4 ms·

I work from home 5 days a week. I love the ability of having a flexible work environment , so I drive myself to remain focused during the day and produce the mo

I work from home 5 days a week. I love the ability of having a flexible work environment , so I drive myself to remain focused during the day and produce the most that I can. This doesn't work for everyone, a lot of people will say they get distracted, or don't have motivation to make it work. In my mind it's generally because they haven't setup the proper home office atmosphere and/or processes.

stdbrouw 14y ago
> In my mind it's generally because they haven't setup the proper home office atmosphere and/or processes. True as that may be, it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. Setting up the proper home office atmosphere and processes, experimenting with different ways of working, that in itself is part of the ordeal.
- kevining 14y ago
  True, but I find that the most effective workers can be effective anywhere. At home: I can't get work done because I get distracted by my couch/play video games. At the office: I'm not getting work done because I'm reading HN all day long. Knowing yourself and how to create the proper processes/workplace is important, and something everyone should discover about themselves.
  - justanother 14y ago
    This. If you're determined to pound-out a good 8 hour day for a client, and do a fine job that shows fine results, it doesn't matter what your surroundings are. Unfortunately thi s debate is showing up daily in HN lately, and I don't anticipate swaying any minds. Disclosure: Teleworker for 10 years, often for Californians (who themselves often assume I'm in the same state or timezone as them, and I'm set up to anticipate that) via sailboat in the Florida Keys.
    - jdotjdot 14y ago
      I often aspire to a life like the one you have. What type of telework do you do?
      - justanother 14y ago
        I do whatever gets thrown my way by my 'boots on the ground' partners in LA in San Francisco (without whom I'd get a lot less work). Primarily Rails and Node, sometimes even PHP (with Zend or other MVC frameworks at least though). I'll even write Java plugins for your Wowza Media Server, if that's what you need. After taxes, the paycheck isn't quite as good as a senior developer in San Francisco, despite the work being hard and engaging. But hey, the nights and weekends are beyond comparison.
    - nightski 14y ago
      I disagree on one point, food. When working at an office I tend to eat out and just generally be unhealthy. Working from home allows me more time to cook meals and be healthier in general.
- enraged_camel 14y ago
  >>True as that may be, it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. It depends on the work and home environments. In my office there are a lot of distractions, probably because I work in Presales which means I'm sitting among salespeople, who are one of the loudest groups in a corporate environment. On top of this we have an open-office plan, which means that even if I put on noise-canceling headphones, I still have to deal with visual distractions like people walking by. As if all of this weren't enough, our catered lunch starts at noon and ends at 1pm, so I need to take that into account when I schedule my day, even if I'm not hungry at that time. In contrast, my home is a very quiet and comfortable environment. On days that I have worked from home (sick, car troubles, etc. - working from home under normal circumstances is strictly forbidden), I have gotten three to four times as much work done.
- gte910h 14y ago
  >fairly hard not to go insane at home You have to chitchat plenty, and you have to do lunches out a couple times a week, etc, and have social interaction in the evenings.
- RHSeeger 14y ago
  > it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. That depends entirely on the person. I've spent years working totally in an office, totally at home, and various combinations of the two. I get a lot less done in the office precisely because I can't concentrate with people moving and talking all around me. Just the thought of the open floorplan setups a lot of companies have makes me shudder. Putting headphones on and listening to music is just as distracting to me. Working from home, it's quiet and I can focus on what I need to. I don't have any issue with lack of social contact; between IMs, telephone, Skype, and the occasional trip to the office it just never seems to be an issue. Overall, I think the best setup (for me) is being able to work from home as often as I want (2-4 days a week), with the opportunity to go into an office whenever I want for meetings and general discussion.

stdbrouw 14y ago

> In my mind it's generally because they haven't setup the proper home office atmosphere and/or processes. True as that may be, it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. Setting up the proper home office atmosphere and processes, experimenting with different ways of working, that in itself is part of the ordeal.

kevining 14y ago
True, but I find that the most effective workers can be effective anywhere. At home: I can't get work done because I get distracted by my couch/play video games. At the office: I'm not getting work done because I'm reading HN all day long. Knowing yourself and how to create the proper processes/workplace is important, and something everyone should discover about themselves.
- justanother 14y ago
  This. If you're determined to pound-out a good 8 hour day for a client, and do a fine job that shows fine results, it doesn't matter what your surroundings are. Unfortunately thi s debate is showing up daily in HN lately, and I don't anticipate swaying any minds. Disclosure: Teleworker for 10 years, often for Californians (who themselves often assume I'm in the same state or timezone as them, and I'm set up to anticipate that) via sailboat in the Florida Keys.
  - jdotjdot 14y ago
    I often aspire to a life like the one you have. What type of telework do you do?
    - justanother 14y ago
      I do whatever gets thrown my way by my 'boots on the ground' partners in LA in San Francisco (without whom I'd get a lot less work). Primarily Rails and Node, sometimes even PHP (with Zend or other MVC frameworks at least though). I'll even write Java plugins for your Wowza Media Server, if that's what you need. After taxes, the paycheck isn't quite as good as a senior developer in San Francisco, despite the work being hard and engaging. But hey, the nights and weekends are beyond comparison.
  - nightski 14y ago
    I disagree on one point, food. When working at an office I tend to eat out and just generally be unhealthy. Working from home allows me more time to cook meals and be healthier in general.
enraged_camel 14y ago
>>True as that may be, it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. It depends on the work and home environments. In my office there are a lot of distractions, probably because I work in Presales which means I'm sitting among salespeople, who are one of the loudest groups in a corporate environment. On top of this we have an open-office plan, which means that even if I put on noise-canceling headphones, I still have to deal with visual distractions like people walking by. As if all of this weren't enough, our catered lunch starts at noon and ends at 1pm, so I need to take that into account when I schedule my day, even if I'm not hungry at that time. In contrast, my home is a very quiet and comfortable environment. On days that I have worked from home (sick, car troubles, etc. - working from home under normal circumstances is strictly forbidden), I have gotten three to four times as much work done.
gte910h 14y ago
>fairly hard not to go insane at home You have to chitchat plenty, and you have to do lunches out a couple times a week, etc, and have social interaction in the evenings.
RHSeeger 14y ago
> it's fairly easy to stay focused in a work environment and fairly hard not to go insane at home. That depends entirely on the person. I've spent years working totally in an office, totally at home, and various combinations of the two. I get a lot less done in the office precisely because I can't concentrate with people moving and talking all around me. Just the thought of the open floorplan setups a lot of companies have makes me shudder. Putting headphones on and listening to music is just as distracting to me. Working from home, it's quiet and I can focus on what I need to. I don't have any issue with lack of social contact; between IMs, telephone, Skype, and the occasional trip to the office it just never seems to be an issue. Overall, I think the best setup (for me) is being able to work from home as often as I want (2-4 days a week), with the opportunity to go into an office whenever I want for meetings and general discussion.