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Every time I see a laptop on a beach on Facebook I think to myself "Well, that's a lie". I've worked from home for the past 5 years and one of the "secrets" is

Every time I see a laptop on a beach on Facebook I think to myself "Well, that's a lie". I've worked from home for the past 5 years and one of the "secrets" is to have a dedicated home office as a work environment. I personally don't see this working for the job I do. Never thought it's actually a sustainable option for more than a couple of months at best.

davnicwil 11y ago
Yeah, we all know that you can take a laptop down to a beach and do something productive, but it surely won't be as optimal as time spent working in an air-conditioned coworking space or cafe, or at home. If you're working on the beach you're not really at the beach, and you're not really working. You're getting a poor experience on both sides. I think anyone who's actually tried it, in all sincerity, would probably attest to this. If you have access to a beach you're much better going somewhere optimal for work, saving some hours in gained productivity, then heading down to the beach for lunch or after the working day for some actual relaxing beach time.
dexterdog 11y ago
But I see laptops on the beach on Facebook with the same frequency that I see them at the office.
- GreaterFool 11y ago
  I find it hard to work while on the beach. The sand gets everywhere, the wind gets annoying and you have to watch out for the sun too! OTOH if you have a house by the beach and you're just at the house, overlooking the beach... that's a different story. I'd rather find a cozy Starbucks. That's where the work gets done. Doesn't matter the continent or the country :D The coffee quality varies a bit (good in most places in Asia, passable in UK, ok in States) but it's "home". In many places there are better alternatives. Cool hipster coffee shops and whatnot but when I'm in a new location and need an anchor place I just go to Starbucks
jamesrcole 11y ago
For the past twelve years I've been most productive either at a cafe or on the train. At either of those places I know what I'm there to do and there's an inherent time constraint that I find conducive to productivity. For me my home office is the worst place to try and get things done
funkyy 11y ago
You can actually do it if you are only overlooking the process of product/service creation. So lets say your task is to just control if all is done properly. For example if you resell things and you have set everything up. You got many reports that come and then go. You got a person that handles the whole process, but just in case you need to approve everything. So when the report comes from your processor, you just have a quick 5 minutes look and then you are free again. Since reports come at random times and it is better if they are forwarded asap. Now, you can enjoy all the time in-between and obviously this is not holidays but you are not on holidays. You live there. A lot of people will not understand how it is to live in holiday places and travel the world. It quickly becomes just another place and if you have everything figured out, work will allow you to enjoy the free time you get.

davnicwil 11y ago

Yeah, we all know that you can take a laptop down to a beach and do something productive, but it surely won't be as optimal as time spent working in an air-conditioned coworking space or cafe, or at home. If you're working on the beach you're not really at the beach, and you're not really working. You're getting a poor experience on both sides. I think anyone who's actually tried it, in all sincerity, would probably attest to this. If you have access to a beach you're much better going somewhere optimal for work, saving some hours in gained productivity, then heading down to the beach for lunch or after the working day for some actual relaxing beach time.

dexterdog 11y ago

But I see laptops on the beach on Facebook with the same frequency that I see them at the office.

GreaterFool 11y ago
I find it hard to work while on the beach. The sand gets everywhere, the wind gets annoying and you have to watch out for the sun too! OTOH if you have a house by the beach and you're just at the house, overlooking the beach... that's a different story. I'd rather find a cozy Starbucks. That's where the work gets done. Doesn't matter the continent or the country :D The coffee quality varies a bit (good in most places in Asia, passable in UK, ok in States) but it's "home". In many places there are better alternatives. Cool hipster coffee shops and whatnot but when I'm in a new location and need an anchor place I just go to Starbucks

jamesrcole 11y ago

For the past twelve years I've been most productive either at a cafe or on the train. At either of those places I know what I'm there to do and there's an inherent time constraint that I find conducive to productivity. For me my home office is the worst place to try and get things done

funkyy 11y ago

You can actually do it if you are only overlooking the process of product/service creation. So lets say your task is to just control if all is done properly. For example if you resell things and you have set everything up. You got many reports that come and then go. You got a person that handles the whole process, but just in case you need to approve everything. So when the report comes from your processor, you just have a quick 5 minutes look and then you are free again. Since reports come at random times and it is better if they are forwarded asap. Now, you can enjoy all the time in-between and obviously this is not holidays but you are not on holidays. You live there. A lot of people will not understand how it is to live in holiday places and travel the world. It quickly becomes just another place and if you have everything figured out, work will allow you to enjoy the free time you get.