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I will always prefer to work from home

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Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#201

Post by janosdebugs »

karaterobot wrote: post #102

Here's a reason I never see brought up in discussions like this. For me, it's as important as the others: Being an introvert, I always used to be exhausted at the end of the work week. I liked my coworkers a lot, and I liked spending time around them, but it didn't matter, I'd still feel wrung out at the end of the day. And by the end of the week, each day's exhaustion would have accumulated to the point where I need…

Hear, hear. This is especially tricky since being an introvert doesn't mean that one is completely unable to interact with people, just that it's super draining. "You an introvert? Impossible." - is a typical reaction. WFH is a massive quality of life improvement.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#202

Post by charcircuit »

dmitrygr wrote: post #84
charcircuit wrote: post #39

Some of these issues would go away if the author used headphones and the office used an open floor plan instead of cubicles.

Let me be crystal clear: NO ISSUES ARE RESOLVED by an open office plan, unless your issue is "productivity"

>NO ISSUES ARE RESOLVED by an open office plan

It is easier to communicate with teammates when they are near you. Both communication via words and communication via body language.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#203

Post by zerbinxx »

ghaff wrote: post #197
whoknowsidont wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it has worked out. Hardly. This is actually kind of insanely tone-deaf statement to make. People have uprooted their lives, spent lots of their wealth in expensive real-estate markets due to artificial demand, given up time with their families, etc etc. Saying it's "worked out" is a really bland dismissal of the entire conversation.

What alternative do you have even for many highly-paid professional jobs like doctors?

Doctors are somewhat unique in the fact that they can live and practice in a wide variety of places. Anywhere there’s a hospital, you will have them. Where they will choose to work/for how much is a much wider decision matrix than it is for many white collar organizations which would have no reason to exist (physically) in a small town of 20,000 people. Such a town would require at least a single hospital employing many medical professionals, depending on how far it is from other forms of medical care.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#204

Post by dmitrygr »

charcircuit wrote: post #202
dmitrygr wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me be crystal clear: NO ISSUES ARE RESOLVED by an open office plan, unless your issue is "productivity"

>NO ISSUES ARE RESOLVED by an open office plan It is easier to communicate with teammates when they are near you. Both communication via words and communication via body language.

Please acquaint yourself with the term "interrupt overhead". Then with the term "email". I can suggest a number of books on effective communication as well. Few of them recommend randomly interrupting people busy actually doing things.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#205

Post by jdlyga »

I'm an introvert, but it feels very isolating working from home by yourself day after day. I also live in a 2 bedroom apartment, and my office is a gigantic 52 story building with free coffee, events occasionally, and plenty of space to focus and think. So if you're in a beautiful house in the woods and your office is a soul draining place in the middle of an office park, I totally feel you.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#206

Post by bonif »

the_snooze wrote: post #4

I feel these discussions always go the same way. Working at an office sucks because of some combination of {long commute, open office plan, team not being there}. I quite like going to the office myself because my situation is the opposite: I bike to work, where I have my own office, and my team likes to come in too. Hating the office is totally justifiable given that my setup isn't common; most people are forced to…

You' re missing a point, quality of life

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#207

Post by charcircuit »

dmitrygr wrote: post #204
charcircuit wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>NO ISSUES ARE RESOLVED by an open office plan It is easier to communicate with teammates when they are near you. Both communication via words and communication via body language.

Please acquaint yourself with the term "interrupt overhead". Then with the term "email". I can suggest a number of books on effective communication as well. Few of them recommend randomly interrupting people busy actually doing things.

In the TFA the OP is being interrupted in an office without an open floor plan.

I am saying that an open floor plan would make it easier for others to read his body language that he currently does not want to be interrupted.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#208

Post by ghaff »

zerbinxx wrote: post #203
ghaff wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What alternative do you have even for many highly-paid professional jobs like doctors?

Doctors are somewhat unique in the fact that they can live and practice in a wide variety of places. Anywhere there’s a hospital, you will have them. Where they will choose to work/for how much is a much wider decision matrix than it is for many white collar organizations which would have no reason to exist (physically) in a small town of 20,000 people. Such a town would require at least a single hospital employing m…

Doctors are just one example and there are many reasons why a doctor may choose to practice in, say, the Boston area than in some 20,000 person town in North Dakota--though you're right than, in many cases, medical professionals have a pretty wide choice in where they live and work depending upon how choosy they are.

But a ton of STEM jobs do require access to labs and other facilities or may have requirements related to security clearances etc. A lot of skilled people can't just work from home and many others travel a lot even if they don't regularly come into an office.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#209

Post by oHqgTQUT »

lnsru wrote: post #183
oHqgTQUT wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have made many life long friends at work, who I am still friends with to this day, many years after we left the companies we both worked at. I'm sure many other people have too. You need some kind of social bond with the people you work with. What are you going to do instead? Treat the people you work with like robots where every interaction is a barter or request of some kind like "Hi, can you review this please.…

Nice that it worked out well for you. The last friendly colleague relocated to the other town. Guess if we will meet again with 1,5 hours driving distance. It was nice relationship with 35 minutes driving, but now obviously it’s over. I will have new colleagues and he will be envy, that I left toxic place and he stayed. The colleagues are not much more than robots. Wait for another promotion or layoff round. Nice for…

> The last friendly colleague relocated to the other town. Guess if we will meet again with 1,5 hours driving distance. It was nice relationship with 35 minutes driving, but now obviously it’s over.

Some of my old colleagues moved across the atlantic. We still keep in contact - one of whom I speak to daily. Have you tried contacting your friendly colleague or tried meeting up with them? 1.5h is not very far.

Re: I will always prefer to work from home

#210

Post by Mountain_Skies »

paulddraper wrote: post #184
makeitdouble wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why office sucks can be for any number of reasons, I think it's more of a long tail phenomenon with a myriad of distincts personal preferences and special needs. For instance office drinks can suck, and someone drinking 3 to 5 cups of warm drinks a day, being able to prepare delicious beverages with specialized equipement is a godsend. Or people who work sitting on their bed. Or want their pet around. Or don't want t…

FWIW, my dog and I do makeupless squats on my bed after work. I appreciate a hard division between work hours and personal hours, and WFH (for me) makes an already tenuous line even more leaky.

One of the nice things about working at home is that async tasks can be taken care of during the workday. Laundry doesn't need a lot of hands-on time but does have a lot of waiting time. It's also easier to get local errands like grocery shopping done during lunch than if you're at an office. Even lunch itself can be easier, with a couple Instant Pots, lunch can be ready to eat right at lunchtime. None of these tasks take a consequential amount of time away from work but they do give you back quite a bit of non-work time.
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