40 ms·

I think working from home is superior (for tech/programming work). In terms of work, it's the best way to not only avoid distractions, but also lay out your tim

by return0 10y ago

I think working from home is superior (for tech/programming work). In terms of work, it's the best way to not only avoid distractions, but also lay out your time in a way that is conducive to completing a project in the way you intended, and to let your ideas be fully implemented. This means projects finish sooner, much sooner than in a 9-5 environment. I believe that, when you know that you cannot escape the office until 5, that introduces some intellectual laziness and willingness to just kill or dilate time. The office does offer some perks, but they are not related to work itself, they are all about socializing / banter / feeling of being part of a team. Working from home does mean that home becomes workplace , and vice versa, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as work gets done faster. People used to work mostly from home until the industrial era. Personally, I have gotten a second job in an office for the 'office experience', yet i often do even this work at home, because i work faster there. I think some "work from home" problems are problems of perception. It's not very well accepted to say that you work from home yet[1], making you feel like the job is somehow inferior. Also, the location of your home matters, if you live in a mixed commercial/residential place, it doesn't feel wrong to be at home and work all morning. Discipline can be an issue until you establish a work routine. Much like driving to the office primes you to get into work mode, a morning walk to the local bakery can prime you to begin working at home. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW3lhfVpLL4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW3lhfVpLL4

pionar 10y ago
> I think working from home is superior (for tech/programming work). I disagree with you, specifically one point. >The office does offer some perks, but they are not related to work itself, they are all about socializing / banter / feeling of being part of a team. That "banter" or "socializing" is work related. I've found that working from home (been doing it 2 years now) has one very big disadvantage - unless the whole team is remote. You will be excluded from meetings, decisions and conversations. You will always have a feeling that you're missing something. You will miss important hallway conversations that can impact the work you do.
- cma 10y ago
  Would V8 have been written in an open office environment? https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd...
  - nojvek 10y ago
    Paywall link. What's the summary?
    - nwlieb 10y ago
      You can use google cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AUQIVzsKrXwJ:https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AUQIVz...
- return0 10y ago
  I understand that, but I believe if more than a few work remotely, the culture of the company would shift to moving important stuff and meetings online.
- timmaah 10y ago
  I'm the only one at our small company that works remotely. I miss so much of what is going on decision wise. Any talk of new clients, potential new business, larger future projects are all communicated to me once they are mostly already hashed out. This keeps me from playing a bigger part in the company and thus the work they throw my way is more on the grunt/boring side. I love working remotely though and I'm not working in the tiny open office they have. I would be interested in seeing what the dynamic is like with a full remote team.
  - Taniwha 10y ago
    I've mostly worked at home since my son was born (he's 26 now). I used to go in one day a week, I worked for startups for years and would start full time, drop off to 4->3->2 days a week. These days I never go in (I live 10,000km away at the moment, it's no longer a 1 hour drive in the Valley). I think there's a few things you have to realise about working at home: - you get to avoid almost all office politics - you will eventually lose at office politics Essentially you need to have a manager who will step up and root for you, and you guys need to talk so he/she knows where your head is at
Arizhel 10y ago
Not everyone is good at having the discipline to get work done at home and to separate home and work while they're at home. Also, people with young children are naturally going to have a big problem. Lots of people who try it complain that their spouses and kids won't leave them alone at home, thinking that popping in isn't a big deal even though it interrupts their focus. And not everyone can afford a home that gives them extra space for a home office. Most people in Silicon Valley can't seem to afford anything bigger than a telephone booth. Don't forget that many people have roommates too. There's a reason that coworking or small office spaces are so popular these days: for $500/month in many places, you get your own little office with a door that shuts where you can concentrate on your work, or a quiet cubicle among other people with similar situations. If everyone was able to make working at home work for them, these places would not exist.
- return0 10y ago
  > most people in Silicon Valley can't seem to afford anything bigger What's the point of living in an ultra-expensive region if you work from home?
  - uniformlyrandom 10y ago
    1. you get paid well. 2. silicon valley is a nice place to live in.
    - marssaxman 10y ago
      Nice place to live if you like suburban sprawl, maybe. I doubt any company would be willing to offer me a high enough salary to make the sacrifice of living in SV seem appealing.
    - pc86 10y ago
      If you work from home there is no reason your geographic location should impact pay.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  $500/month for a coworking cubicle? Wow. The going rate around here (Chicagoland) seems to be less than $200 a month. In some of the smaller cities I don't think it even costs more than $400/month to give yourself a (small) dedicated suite for an office around here.
laughfactory 10y ago
I completely agree. I'm actually very much an extrovert, but I also do deep focused work (data science stuff) and really like being at home, in my locked "office" (walk-in closet with an attached bathroom) working on stuff. I get so much more done, and I love the efficiency of not having to get in my car and commute somewhere. Any kind of office environment will come with a commute, car maintenance, and a rigid workday. Wanna do a few hours, take a nap, and then do a couple more, have dinner with the family then do some more? Yeah, not happening in any kind of office I've ever worked in. I WFH a couple days a week just so I can make up for the lack of productivity from the three days at the office.
kwhitefoot 10y ago
I prefer to work in my cubicle at the office instead of at home even though I am alone in the office for most of the time and all of my development team colleagues are in another country. The reason is that it is simply easier for me to concentrate there, fewer distractions, fewer excuses to take a break. But I'm glad I'm not in the same location as most of my colleagues in the team because they are in an open plan office so crowded that they have to leave the room to make a telephone call and need to wear closed headphones to cut out the distractions.
- noway421 10y ago
  The key here is that no one around and you can concentrate alone.
  - kwhitefoot 10y ago
    Exactly. So the home versus office axis is the wrong one to think about. The deciding factor is how well one can work in which place and that depends on a lot more than home versus office.

