I started working from home about five months ago. I lived alone. It took a couple of months for the social isolation to take effect, but it was severe. I di

I started working from home about five months ago. I lived alone. It took a couple of months for the social isolation to take effect, but it was severe. I didn't realize at the time how much of my drive at work came from collaboration, both cooperative and competitive. I like the joy of achieving things as part of a team, and I like the challenge of trying to be the best. (Yeah, that's not always great for team dynamics.) With nothing to prove and no one to help or to help me, my productivity tanked. Three things really turned it around. First was moving in with a roommate. It provides some of the community at home that I used to get from the office. Second was doing volunteer work. In a way it's a huge waste of time, but the feeling of accomplishment is irreplaceable. (Lot of women there too... just saying.) Third is releasing code, parts of my project, as open source libraries. Never mind that nobody uses or even looks at it--just the concept of making code public drives me to raise the quality bar, to keep it modular, and to get parts finished. Instead of toiling away in preparation for one huge launch date, each module becomes a mini launch. The conclusion I take from my experience is that telecommuting will foster communities, not scatter them. There will be less demand for one-bedroom apartments and more for houses to be split by roommates. We'll see more involvement in community activities and OSS.