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Working from home is powering productivity

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Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#301

Post by mklepaczewski »

Roark66 wrote: post #295
tiborsaas wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Office is an external discipline forced on you while WFH is an internal discipline no one watching over your shoulders, that's the difference. For an undisciplined person anything can be distracting: birds chirping, picking up a delivery, cooking, a friend dropping by, daily chores like washing, organizing things, etc... it's an endless list really.

It is not easy to say that I'm not a very "internally disciplined" person. I once spent half a year procrastinating instead of working on a personal project. But when you're working for someone (regardless of place), they are paying you for it, and you would like to continue receiving the money, how is this not externally enforced discipline? I've been WFH since 2016 and I never had an issue with focus when doing pai…

> I've been WFH since 2016 and I never had an issue with focus when doing paid work. I do want to get paid.

YMMV. When I was freelancing, I charged by the hour. Working for 2-3 hours per day was just enough to keep me and the family afloat with some extra money to spare. I haven't saved a penny in 5+ years and haven't had any money for a downpayment on the apartment we were supposed to buy.

Unfortunately, switching to per-project payments would be terrible for me. The deadline would be too far into the future for me to feel the danger of failing the project.

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#302

Post by dgellow »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #279
novok wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of adult ADHD diagnoses came from the pandemic because a lot of people were suddenly without the structure of an office and became adrift and unproductive. The office provided body doubling, some executive functioning, some help with time blindness, a prosthetic environment and more and now they had to make it themselves without any direction while suffering from poor executive functioning. It was not good for…

> A lot of adult ADHD diagnoses came from the pandemic because a lot of people were suddenly without the structure of an office and became adrift and unproductive. The office provided body doubling, some executive functioning, some help with time blindness, a prosthetic environment and more and now they had to make it themselves without any direction while suffering from poor executive functioning. Well, and now we h…

And adult ADHD diagnosis wasn’t a thing until not that long ago

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#303

Post by noch »

CalRobert wrote: post #292
vbezhenar wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be efficient to work 60 hours week. Doesn't mean we should agree to it. Remote work improves quality of life. I don't care about company KPI or efficiency, I care about my own well-being first and foremost, as long as I have a choice. Companies should adapt and if it means that their efficiency will decrease, so be it.

Unfortunately this can be a race to the bottom as companies with wfh are driven out of business by those without

> companies with wfh are driven out of business by those without

This is unlikely. Notice the parent post said:

>> I don't care about company KPI or efficiency, I care about my own well-being first and foremost […]

So you have a situation where:

- Most of your employees think of your company's success and their lifestyle as competing interests.

- Most of your employees are focused on optimizing their lifestyle rather than the quality of their work.

Essentially these are people who don't actually want to work and would be just as happy or happier on UBI.

Now if you have another company whose employees believe in the company's mission, prioritize company success, don't see a necessary trade-off between work and lifestyle, and enjoy working with their teams in person, the latter company will outcompete the former.

I recall one of my German managers said: "The difference between workers today and the previous generation is that we lived to work, while they work to live."

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#304

Post by DrBazza »

AndrewDavis wrote: post #159
ahimthedream wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are the anomaly, not the norm. WFH takes discipline, work ethic and honestly the ability to manage a work life balance. Doing this is hard, like you said. Problem is most people aren’t disciplined:)

I'm substantially more productive at home. Not for any single reason, but as a result of small things coming together, for example. More sleep. I can set my alarm 15 minutes before I start work instead of an hour and a half. So I'm more refreshed. Commuting is mentally draining. I get sick less. Less often as a sardine in a tin can. More sleep probably helps too. Less distractions. There's just me in my home office r…

> Commuting is mentally draining.

This is an understated problem.

Driving? Well, you have to be in at 8am so that thunderstorm, blizzard, morning twilight, yup, you have to drive through it. And the same the other way.

Catching a train? Is it on time? Will you get a seat or be standing for 30+ minutes. Will your connection arrive? If it's cancelled, what's the alternate route home if the line is closed.

Of course, your millionaire company owner has an apartment a short walk from the centre-of-the-city office.

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#306

Post by DrBazza »

hirvi74 wrote: post #157
ahimthedream wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are the anomaly, not the norm. WFH takes discipline, work ethic and honestly the ability to manage a work life balance. Doing this is hard, like you said. Problem is most people aren’t disciplined:)

> WFH takes discipline That is bizarre to me. I find the office takes far more discipline. Do people really get that distracted at home? What is so distracting?

During COVID, like everyone else, our company went to WFH. Conversely, when we had a round of redundancies some of the people that were perceived to be important or productive in the office, turned out to be nothing of the sort, and were surprisingly let go.

They talked. A lot. They worked... very little.

The discipline in the office is to do the work, not go to the 'water cooler' and chat to anyone that was there or organise frivolous meetings.

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#307

Post by DrBazza »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #260

I think a lot of people are talking past each other. I’ve mostly WFH since long before the pandemic, in many different capacities at many companies. A lot of people have tunnel vision and the reality is more nuanced than most allow. For IC work that requires minimal collaboration, WFH is often more productive. Fewer interruptions, more focus. However, when the role requires detailed collaboration and regular interact…

WFH is best for focused work. Office is best for collaboration. I'm not sure I've found a tool that works for collaboration like a whiteboard. Digital solutions just never really worked in our company and we tried a few.

On the flip side, open source projects function just fine with 100% remote work in different time zones.

One thing I found with WFH pre-and-post Covid is the the 'Feynman moment'- "If you cannot explain something in simple terms, you don't understand it". Complex architectures in the minds of a few people, or the way creaky systems worked together, and so on. Or to put it another way, no documentation for offline folks, because no one considered it important. So much for all that boasting about business continuity plans.

Which is almost a justification for being in the office, just to ask 'those people' how things works. It should also be a big red flag to management that things need fixing. But that's in the category of the management not seeing the financial benefit of doing it as there isn't an instant measurable up-front saving.

(edit) 'those people' are typical senior devs, and senior devs are often most likely to want to, or can, WFH.

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#308

Post by FlyingSnake »

J_Shelby_J wrote: post #276
jandrewrogers wrote: post #260

I think a lot of people are talking past each other. I’ve mostly WFH since long before the pandemic, in many different capacities at many companies. A lot of people have tunnel vision and the reality is more nuanced than most allow. For IC work that requires minimal collaboration, WFH is often more productive. Fewer interruptions, more focus. However, when the role requires detailed collaboration and regular interact…

This is a good comment and I had to think about it for a minute. I do agree with you in practicality, but I also think in person works because most people flat out can’t or won’t take the time to communicate effectively in writing. Put them in a room and they’re suddenly forced to do it. But that said, just because most people can’t effectively communicate and instead use async communications like slack zombies is no…

You’re correct, you know.

If we’re talking about the IC work, the benefits of WFH are acknowledged even by its detractors.

The people struggling with the “management” problem in remote work are either looking at the wrong place or being oblivious that it’s solution will come from adjacent fields like lawyers or accountants. Perhaps it’s time for them to look beyond their own field?

Re: Working from home is powering productivity

#309

Post by bromuro »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #260

I think a lot of people are talking past each other. I’ve mostly WFH since long before the pandemic, in many different capacities at many companies. A lot of people have tunnel vision and the reality is more nuanced than most allow. For IC work that requires minimal collaboration, WFH is often more productive. Fewer interruptions, more focus. However, when the role requires detailed collaboration and regular interact…

What is an “IC work” and what does it mean “being an IC”? Can’t get the acronym.
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