4 ms·

Does working at home make you more productive? Yes (with data)!

29 points by ojbyrne 17y ago

callmeed 17y ago
Sorry to state the obvious but the "data" doesn't prove anything. Working at home might make the Rescue Time team more productive, but it definitely isn't true for me, and probably many others. Come work at my house, guys ... my kids show you what distracting is all about
- wglb 17y ago
  Ah, you have identified the problem. I worked at home when my kids were born, and I solved the problem by having a separate office with a door. When the door is closed, I am "not home". But then the trade off is when you do take breaks, you visit with them multiple times per day. Also, there were times that we would put a blanket on the floor in my office and the kids would nap there.
  - callmeed 17y ago
    Yes, that's one of the problems for me ... my home office doesn't have a door ... it's just a bonus room on the first floor. In fact, the doorway is so wide I can't even get a baby-gate in there to keep the little one from rifling through my books or camera gear
jorleif 17y ago
I've worked from home for a year but now I'm back at an office again. Working from home seems very good for concentration, but I missed discussions with other people. It felt like after some time I would run out of energy to do it. This might be different if one was "doing his own thing" and be very motivated, but I think the ideal for me would be working from home (or somewhere else than the office, as I now have kids at home) for a couple of days a week, and then be at the office for the rest of the week. I think to make telecommuting really work, one would need to get a good understanding of the intangibles involved. An antipattern of telecommuting would be spending more time in meetings during the days in the office, to "catch up", communicate or whatever. Rather, one would need to somehow make the people working from home feel like they are socially part of the working environment. Maybe having some kind of non-meeting social settings during office days would work. Perhaps a long lunch or dinner or something?
niels 17y ago
I'd love to try rescuetime, but their linux client was working last time I tried. Don't remember what the issue was exactly though.
unperson 17y ago
I've worked from home for a few years now and from a productivity standpoint its wonderful. For me at least, the ability to work from my desk, sitting in my chair, with my lightning, with only distractions that I create (such as music), all while avoiding any time-wasting commute is huge for my ability to focus and get stuff done. Despite productivity benefits, the major drawback of working remotely is a lack of social interaction beyond telephone/e-mail/im, which can be very taxing emotionally because physical cues are hugely important to communication.
mark_l_watson 17y ago
I have mostly worked from home for the last 12 years. There is a real trick to it: identify projects that are mostly self contained with well defined deliverables; avoid projects that require tight coupling with the activities of other workers. The biggest drawback is missing the fun of 'white board time' but adequate time on the telephone (or Skype for video) helps. The advantages mostly involve being able to schedule work time for when you are feeling (and being) most productive. The ability to take a break (even if it is only doing 20 minutes of yard work, running an errand, playing a musical instrument for a few minutes, talk with family and neighbors) is often just the thing to later help get into a good work flow.
lurkinggrue 17y ago
I wish I was at home right now. Coworkers nearby keep having conversations about things that make me facepalm. I would be working better if I didn't have talk of reality shows forced into my brain when I am trying to concentrate.

29 points by ojbyrne 17y ago

Sorry to state the obvious but the "data" doesn't prove anything. Working at home might make the Rescue Time team more productive, but it definitely isn't true for me, and probably many others. Come work at my house, guys ... my kids show you what distracting is all about

wglb 17y ago
Ah, you have identified the problem. I worked at home when my kids were born, and I solved the problem by having a separate office with a door. When the door is closed, I am "not home". But then the trade off is when you do take breaks, you visit with them multiple times per day. Also, there were times that we would put a blanket on the floor in my office and the kids would nap there.
- callmeed 17y ago
  Yes, that's one of the problems for me ... my home office doesn't have a door ... it's just a bonus room on the first floor. In fact, the doorway is so wide I can't even get a baby-gate in there to keep the little one from rifling through my books or camera gear

jorleif 17y ago

I've worked from home for a year but now I'm back at an office again. Working from home seems very good for concentration, but I missed discussions with other people. It felt like after some time I would run out of energy to do it. This might be different if one was "doing his own thing" and be very motivated, but I think the ideal for me would be working from home (or somewhere else than the office, as I now have kids at home) for a couple of days a week, and then be at the office for the rest of the week. I think to make telecommuting really work, one would need to get a good understanding of the intangibles involved. An antipattern of telecommuting would be spending more time in meetings during the days in the office, to "catch up", communicate or whatever. Rather, one would need to somehow make the people working from home feel like they are socially part of the working environment. Maybe having some kind of non-meeting social settings during office days would work. Perhaps a long lunch or dinner or something?

niels 17y ago

I'd love to try rescuetime, but their linux client was working last time I tried. Don't remember what the issue was exactly though.

unperson 17y ago

I've worked from home for a few years now and from a productivity standpoint its wonderful. For me at least, the ability to work from my desk, sitting in my chair, with my lightning, with only distractions that I create (such as music), all while avoiding any time-wasting commute is huge for my ability to focus and get stuff done. Despite productivity benefits, the major drawback of working remotely is a lack of social interaction beyond telephone/e-mail/im, which can be very taxing emotionally because physical cues are hugely important to communication.

mark_l_watson 17y ago

I have mostly worked from home for the last 12 years. There is a real trick to it: identify projects that are mostly self contained with well defined deliverables; avoid projects that require tight coupling with the activities of other workers. The biggest drawback is missing the fun of 'white board time' but adequate time on the telephone (or Skype for video) helps. The advantages mostly involve being able to schedule work time for when you are feeling (and being) most productive. The ability to take a break (even if it is only doing 20 minutes of yard work, running an errand, playing a musical instrument for a few minutes, talk with family and neighbors) is often just the thing to later help get into a good work flow.

lurkinggrue 17y ago

I wish I was at home right now. Coworkers nearby keep having conversations about things that make me facepalm. I would be working better if I didn't have talk of reality shows forced into my brain when I am trying to concentrate.