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Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

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Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#71

Post by jamil7 »

lordnacho wrote: post #52

People used to all work from home. If you read a bit of economic history, it seems that working in an office or a factory is a rather recent invention, only a few hundred years old. Prior to that there was something called the "putting-out" system, where you'd sew some clothes or whatever and put it outside for someone to collect. And they'd leave you some raw materials. I'm also of the WFH persuasion, but I'm unsure…

> Prior to that there was something called the "putting-out" system, where you'd sew some clothes or whatever and put it outside for someone to collect.

Something similar to this exists in rural Germany, at least in Brandenburg, mostly for fresh or preserved produce where you leave a donation in return.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#72

Post by dathinab »

Honestly remote working to save commute time is awesome. But there are a lot of problems with it too for e.g. mentally unstable people or situations where people can't setup a proper work environment at home (as it's to small for it).

So while I like remote work a lot I think it's best "in general" to only have it just part of the week.

Honestly best is still to not work remote but have a way to work of 10-15min walking or similar (e.g. cycling, reliable public transmute). Enough time to clearly separate work from home and think a bit.

Naturally this is very unlikely to happen.

But worst is if cities are seperated in "residential" and "office" areas as this will make transmute times spike. Having a nice intermixing it much much better. Sure it doesn't guarantee short travel times (or else you would need to potentially move every time you change the job). But it allows them.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#73

Post by mcv »

dx87 wrote: post #31
Ygg2 wrote: post #6

Who are these people? I've been working from home and I've noticed a steep dip in my productivity.

A dip in productivity is a problem for your boss, not for you. Anecdotally, I'm much more productive at home because I can take breaks whenever I want instead of getting burned out after working for 3-4 hours at an office, but knowing that I still have to stay there for 4 more hours.

How about, after working 3-4 hours at the office, you go outside for a walk before you start on the next 4 hours? I know people who do that, and I think it's a great idea.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#74

Post by toomuchtodo »

t3rabytes wrote: post #69
courtewing wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t this problem be even harder to deal with if you didn’t work remotely? You only need to plan for the radius of one person’s commute rather than limiting your housing options to a balance of two locations.

Totally, not saying it isn't a problem in that case either, but rather that remote is hailed as this "you can live anywhere, move to the cheapest city you can!" solution when it's not (for most people).

It's a choice to work a non-remote job though. My partner could work, but it wouldn't be remote, so she's a stay at home parent while I work remote, enabling us to live somewhere rural (which also happens to be cheaper; one income easily supports a family of four).

Both people in a relationship could work remote jobs to enable geospatial freedom, also a choice! When someone says that working remote isn't a solution though, that's not accurate. They're saying, "I've chosen a work arrangement that is incompatible with remote work".

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#75

Post by falcolas »

rb808 wrote: post #45

I heard on WFH opinions there are two groups of people, one that think this will usher in a new age of productive freedom working from home never having to commute again, and the group with kids.

Having your kids with you is a transitory thing, when school starts back up the problem will decline sharply.

It’s worth remembering that these are not your standard work from home conditions - you’re being kept in due to an emergency, and trying to also get some work done.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#76

Post by lawlorino »

gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

I feel the same. I've found that having a dedicated work environment can help, e.g. a separate office room with a proper desk, chair and monitor, although realistically that's not possible for a lot of people including myself currently.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#78

Post by mfer »

gspr wrote: post #29

I wonder if this is related to the long commutes Americans have gotten used to. I'm not in the US, and while I would say I definitely appreciate the flexibility of being able to work from home (or from "not the office") every now and then, and I do like the present drop in meetings, I cannot fathom how people stay sane without a variety of other people around. My productivity has definitely dropped, and it feels like…

I did when I started working from home. I was lucky to have a manager who knew about habits and patterns to fix that. A lot of this isn't about going to work but about our habits and patterns.

For example, I have a room I go into and close the door. When I am in there I am working. When I am out of there I'm not. It's like a mental switch. I also use some tricks to keep be from being distracted like a pomodoro timer.

Doesn't work for everyone. But, I learned from training my dog that situational training can be important. If we are training ourselves we might need to train ourselves to be productive at home.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#79

Post by jabroni_salad »

Ygg2 wrote: post #6

Who are these people? I've been working from home and I've noticed a steep dip in my productivity.

I am on cloud nine right now. No commute and there is an open window 2 feet away from me. For comparison, I normally have a 40 minute commute and work in a basement all day. In the winter, it is dark when I go in and dark when I come out. Real nice.

I am not sure about the productivity aspect. Since I am client facing and most of my clients are on furlough my main work source has dried up. I'm doing other stuff for the team but none of it has KPIs.

Re: Half of American workers would rather work from home forever: poll

#80

Post by jcims »

Ygg2 wrote: post #6

Who are these people? I've been working from home and I've noticed a steep dip in my productivity.

How long have you been working from home? It takes a while to adjust and you can definitely develop bad habits if you're not careful.
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