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Not only does it depend on your personal preferences, but also to a huge degree on life circumstances. I worked from home for a fully-remote startup for two yea

Not only does it depend on your personal preferences, but also to a huge degree on life circumstances. I worked from home for a fully-remote startup for two years and loved it. My wife was working long hours downtown at the time, and I had the apartment to myself, with a nice setup and the space I needed to be productive. At the end of those two years we had a baby, and after both taking a few months off to enjoy time with the family the agreement was that I would start working (from home) again and my wife would also stay home and take care of the kid. We even moved to a bigger place so there would be room for everybody. Unfortunately, it didn't work at all. Even though the nominal agreement was that during "work hours" I wasn't to be disturbed so I could be productive, and my wife agreed that was necessary and ok, in practice little things inevitably came up each day that broke flow and made it nearly impossible to get anything important done. I ended up switching jobs after a few months to a BigCo with an office in large part to regain that separation between work and personal life, to the benefit of both. I'd still like to work from home, but I'm not sure that it's possible with my current life situation.

Markoff 10y ago
same here, it's just not possible with small child at home even if you are not supposed to take care of it during work hours
- laughfactory 10y ago
  I disagree. I have three kids, five and under, who are often at home while I'm also working from home. The key is credible boundaries. I actually have my workspace in the walk-in closet attached to the master bath. I lock the door, still have access to the facilities and water, and I'm good to do for as long as I want, and until I decide to emerge. My wife and kids know I don't respond to anything short of apocalypse and leave me alone. I think the setup is crucial, as is being clear about your boundaries and sticking to them with great discipline. It can be done. I do it two days a week, and those two days are way more productive than the three in the office.

Markoff 10y ago

same here, it's just not possible with small child at home even if you are not supposed to take care of it during work hours

laughfactory 10y ago
I disagree. I have three kids, five and under, who are often at home while I'm also working from home. The key is credible boundaries. I actually have my workspace in the walk-in closet attached to the master bath. I lock the door, still have access to the facilities and water, and I'm good to do for as long as I want, and until I decide to emerge. My wife and kids know I don't respond to anything short of apocalypse and leave me alone. I think the setup is crucial, as is being clear about your boundaries and sticking to them with great discipline. It can be done. I do it two days a week, and those two days are way more productive than the three in the office.