4 ms·

Possibly unpopular opinion, but I wonder if one day we'll realize that having home offices is less efficient than having actual offices. The same goes for gyms.

by elric 3y ago

Possibly unpopular opinion, but I wonder if one day we'll realize that having home offices is less efficient than having actual offices. The same goes for gyms. Sure, it's nice to have an exercise bike and some dumbbells at home, but a real gym is better equipped, easier to maintain (as in: I don't have to maintain it), and gets a lot more use out of it than my home gym ever would. I don't want to work out of a closet. I hate working from my living room. I don't want to move to a bigger abode just so I can WFH more easily. A shitty open plan office is worse than my home office, but I miss having a nice office a short commute away.

cheschire 3y ago
I feel like WeWork was, at its core, a good idea. If there were more small office parks near people’s neighborhoods, where desks could be leased long term for reasonable amounts, “remote” work would be a lot more comfortable than centralized office space. And with all these office building real estate issues, I’m honestly shocked a replacement for WeWork hasn’t successfully made an impact in this space yet.
bradfa 3y ago
It's not that unpopular of an opinion, just maybe it's unpopular within the HN demographic. I work remote. I rent an office about 3 miles from my home. If I continue to work remotely for 10 years, my total cost in rent (which includes heating/cooling/electric/etc) will still be less than my family expected to pay to put an office-sized addition onto our house. My office also has fiber internet now which I cannot get at my home. But the biggest benefit is that when I'm at the office, it's a separate place from home, so I do office things at the office and home things at home. The separate physical places really help my brain to context switch. Plus, trying to do work at home when the kids are also home, before/after school or on school breaks, is very difficult for me.
- elric 3y ago
  > But the biggest benefit is that when I'm at the office, it's a separate place from home That's my biggest gripe as well. I'm always in work mode while my desk is in sight.
- pamelafox 3y ago
  Its interesting to see all the comments about work/family separation. I am definitely not a role model in terms of maintaining a good split but I’m also not sure how possible it is for me as a nursing mum. Back when I was pumping, I had to think about that constantly through the day. And now I’m done with that but still nurse in the afternoons. Maybe once I’m done with pregnancy and nursing and all that, I’ll be able to have a clean switch.
nottorp 3y ago
> but I miss having a nice office In time, any dedicated home office will end up much nicer than anything a company would provide for you, unless you're on the executive floor. > a short commute away. Keyword "short". That severely limits your job options. The only thing missing from WFH set ups is indeed work/life separation.
dade_ 3y ago
I had an office, with a locking door and a north facing window wall, so I never fried in the sun. It was dead silent, walls were soundproofed. It was glorious, I could focus and rarely needed to move to a meeting room, my office had plenty of space and a whiteboard. They were on an extremely long-term lease and it was a marvellous anachronism. The commute was a damned nightmare. A soul destroying 30 minutes to one hour stop and go. The lease expired, offices demolished and we moved to what became my first open office layout. I made it a few months before resigning. Absolutely hated it and I struggled to get anything done. However, I could walk to work, which is always a great thing for a health and mind clearing after work. I’m back to working from home again we have a nearby office that I visit occasionally for meetings. It’s a separate room north facing window (West and south aren’t great at all). For me, there are tax benefits to help cover the cost, and the savings on a commute, restaurants for lunch, and dry cleaning easily cover the rest. Time savings are great, but I recommend keeping the commute at the end of the day, take different walks around the neighbourhood. Find new businesses, meet neighbours. It’s much better than the same walk each day to work. My 2c.

by elric 3y ago

cheschire 3y ago

I feel like WeWork was, at its core, a good idea. If there were more small office parks near people’s neighborhoods, where desks could be leased long term for reasonable amounts, “remote” work would be a lot more comfortable than centralized office space. And with all these office building real estate issues, I’m honestly shocked a replacement for WeWork hasn’t successfully made an impact in this space yet.

bradfa 3y ago

It's not that unpopular of an opinion, just maybe it's unpopular within the HN demographic. I work remote. I rent an office about 3 miles from my home. If I continue to work remotely for 10 years, my total cost in rent (which includes heating/cooling/electric/etc) will still be less than my family expected to pay to put an office-sized addition onto our house. My office also has fiber internet now which I cannot get at my home. But the biggest benefit is that when I'm at the office, it's a separate place from home, so I do office things at the office and home things at home. The separate physical places really help my brain to context switch. Plus, trying to do work at home when the kids are also home, before/after school or on school breaks, is very difficult for me.

elric 3y ago
> But the biggest benefit is that when I'm at the office, it's a separate place from home That's my biggest gripe as well. I'm always in work mode while my desk is in sight.
pamelafox 3y ago
Its interesting to see all the comments about work/family separation. I am definitely not a role model in terms of maintaining a good split but I’m also not sure how possible it is for me as a nursing mum. Back when I was pumping, I had to think about that constantly through the day. And now I’m done with that but still nurse in the afternoons. Maybe once I’m done with pregnancy and nursing and all that, I’ll be able to have a clean switch.

nottorp 3y ago

> but I miss having a nice office In time, any dedicated home office will end up much nicer than anything a company would provide for you, unless you're on the executive floor. > a short commute away. Keyword "short". That severely limits your job options. The only thing missing from WFH set ups is indeed work/life separation.

dade_ 3y ago

I had an office, with a locking door and a north facing window wall, so I never fried in the sun. It was dead silent, walls were soundproofed. It was glorious, I could focus and rarely needed to move to a meeting room, my office had plenty of space and a whiteboard. They were on an extremely long-term lease and it was a marvellous anachronism. The commute was a damned nightmare. A soul destroying 30 minutes to one hour stop and go. The lease expired, offices demolished and we moved to what became my first open office layout. I made it a few months before resigning. Absolutely hated it and I struggled to get anything done. However, I could walk to work, which is always a great thing for a health and mind clearing after work. I’m back to working from home again we have a nearby office that I visit occasionally for meetings. It’s a separate room north facing window (West and south aren’t great at all). For me, there are tax benefits to help cover the cost, and the savings on a commute, restaurants for lunch, and dry cleaning easily cover the rest. Time savings are great, but I recommend keeping the commute at the end of the day, take different walks around the neighbourhood. Find new businesses, meet neighbours. It’s much better than the same walk each day to work. My 2c.