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Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

micahwedemeyer.com

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Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#71

Post by roland37 »

philwelch wrote: post #16

This article is garbage. It can be boiled down to one sentence: "if working from home makes me happy at the cost of productivity, forcing me to come into the office just because it's more productive is the moral equivalent of requiring me to take Adderall." To which the appropriate response is: "bullshit". Requiring someone to take physically harmful and addictive drugs is not even remotely in the same galaxy as requ…

I think your critique is using a major false equivalence. I don't see any suggestion in the article that keeping someone from working from home is on par with forcing them to take Adderall. Instead, both were being held up as examples when discussing the question of what changes employers ask you to make in your life to create productivity. I agree that the Adderall example was hyperbolic and the article would probably be stronger without it, but I don't think any moral equivalence was being asserted.

As to your last point, you don't get paid to be productive (necessarily). You're paid to provide work, and different jobs have different metrics for that. There are for instance substantial differences between salary, hourly wage, and commission work - someone being paid a flat fee for a project has no obligation to be efficient or productive, only to fulfill their stated terms. Diminishing efficiency in favor of happiness is a perfectly reasonable aim, particularly in certain jobs.

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#72

Post by echobase »

themckman wrote: post #3

I don't know if I get more or less done when I work from home, but I do know that when I have down time at home, I find myself doing things I needed to do anyways (e.g. laundry, dishes, etc.) and that makes me feel better. While at work, I end up reading a bunch of Hacker News articles I don't really care about just because I'm stuck or bored. I also find myself working a little later when at home since I don't need…

Not to mention the fact that in many offices, even high-end ones, there just aren't any comfortable places to sit or just be for eight hours, including you're own "ergonomic" chair. It's hard to overstate how fatiguing this can be. Home is everyone's most comfortable place, and if you can leave the computer for a few minutes to ruminate on the sofa, or do the dishes, or walk around the block, it can substantially extend your hours of effectiveness and alertness.

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#73

Post by philwelch »

3minus1 wrote: post #58
philwelch wrote: post #16

This article is garbage. It can be boiled down to one sentence: "if working from home makes me happy at the cost of productivity, forcing me to come into the office just because it's more productive is the moral equivalent of requiring me to take Adderall." To which the appropriate response is: "bullshit". Requiring someone to take physically harmful and addictive drugs is not even remotely in the same galaxy as requ…

He's using a reductio ad absurdem arguement. He takes the principle of "a company valuing productivity over happiness" and extends it to an absurd degree to argue that company's shouldn't prohibit telecommuting in order to increase productivity. It's a pretty stupid argument that is equivalent to saying companies shouldn't do things that are in their own self-interest.

You can make a reductio argument either way, which is what I demonstrated.

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#75

Post by philwelch »

coldtea wrote: post #68
philwelch wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not working from home isn't even the equivalent of working 14+ hour days.

OK, let's see it this way: Even for a 8-hour, 5 days/week job, the daily commute + wasted office time + coworker disruptions add up to 3-4 hours per day for most. Thats years off of your life. Adderal might be better after all.

You're double-counting "wasted office time" and "coworker interruptions", which leaves commuting. If your daily commute time is measured in hours, maybe you should live closer to work.

It's not like software developers are poor. Maybe if we were we wouldn't develop these prima donna attitudes.

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#76

Post by philwelch »

john61 wrote: post #55
philwelch wrote: post #16

This article is garbage. It can be boiled down to one sentence: "if working from home makes me happy at the cost of productivity, forcing me to come into the office just because it's more productive is the moral equivalent of requiring me to take Adderall." To which the appropriate response is: "bullshit". Requiring someone to take physically harmful and addictive drugs is not even remotely in the same galaxy as requ…

Yes, but I live to be happy not to get paid.

That's your tradeoff to make. There are lots of happy people in the world who don't get paid.

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#77

Post by ubersoldat2k7 »

I really think he hits the point. I'm happier working from home and because of that I find my self working 'til 1:00am some days because I enjoy my job and I'm grateful I have the flexibility to spend time with my family. Actually, it's past 8:00pm and I'm still working while my kids do homework. And it doesn't feel as "over-time". I also like office time, but I get enough of telecommuting and people after a day or two. Also, working from home means virtual meetings, just remember to mute your mic before farting!

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#78

Post by kayoone »

themckman wrote: post #3

I don't know if I get more or less done when I work from home, but I do know that when I have down time at home, I find myself doing things I needed to do anyways (e.g. laundry, dishes, etc.) and that makes me feel better. While at work, I end up reading a bunch of Hacker News articles I don't really care about just because I'm stuck or bored. I also find myself working a little later when at home since I don't need…

Just be aware and dont let this happen :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk

Re: Working From Home is Like Saying No to Drugs

#80

Post by coldtea »

philwelch wrote: post #75
coldtea wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, let's see it this way: Even for a 8-hour, 5 days/week job, the daily commute + wasted office time + coworker disruptions add up to 3-4 hours per day for most. Thats years off of your life. Adderal might be better after all.

You're double-counting "wasted office time" and "coworker interruptions", which leaves commuting. If your daily commute time is measured in hours, maybe you should live closer to work. It's not like software developers are poor. Maybe if we were we wouldn't develop these prima donna attitudes.

>You're double-counting "wasted office time" and "coworker interruptions", which leaves commuting.

Not really. Even if I had double-counted them, that would live both ONE of them AND commuting.

Working at home you have far fewer interruptions (mostly through IM and email) not BS meetings, people breaking your concentration and such.

>It's not like software developers are poor.

Sure, but it's also not like they all work in the US, or have a > $30.000 annual salary.

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