4 ms·

As someone who has mostly worked from home for the past decade: 1) Really long commutes for the sake of my butt keeping a seat warm to keep a manager happy are

by varelse 14y ago

As someone who has mostly worked from home for the past decade: 1) Really long commutes for the sake of my butt keeping a seat warm to keep a manager happy are dealbreakers. I have never made such a job work out for me. At the most recent example, my brief position at Google involved a 1-hour commute each way only to spend 8-10 hours in a dead-silent office, where no one significantly interacted and for which I was forbidden to telecommute by my mostly absentee manager, ever. Loved the food and the gym though. 2) Working at home 3-4 days a week is productivity Nirvana for me leading to patents, promotions and pay raises lather rinse repeat. 3) Working utterly and completely from home eventually leads to a sense of isolation and depression. 4) Despite #3, I prefer to do crunch mode work in isolation because I'm easily startled and prone to the excessive use of colorful metaphors when under the gun. My cat doesn't mind. My dog doesn't care. But I suspect coworkers in proximity would fear for their lives.

Osiris 14y ago
3) Working utterly and completely from home eventually leads to a sense of isolation and depression. I did that for about three months straight and I agree with the assessment. At my new job I work 3-4 days a week in the office and 1-2 days at home. I find a mix of office and home to be a good balance, though I do find the commute an utter waste of time.
- stock_toaster 14y ago
  I work remote most of the time. I have a family, which I think has insulated me from the sense of isolation to a large extent. It is good to head into the office on occasion though (once every two or three weeks or so).
- EvanKelly 14y ago
  Is this the case with an active social life as well? I don't find that most of my socializing and interaction comes from my co-workers (who are significantly out of my age range). I've never worked from home, but I'd really like to. I like to think as long as I still socialized after work (happy hour type stuff, kickball league, etc.) I wouldn't feel the isolation and depression.
  - pault 14y ago
    You underestimate how much of your social interaction comes from your coworkers. I've been remote for 3 years now, and my social network has atrophied to nothing, with the exception of some superficial interactions on facebook with people I used to see every day. To be fair, I have been traveling pretty consistently since I started this arrangement, and nobody wants to be friends with a transient. I mostly cope by working out several hours per day, but I'm at the end of my rope and all I really want is to settle down (as soon as I find a mid-sized city with year-round perfect weather, cheap cost of living, and a thriving community of creative technical professionals ;) edit: That being said, I'm not sure I would be able to return to regular office work and all the social posturing that comes along with it.
    - EvanKelly 14y ago
      I certainly interact with my co-workers at work and talk about the normal stuff (sports, news, politics, etc.), but outside of work I see my co-workers 0% of the time, unless I coincidentally run into them. My outside of work socializing is simply people I've either met on my own or through the 2-3 people I knew in the city befor I moved here 2 years ago. I would recommend Honolulu for your relocation, but cost of living is a little steep (but manageable...and worth it) and our tech community is definitely in the development stage (though it is existent and fairly active). EDIT: I want to clarify that I probably do underestimate the benefit of my work interactions. The reason I go out and socialize so much is that I find myself feeling isolated and lonely on nights/weekends where I choose to stay in.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- yeureka 14y ago
  Agreed. I have been working from home for more than a year now and I do feel isolated. When I am working on something interesting this doesn't affect me much, but when I am stuck in a problem it is easy to feel a bit anxious and depressed. To cope with it I exercise and try to see my friends as much as I can. Running and weights seem to be more effective against isolation induced anxiety. Swimming helps me relax when I feel frustrated with a specific problem. Reading HN helps as well. I am much more productive working at home, but as soon as I finish my current project I am going to try to get contract work that involves some office time before I loose my sanity.
adnanofsteel 14y ago
I suspect this perhaps also has to do with the type of person you are as well. If you are a natural introvert and long for solitude to help you re-charge yourself, working from home can be a great source of productivity and general happiness. I am at times allowed to work from home myself, and I do indeed get more done that way. I am also a lot happier and less prone to stresses and downtimes when I've had one or two day break from the ''natural'' work environment. In our day and age, I really feel as though traditional office work conditions are archaic and in fact do not encourage productivity, as they instil the idea that the employee should forget about his or her job as soon as the clock hits 5PM. I believe this is also why many children and students find it hard to do their homework after school. We can get a lot more done now as we are constantly connected and online. Many of us still do our work outside of, and before, working hours. In return, there should be more freedom of movement and flexibility.

