crappy work schedule mixed with late, late nights on my startup was a recipe for disaster. I also started having some RSI issues, which I'm still dealing with today (not being physically able to work another minute is a pretty strong motivator to stop for the day... ).

Just let go - I know it's hard to do if you're working for a startup, particularly if it's your startup. But you need to draw the line somewhere - work a set number of hours a day, or work until a set time and then clock out. Work hard/smart during those hours, and you'll get the satisfaction of knowing you did what you could that day and it's enough.

Co-workers/founders are a terrific source of motivation - especially if they're constantly committing quality code. But don't let that drive turn into something bad, or the guilt will get to you and destroy whatever motivation you had for the project. Programming because you feel you have to is no fun and is not sustainable - you will burn out.

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