4 ms·

It's great you're able to do your work with only a laptop. Many of us require a few more things, since we spend 6+ hours a day working, like a quality monitor,

by ctvo 5y ago

It's great you're able to do your work with only a laptop. Many of us require a few more things, since we spend 6+ hours a day working, like a quality monitor, desk and chair. Not only that, since we share our space with others (roommates, significant other, children), we may need a dedicated space to not be disturbed. So my question is why is the above difficult to understand?

chrisseaton 5y ago
Don't you have a home office anyway with a monitor, desk, and chair for normal life things? For managing your finances, writing to people, planning projects, working on hobbies, and so on?
- derekp7 5y ago
  I'm actually surprised by the number of people I work with that only work off their company-issued laptop (when remote). For myself, I've always had a dedicated office space. But when I went full WFH after a couple weeks my back was hurting bad. I thought my chair was decent but it was a sub $100 chair from Walmart or OfficeMax or similar. Upgraded to a SteelCase chair ($700), and my back has never felt better.
- UncleMeat 5y ago
  When I lived in a 1BR with my partner, there was no space for a monitor, desk, and chair. We did all computing on our laptops. My experience with most people who lived in the bay area or nyc prior to the pandemic was that they definitely did not have a dedicated space for a desktop setup.
- Jyaif 5y ago
  Having a "home office" is not common for people that live in apartments in cities with a high cost of living.
- jlokier 5y ago
  What you're describing sounds luxurious, but perhaps you mean just the basics, a corner in a room. Often when people say home office they mean a dedicated room, and that's not available to a lot of people. I've wanted a home office for years, as in a small dedicated room, but not lived in a home with enough free space. Right now I do have a setup like you've described due to pandemic lockdown - but it's right next to my bed. I don't like the commute, it's too short, and it's not much of a thinking space. It has not been realistic to work on my preferred non-software hobbies for a long time, as I need decent bench space, ventilation, and to be fair to the neighbours, no neighbours. But I like cities and people too much to want to live in the middle of nowhere. I'm a pacer in better times. I look at pictures of big spaces like the empty Apple building and just imagine walking around all day while doing my thinking occasionally stopping at a desk to break out the laptop. If they ever solve programming while walking I'll be excited to be at the head of the queue. Before the pandemic I tended to work in libraries and coffee shops, except when working with local clients on their projects, then I'd use their facilities. Interesting labs and workshops, I like those. I'm tentatively excited though. I just agreed to a real small office rental. Where I live these are surprisingly rare. I'm looking forward to doing my work, my hobbies and my finances there, instead of at home. I'm looking forward to a decent, private thinking space, where I can write on my own whiteboard. Living the dream! Maybe I'll even start writing to people.
- gravypod 5y ago
  > Don't you have a home office anyway with a monitor, desk, and chair for normal life things? I'm 24 and just starting out my career but currently a house is completely out of my price range. I live in NJ and the cheapest house around is ~340k + ~15k/year tax. That's going to be well outside of my purchasing power for quite some time in the future. I currently live alone in a 1br apartment. > For managing your finances, writing to people, planning projects, working on hobbies, and so on? Many of the people around my age are living either at home with their parents or with their significant other + roommates. It's very difficult to find space for 2+ people's desks in a 1br apartment. If, however, people were guaranteed WFH available positions for some time and we could disperse so that all software engineers aren't crammed into ~6 cities in the world it would be fairly easy for me to get a mortgage on a house in the middle of nowhere for less than what I currently pay on rent [0]. ~3 acres of land, 3 rooms, 2 floors. It's a dream. I'm personally looking forward to the "fan-out" of talent in the US. As people relocate startups might even start popping up in random locations around the US. People in my age range might be able to start affording houses. [0] - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/88-Rambler-Rd-Thomasville-PA-17364/60436927_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/88-Rambler-Rd-Thomasville...
swiley 5y ago
The company I work for already had a much more expensive chair and monitor than I would buy and let me just take them home. I'd be surprised if that was unusual.

by ctvo 5y ago

chrisseaton 5y ago

Don't you have a home office anyway with a monitor, desk, and chair for normal life things? For managing your finances, writing to people, planning projects, working on hobbies, and so on?

derekp7 5y ago
I'm actually surprised by the number of people I work with that only work off their company-issued laptop (when remote). For myself, I've always had a dedicated office space. But when I went full WFH after a couple weeks my back was hurting bad. I thought my chair was decent but it was a sub $100 chair from Walmart or OfficeMax or similar. Upgraded to a SteelCase chair ($700), and my back has never felt better.
UncleMeat 5y ago
When I lived in a 1BR with my partner, there was no space for a monitor, desk, and chair. We did all computing on our laptops. My experience with most people who lived in the bay area or nyc prior to the pandemic was that they definitely did not have a dedicated space for a desktop setup.
Jyaif 5y ago
Having a "home office" is not common for people that live in apartments in cities with a high cost of living.
jlokier 5y ago
What you're describing sounds luxurious, but perhaps you mean just the basics, a corner in a room. Often when people say home office they mean a dedicated room, and that's not available to a lot of people. I've wanted a home office for years, as in a small dedicated room, but not lived in a home with enough free space. Right now I do have a setup like you've described due to pandemic lockdown - but it's right next to my bed. I don't like the commute, it's too short, and it's not much of a thinking space. It has not been realistic to work on my preferred non-software hobbies for a long time, as I need decent bench space, ventilation, and to be fair to the neighbours, no neighbours. But I like cities and people too much to want to live in the middle of nowhere. I'm a pacer in better times. I look at pictures of big spaces like the empty Apple building and just imagine walking around all day while doing my thinking occasionally stopping at a desk to break out the laptop. If they ever solve programming while walking I'll be excited to be at the head of the queue. Before the pandemic I tended to work in libraries and coffee shops, except when working with local clients on their projects, then I'd use their facilities. Interesting labs and workshops, I like those. I'm tentatively excited though. I just agreed to a real small office rental. Where I live these are surprisingly rare. I'm looking forward to doing my work, my hobbies and my finances there, instead of at home. I'm looking forward to a decent, private thinking space, where I can write on my own whiteboard. Living the dream! Maybe I'll even start writing to people.
gravypod 5y ago
> Don't you have a home office anyway with a monitor, desk, and chair for normal life things? I'm 24 and just starting out my career but currently a house is completely out of my price range. I live in NJ and the cheapest house around is ~340k + ~15k/year tax. That's going to be well outside of my purchasing power for quite some time in the future. I currently live alone in a 1br apartment. > For managing your finances, writing to people, planning projects, working on hobbies, and so on? Many of the people around my age are living either at home with their parents or with their significant other + roommates. It's very difficult to find space for 2+ people's desks in a 1br apartment. If, however, people were guaranteed WFH available positions for some time and we could disperse so that all software engineers aren't crammed into ~6 cities in the world it would be fairly easy for me to get a mortgage on a house in the middle of nowhere for less than what I currently pay on rent [0]. ~3 acres of land, 3 rooms, 2 floors. It's a dream. I'm personally looking forward to the "fan-out" of talent in the US. As people relocate startups might even start popping up in random locations around the US. People in my age range might be able to start affording houses. [0] - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/88-Rambler-Rd-Thomasville-PA-17364/60436927_zpid/ https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/88-Rambler-Rd-Thomasville...

swiley 5y ago

The company I work for already had a much more expensive chair and monitor than I would buy and let me just take them home. I'd be surprised if that was unusual.