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I hear you. I work at Facebook, albeit in Seattle. Honestly, I'd prefer private offices too. I prefer complete silence for coding. (Okay, occasionally jazz, cla

I hear you. I work at Facebook, albeit in Seattle. Honestly, I'd prefer private offices too. I prefer complete silence for coding. (Okay, occasionally jazz, classical, or video game music.) I don't get that with our open plan office. BUT! 1) I can work from home as often as I want 2) we get free, very high quality headphones, and 3) there are quiet spaces I can use when necessary. Coming from Microsoft, I miss private offices more than I actually do. The way I look at it, I do my real coding at home, on an Amtrak sleeper car, or whatever, and come into the office to socialize about coding, a completely different activity.

correctbattery 12y ago
One reason I rent a two bedroom apartment is so that I can have an office at home.
- teacup50 12y ago
  I hope Facebook is paying for your at-home office, then.
- JohnBooty 12y ago
  Having some sort of dedicated home office space is soooooo key. Otherwise there's almost no boundary at all between work life and home life. It becomes hard to mentally get into "work mode" when the work day starts and it's hard to fully out of "work mode" when the work day is over. Over the years I've found that the vast majority of work-from-homers share this opinion. Almost unanimously.
  - correctbattery 12y ago
    You are seriously underestimating hoe awesome it is to code in bed under blankets on a cold winter day with a cup of hot chocolate beside you.
    - JohnBooty 12y ago
      That would kill my back! But heck yeah to everything else, and add some pets curled up at my feet. I got so much extra work done this winter when it snowed and I worked from home.
      - MaulingMonkey 12y ago
        I mounted an LCD above my bed so I can lay flat - no back pains. With a wireless mouse & keyboard on the lap I can touch type on. ...razor straight elbows aren't good either though, which eventually puts a crimp in that pose. Good for short runs of coding though!
- girvo 12y ago
  I rent a one-bedroom on my own, but it has a huge lounge with a desk, power points and cable connection on one side. Works brilliantly for me, though my iMac I have living on the desk is getting so long in the tooth I barely use it anymore. Bit of a shame really, I like having a dedicated desktop. I think I need to get a Mac Pro...
- 27182818284 12y ago
  A two bedroom in Nebraska runs you $500 per month. Timezone is off by 2 hours. Internet is 30 down 5 up for $60 per month. There is a reason why companies like http://www.hudl.com/ http://www.hudl.com/ are killing it here. You can fight for years, or have a ranch with basement when you're a 26-year-old developer.
  - marssaxman 12y ago
    And then you finish up your work day only to find yourself stuck in Nebraska, with nothing but cornfields for hundreds of miles in every direction... so that'd better be one hell of an awesome ranch house.
    - 27182818284 12y ago
      If you wanted to, sure! A lot of people dig the peace and quiet, lakes they have a boat for, etc. Most young tech people I know though gravitate toward the cities, though. http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/12/392136573/silicon-prairie-tech-startups-find-a-welcoming-home-in-the-midwest http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/12/392136...
- bluedino 12y ago
  As do I, but since I have a laptop I seem to do most of my work at the kitchen table.
JohnBooty 12y ago
That seems like a good blend of collaborative and solo time. I once had a job where I worked from home two days a week and it worked quite well. Socializing about coding is actually my favorite part of my current job. At my previous position I was the only full-time engineer. One reason I took my current job was the chance to work with a team of talented people, most of whom are more experienced (with this technology stack) than me.
orik 12y ago
horsestaple? I was translating on the first tour of your office to some japanese exchange students, and if I recall correctly, you guys had different rooms that implied different levels of 'don't interrupt' vs 'really don't interrupt me', right?
sukilot 12y ago
Sounds like Facebook is actually having people use their homes as their offices (claim that tax deduction!) and having an open office for meetings. But they are afraid to admit that individual work happens at home.

correctbattery 12y ago

One reason I rent a two bedroom apartment is so that I can have an office at home.

teacup50 12y ago
I hope Facebook is paying for your at-home office, then.
JohnBooty 12y ago
Having some sort of dedicated home office space is soooooo key. Otherwise there's almost no boundary at all between work life and home life. It becomes hard to mentally get into "work mode" when the work day starts and it's hard to fully out of "work mode" when the work day is over. Over the years I've found that the vast majority of work-from-homers share this opinion. Almost unanimously.
- correctbattery 12y ago
  You are seriously underestimating hoe awesome it is to code in bed under blankets on a cold winter day with a cup of hot chocolate beside you.
  - JohnBooty 12y ago
    That would kill my back! But heck yeah to everything else, and add some pets curled up at my feet. I got so much extra work done this winter when it snowed and I worked from home.
    - MaulingMonkey 12y ago
      I mounted an LCD above my bed so I can lay flat - no back pains. With a wireless mouse & keyboard on the lap I can touch type on. ...razor straight elbows aren't good either though, which eventually puts a crimp in that pose. Good for short runs of coding though!
girvo 12y ago
I rent a one-bedroom on my own, but it has a huge lounge with a desk, power points and cable connection on one side. Works brilliantly for me, though my iMac I have living on the desk is getting so long in the tooth I barely use it anymore. Bit of a shame really, I like having a dedicated desktop. I think I need to get a Mac Pro...
27182818284 12y ago
A two bedroom in Nebraska runs you $500 per month. Timezone is off by 2 hours. Internet is 30 down 5 up for $60 per month. There is a reason why companies like http://www.hudl.com/ http://www.hudl.com/ are killing it here. You can fight for years, or have a ranch with basement when you're a 26-year-old developer.
- marssaxman 12y ago
  And then you finish up your work day only to find yourself stuck in Nebraska, with nothing but cornfields for hundreds of miles in every direction... so that'd better be one hell of an awesome ranch house.
  - 27182818284 12y ago
    If you wanted to, sure! A lot of people dig the peace and quiet, lakes they have a boat for, etc. Most young tech people I know though gravitate toward the cities, though. http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/12/392136573/silicon-prairie-tech-startups-find-a-welcoming-home-in-the-midwest http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/12/392136...
bluedino 12y ago
As do I, but since I have a laptop I seem to do most of my work at the kitchen table.

JohnBooty 12y ago

That seems like a good blend of collaborative and solo time. I once had a job where I worked from home two days a week and it worked quite well. Socializing about coding is actually my favorite part of my current job. At my previous position I was the only full-time engineer. One reason I took my current job was the chance to work with a team of talented people, most of whom are more experienced (with this technology stack) than me.

orik 12y ago

horsestaple? I was translating on the first tour of your office to some japanese exchange students, and if I recall correctly, you guys had different rooms that implied different levels of 'don't interrupt' vs 'really don't interrupt me', right?

sukilot 12y ago

Sounds like Facebook is actually having people use their homes as their offices (claim that tax deduction!) and having an open office for meetings. But they are afraid to admit that individual work happens at home.