by return0 10y ago

pionar 10y ago

> I think working from home is superior (for tech/programming work). I disagree with you, specifically one point. >The office does offer some perks, but they are not related to work itself, they are all about socializing / banter / feeling of being part of a team. That "banter" or "socializing" is work related. I've found that working from home (been doing it 2 years now) has one very big disadvantage - unless the whole team is remote. You will be excluded from meetings, decisions and conversations. You will always have a feeling that you're missing something. You will miss important hallway conversations that can impact the work you do.

cma 10y ago
Would V8 have been written in an open office environment? https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd...
- nojvek 10y ago
  Paywall link. What's the summary?
  - nwlieb 10y ago
    You can use google cache: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AUQIVzsKrXwJ:https://www.ft.com/content/03775904-177c-11de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:AUQIVz...
return0 10y ago
I understand that, but I believe if more than a few work remotely, the culture of the company would shift to moving important stuff and meetings online.
timmaah 10y ago
I'm the only one at our small company that works remotely. I miss so much of what is going on decision wise. Any talk of new clients, potential new business, larger future projects are all communicated to me once they are mostly already hashed out. This keeps me from playing a bigger part in the company and thus the work they throw my way is more on the grunt/boring side. I love working remotely though and I'm not working in the tiny open office they have. I would be interested in seeing what the dynamic is like with a full remote team.
- Taniwha 10y ago
  I've mostly worked at home since my son was born (he's 26 now). I used to go in one day a week, I worked for startups for years and would start full time, drop off to 4->3->2 days a week. These days I never go in (I live 10,000km away at the moment, it's no longer a 1 hour drive in the Valley). I think there's a few things you have to realise about working at home: - you get to avoid almost all office politics - you will eventually lose at office politics Essentially you need to have a manager who will step up and root for you, and you guys need to talk so he/she knows where your head is at

Arizhel 10y ago

Not everyone is good at having the discipline to get work done at home and to separate home and work while they're at home. Also, people with young children are naturally going to have a big problem. Lots of people who try it complain that their spouses and kids won't leave them alone at home, thinking that popping in isn't a big deal even though it interrupts their focus. And not everyone can afford a home that gives them extra space for a home office. Most people in Silicon Valley can't seem to afford anything bigger than a telephone booth. Don't forget that many people have roommates too. There's a reason that coworking or small office spaces are so popular these days: for $500/month in many places, you get your own little office with a door that shuts where you can concentrate on your work, or a quiet cubicle among other people with similar situations. If everyone was able to make working at home work for them, these places would not exist.

return0 10y ago
> most people in Silicon Valley can't seem to afford anything bigger What's the point of living in an ultra-expensive region if you work from home?
- uniformlyrandom 10y ago
  1. you get paid well. 2. silicon valley is a nice place to live in.
  - marssaxman 10y ago
    Nice place to live if you like suburban sprawl, maybe. I doubt any company would be willing to offer me a high enough salary to make the sacrifice of living in SV seem appealing.
  - pc86 10y ago
    If you work from home there is no reason your geographic location should impact pay.
cableshaft 10y ago
$500/month for a coworking cubicle? Wow. The going rate around here (Chicagoland) seems to be less than $200 a month. In some of the smaller cities I don't think it even costs more than $400/month to give yourself a (small) dedicated suite for an office around here.

laughfactory 10y ago

I completely agree. I'm actually very much an extrovert, but I also do deep focused work (data science stuff) and really like being at home, in my locked "office" (walk-in closet with an attached bathroom) working on stuff. I get so much more done, and I love the efficiency of not having to get in my car and commute somewhere. Any kind of office environment will come with a commute, car maintenance, and a rigid workday. Wanna do a few hours, take a nap, and then do a couple more, have dinner with the family then do some more? Yeah, not happening in any kind of office I've ever worked in. I WFH a couple days a week just so I can make up for the lack of productivity from the three days at the office.

kwhitefoot 10y ago

I prefer to work in my cubicle at the office instead of at home even though I am alone in the office for most of the time and all of my development team colleagues are in another country. The reason is that it is simply easier for me to concentrate there, fewer distractions, fewer excuses to take a break. But I'm glad I'm not in the same location as most of my colleagues in the team because they are in an open plan office so crowded that they have to leave the room to make a telephone call and need to wear closed headphones to cut out the distractions.

noway421 10y ago
The key here is that no one around and you can concentrate alone.
- kwhitefoot 10y ago
  Exactly. So the home versus office axis is the wrong one to think about. The deciding factor is how well one can work in which place and that depends on a lot more than home versus office.