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More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

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Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#41

Post by bphogan »

jerf wrote: post #38
ekianjo wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everything we've always done has been in groups erm no, there are numerous accounts of people living ar ermits or away from the groups in History. why do you assume everyone has to live with the herd ?

And they have always been considered weird, even when respected by their local culture, and to number very few. We have a word for such people. We do not actually have a word for people who are not hermits, because that's how normal it is. We have words for being excessively group focused, like "gregarious", but not for "not a hermit". Slightly less extreme, many cultures have had some sort of monk experience, where…

Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there.

Do you have any sense of how many people who are forced to head to an office each day would rather not? Probably not. I know I don't. But that's because the majority controls how these people work.

Working remotely doesn't mean you're a hermit. If you are, your organization has a communication problem. I work remote and am able to get social interaction instantly with anyone in the organization.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#43

Post by brandall10 »

xeromal wrote: post #9
Androider wrote: post #6

"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous. Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-first w…

The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the world. I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to allow for meeting new people beside…

I go out to cafes half of the time - even if it's just 4 hours or so. That said, it's relatively easy/quick for me as I live in downtown San Diego. There's literally 5 cafes within a 2 block radius of my condo and probably a couple dozen that are great for working out of within a 5 mile drive. I'm not super social but I regularly strike up conversations and occasionally form friendships while I'm out and about.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#45

Post by maxxxxx »

avenoir wrote: post #13
Androider wrote: post #6

"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous. Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-first w…

I've been a remote employee for 2 years now. I strongly believe that the majority of people will not be able to mentally adjust to working out of their home. It's only human nature. There are days I feel like I will go insane if i spend another 10 minutes in my apartment. Then I'd go to a coffee shop and just relax mentally while feeling like part of society. And i'm an introvert.

When I worked from home I did much more in terms of extracurricular activities. I am working in an office now and after a day of dealing with people I am exhausted and just go home to collapse. I think my social life has suffered a lot from working in an office. Yes, I interact with people but not really on my own terms.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#46

Post by badestrand »

jtraffic wrote: post #22
xeromal wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the world. I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to allow for meeting new people beside…

I had a long conversation about this with my Dad yesterday. He is an attorney who spent years working in fairly large organizations. Now he works from home most of the time. I like how he explained his experience. He said that working from home removes many of the day-to-day negatives, such as a boss on your case and having to wake up even if you feel terrible. On the other hand, he said working from home also remove…

I am working from different coworking spaces for some time now. I think they actually (can) have the positives that your dad and others are missing - working alongside motivated people, causual smalltalk, you can make friends. I really like it but it is some luck to find a fitting location.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#47

Post by colmvp »

clarkmoody wrote: post #14
xeromal wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest downside to me is decreasing the ways to make a friends and being social. I worked remote for about 8 months and I got bored seeing the same room in the day and the night. Of course not having a commute is an amazing thing and environmentally friendly, but I felt very disconnected from the world. I think once working from home is the norm something will have to exist to allow for meeting new people beside…

Well with the time saved from your commute, you could get involved in something locally. You could talk to your neighbors...

I think this is where a lot of remote workers fail to adapt, myself included for a few years. Remote working has its disadvantages but it's not unsolvable. Nowadays, I make it a point to go to local meetups on a consistent basis, which actually allowed me access to social networks far outside the limited network within my company.

What's nice is that it forced me to learn how to make friends outside of typical environments (work, school). It was far easier than I realized, and now I regret not doing it earlier in my life.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#48

Post by zeppelin101 »

avenoir wrote: post #13
Androider wrote: post #6

"Nearly 8% of programmers now work from home, following a staggering increase of nearly 400% since 2000." Could working remotely reach a tipping point where it becomes the default? I could see it happening in the next 20 years, the advantages are too numerous. Most of the downsides are typically related to the inherent friction between onsite and the offsite workers, meaning companies that start out as remote-first w…

I've been a remote employee for 2 years now. I strongly believe that the majority of people will not be able to mentally adjust to working out of their home. It's only human nature. There are days I feel like I will go insane if i spend another 10 minutes in my apartment. Then I'd go to a coffee shop and just relax mentally while feeling like part of society. And i'm an introvert.

But working from a cafe is still pretty much 'working from home'. It has many of the upsides of working from the non-remote office with the upsides of choosing your environment (e.g. what kind of cafe are you looking for?).

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#49

Post by kgabis »

s73ver wrote: post #37

The biggest hurdle to biking and walking, for those who are already comfortable doing those activities, is showering. I don't want to show up to the office drenched in sweat, making the work area smell like a gym. And there are some things that you can do, like the wipes and that, but they don't feel anything like a shower. The more offices that either put in showers, or locate near gyms and places that do have showe…

If you're not fit or live in a hilly area then you can buy an electric bike to avoid sweating.

Re: More Americans now work full-time from home than walk and bike to office jobs

#50

Post by colmvp »

s73ver wrote: post #37

The biggest hurdle to biking and walking, for those who are already comfortable doing those activities, is showering. I don't want to show up to the office drenched in sweat, making the work area smell like a gym. And there are some things that you can do, like the wipes and that, but they don't feel anything like a shower. The more offices that either put in showers, or locate near gyms and places that do have showe…

It also doesn't help that most cities and towns in North America aren't designed with high standards of bike safety. I live in one of the biggest cities on the continent and our council has taken DECADES to implement bike lanes downtown despite the rise in population and car usage.
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