by varelse 14y ago

Osiris 14y ago

3) Working utterly and completely from home eventually leads to a sense of isolation and depression. I did that for about three months straight and I agree with the assessment. At my new job I work 3-4 days a week in the office and 1-2 days at home. I find a mix of office and home to be a good balance, though I do find the commute an utter waste of time.

stock_toaster 14y ago
I work remote most of the time. I have a family, which I think has insulated me from the sense of isolation to a large extent. It is good to head into the office on occasion though (once every two or three weeks or so).
EvanKelly 14y ago
Is this the case with an active social life as well? I don't find that most of my socializing and interaction comes from my co-workers (who are significantly out of my age range). I've never worked from home, but I'd really like to. I like to think as long as I still socialized after work (happy hour type stuff, kickball league, etc.) I wouldn't feel the isolation and depression.
- pault 14y ago
  You underestimate how much of your social interaction comes from your coworkers. I've been remote for 3 years now, and my social network has atrophied to nothing, with the exception of some superficial interactions on facebook with people I used to see every day. To be fair, I have been traveling pretty consistently since I started this arrangement, and nobody wants to be friends with a transient. I mostly cope by working out several hours per day, but I'm at the end of my rope and all I really want is to settle down (as soon as I find a mid-sized city with year-round perfect weather, cheap cost of living, and a thriving community of creative technical professionals ;) edit: That being said, I'm not sure I would be able to return to regular office work and all the social posturing that comes along with it.
  - EvanKelly 14y ago
    I certainly interact with my co-workers at work and talk about the normal stuff (sports, news, politics, etc.), but outside of work I see my co-workers 0% of the time, unless I coincidentally run into them. My outside of work socializing is simply people I've either met on my own or through the 2-3 people I knew in the city befor I moved here 2 years ago. I would recommend Honolulu for your relocation, but cost of living is a little steep (but manageable...and worth it) and our tech community is definitely in the development stage (though it is existent and fairly active). EDIT: I want to clarify that I probably do underestimate the benefit of my work interactions. The reason I go out and socialize so much is that I find myself feeling isolated and lonely on nights/weekends where I choose to stay in.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
yeureka 14y ago
Agreed. I have been working from home for more than a year now and I do feel isolated. When I am working on something interesting this doesn't affect me much, but when I am stuck in a problem it is easy to feel a bit anxious and depressed. To cope with it I exercise and try to see my friends as much as I can. Running and weights seem to be more effective against isolation induced anxiety. Swimming helps me relax when I feel frustrated with a specific problem. Reading HN helps as well. I am much more productive working at home, but as soon as I finish my current project I am going to try to get contract work that involves some office time before I loose my sanity.

adnanofsteel 14y ago

I suspect this perhaps also has to do with the type of person you are as well. If you are a natural introvert and long for solitude to help you re-charge yourself, working from home can be a great source of productivity and general happiness. I am at times allowed to work from home myself, and I do indeed get more done that way. I am also a lot happier and less prone to stresses and downtimes when I've had one or two day break from the ''natural'' work environment. In our day and age, I really feel as though traditional office work conditions are archaic and in fact do not encourage productivity, as they instil the idea that the employee should forget about his or her job as soon as the clock hits 5PM. I believe this is also why many children and students find it hard to do their homework after school. We can get a lot more done now as we are constantly connected and online. Many of us still do our work outside of, and before, working hours. In return, there should be more freedom of movement and flexibility.