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Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

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Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#11

Post by wallflower »

Most organizations spend an enormous amount of money on offices. Offices can be argued are temperature-controlled, resource-hogging (if not LEED certified), calibrated, noise-attenuated (sometimes), free of most distractions (possibly pre-Facebook [1]), constrained, regimented environments with strategic floor layouts designed precisely to get people who are paid a salary to focus and produce value for their company. Schools are similar (witness the backlash against home schooling). Focus is very important but as the OP posits - it is a matter of learned self-diligence and control.

[1] The companies I've heard of that block Facebook, personal email et al. (e.g. financial institutions) typically make it near impossible for work to be brought home (which can be good - separation of work and home).

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#12

Post by ericdykstra »

For me, the best place to work is where I can be in a "work" environment, but without worrying about anyone disturbing what I'm working on.

Living in a studio and a half apartment means I'm either in the room I sleep in or the room I do everything else in. It's not a good environment for me to work, and I really don't like bringing work into that environment, either.

Working in an office with a certain kind of culture can mean that you're expected to be available and to respond to any inquiry via email, IM, phone, or someone walking over to your desk at any time. This really doesn't work for me, either.

So working at that kind of job means I really find I work best when I'm completely disconnected (phone off, email not open, not signed into IM) in a cafe. I have my laptop, and that's all. No distractions, pure focus.

The absolute ideal for me is an office environment where I can work in blocks of at least a couple of hours without being expected to respond to any non-emergency immediately.

Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#14

Post by ronyeh »

Working from home is great! You also cut down on commuting time, which can be a big source of unhappiness in your life:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/06/perils-commu...

Also, a +1 on the pomodoro technique. It helps me get back on track if I accidentally open up FB or HN. :-)

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#15

Post by falcolas »

I'm working from home full time right now, and I've found a few things which have made it productive for me.

1) An office. Granted, the office is also my man-cave, so it's full of distractions: books, posters, a gaming rig, and comfy chairs. However, it protects me from human distractions (such as my wife), which are the biggest barrier to getting work done.

2) Dressing for work. This is just jeans and a t-shirt, but it's exactly what I'd wear if I was working in an office as well.

3) Working on something interesting. Even if there's grunt work, if I'm having fun getting to a goal, distractions aren't an issue.

4) Balancing work and fun. I work until I need a distraction, and then distract myself. When my mind is ready to get back to work, I get back to work.

The end result is that I get all of my tasks done in a week, even if I don't work every day, and I have fun doing it.

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#16

Post by famousactress »

I've worked at home full time for the last 2.25 years or so, and it's been the most productive working experience of my 15 year career. I think there are some misconceptions and hidden benefits that I held before being in a long full-time WFH situation that I'm sure others hold also. I've been meaning to write up a longish post on my thoughts/experience, but here are some brief notes off the top of my head:

1. I think the tv/fridge/playstation distraction thing is a myth. I think maybe it's a problem when you WFH occasionally because you're not used to being productive at home and you can make it up tomorrow at the office.

2. WFH has the benefit of forcing you to be vastly evaluated on your work product. This is seven million kinds of awesome. I have lots to say about the benefits of this, but one thing is that it changes the way I make things. I think differently about how my colleagues (and not just developers) consume and interact with my work. I care about their FTUE when running my code or trying a new tool more than I used to.

3. Your commute is killing you. You probably don't think this is true. I didn't. I loved my train ride. Now I can't believe I gave that much of my life away. It really makes me sick. I'd trade 25% salary for no commute in a heartbeat now that I've tried both. Hell, probly 50%.

4. Everyone asks if you miss social interaction. I don't, because it's not missing. I interact more with my current team than any other team I've ever been on. We idle in chat all day, and I probably have an avg of 2-5 VOIP quick conversations or meetings daily. The interactions are more intentional, and valuable (socially and work-wise).

5. I'm a better writer now and my task management skills are much improved, for obvious reasons. More asynchronous work means less walk-by task management and more thoughtful emails/tickets, etc.

6. I don't burn out nearly as easily (in the short or long term). 12 hour days feel like 9 hour days used to. Five minutes petting my dog is vastly more psychologically relaxing than a walk to the water cooler or an office game of foosball.

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#18

Post by brettkw »

For me it's less about the distractions and more about not having people to pull me out of the rabbit holes I fall down. At the office I have constant reminders that I shouldn't be spiraling down into wikipedia hell while at home I don't.

So my solution was to download a chime app that sets off a bell every hour on the hour. Now every time I hear that I find I automatically turn productive again.

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#19

Post by DigitalJack »

famousactress wrote: post #16

I've worked at home full time for the last 2.25 years or so, and it's been the most productive working experience of my 15 year career. I think there are some misconceptions and hidden benefits that I held before being in a long full-time WFH situation that I'm sure others hold also. I've been meaning to write up a longish post on my thoughts/experience, but here are some brief notes off the top of my head: 1. I thin…

I've been working from home now for 6 years.

I agree with all that you have said, but I do see negatives more prominently, so I'll list those as a balance point. Keep in mind as you read these that I live more than a day away from where I work, so that adds an isolation factor that not all home-workers will suffer.

1. Probably the biggest thing I miss is the informal conversations. The hallway conversations. I've become very detached from what is going on in my department, and I no longer have the pulse of what is going on.

I used to occasionally stop by my manager's office and chat for a few minutes, just an informal query of how business is going, what I've been doing, toss out some wacky ideas for improving things, etc... A phone conversation is simply not the same.

2. I miss going somewhere else to work. I can occasionally rectify this by going to panera's or a coffee shop, but it's not practical to do if I'm going to be having meetings that day. And I do get random calls from coworkers and managers...

3. I have become a bit of a recluse. I have this as a natural tendency to begin with, but now that I work from home, I don't even have work to get me out of the house.

Re: Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

#20

Post by imroot »

I've worked remotely for most of my career.

I've had companies that didn't care where my 'remote' was (my home, a coffee shop, my farm, etc), but I've had companies get really anal about where my 'remote' was.

I'm working a mixed-mode gig now -- in the office two days a week, remotely the rest -- and I'm far less productive when I'm on-site than I am when I'm working from home. (For example, I'm on-site today, and they're watching Spaceballs on the tv nearest my cube -- so the next two hours are a total wash to me; as a consultant, I couldn't really ask for anything better)

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