Hi all. I am a longtime Cecil fan who just discovered this Web site about a month ago. I’m constantly pondering life’s biggest and most inane questions (“tapping my foot mentally,” as I refer to it), so this place is like heaven!
Anyway, I’m a newspaper reporter, and since early August I have been working out of my house. My new employer set me up with a nice home office, and I modem my stories in to the paper’s main branch, like 50 miles away.
Working like this seems to have HUGE pluses and HUGE minuses. I was wondering what y’all think – if ultimately, this is the way to go, or if I need to be looking to get back into the traditional office setting before I become Howard Hughes in his later years.
Things I love about it include not ever having to “look busy,” being totally judged on my finished product (great for a procrastinator like me), being able to do little things such as laundry or the dishes while working, no commutes, doing over-the-phone morning interviews in your underwear (don’t think I could have gotten away with that at my last job).
Things I hate include not having the companionship of co-workers, and not getting out of the house so much, leading to that parakeet-in-a-cage feeling. You have to make an extra effort to get out and shake the dust off yourself in this situation.
I worry that I will have tremendous difficulty reverting back to an office setting.
I worked at home for almost two years, and I’d go back to it in a second, for all the reasons you describe. The day seems much longer when you can leave out such mundanities as showering, brushing your hair, etc.
The bad part is as you described - I’m not a social person at all, but by the time my husband came home, I was ready to talk his ear off. yak yak yak yak yak!
It was moderately hard to get back into the work-at-an-office thing. I went from working at home to working at a place where I had to (gasp!) dress up, and I wasn’t too excited about it. I was underpaid and overworked at the at-home job, and I would have gone back to it in a second if I had a change (the company had gone out of business.)
I have worked in both environs, and i find the office more suited to me.
First off I have fewer diversions at work.
Secondly, I have others to work with.
And finally, if I leave to go to work, it means i don’t bring my work home as often and it’s easier to relax.
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
I work at home 2 days a week and the office 3. I like home because I get more done without the interuptions. I have to deal with things that I can only do at work so I go in for those reasons. That’s when I catch up with all my friends at work. I am like a visitor so they are always glad to see me. I like it kind of half and half. I have the best of both worlds.
I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature!
Did that for 2 1/2 years but was self-employed. Would do it again.
One risk for you is being out of the office G2 loop. Whether or not you agree/disagree, approve/disapprove of office politics, it is a reality and you do yourself a disservice if you don’t stay somewhat current. Make the commute from time to time so you aren’t forgotten. Stay in touch with your colleagues.
I did find it frustrating when I had to go back to a corporate setting.
Individual work styles and personalities will make the work at home vs go to an office decision different for everyone. I have a friend who is extremely well suited to working from home alone, and she loves it. I, on the other hand, really need to be around people and therefore I absolutely hated it. I had a home business I ran for about a year and a half. Being in my house all day, every day made me feel isolated, lonely, frustrated at not being able to bounce ideas off of co-workers (or just generally having people to talk with face-to-face), cooped up and claustrophobic. For me, the payoffs didn’t even come close to outweighing the negatives. Frankly, it was the beginning of a near nervous breakdown then and current bouts of depression I still suffer frequently. I would never do it again unless forced to somehow by circumstances beyond my control.
If you really want to make it work, and you can discipline yourself, I’d highly recommend the following:
[ul]
[li]Don’t get in the habit of sitting around in your underwear. It tends to lead to an “I’m not really at work” attitude and can ultimately be detrimental to actually accomplishing anything.[/li][li]Do get up every morning and go for a brisk walk or a run. Or go to the gym and work out. The adrenaline kick will help make you more productive throughout the day.[/li][li]After your walk/run/workout, shower and dress as though you were going into an office where others will see you.[/li][li]If you don’t exercise in the morning, go to a local coffee shop where you might be able to strike up conversations with other patrons over a cup of joe before you start the daily grind.[/li][li]Go back to your home office and get to work just like you would in any other office.[/li][li]Make it a point to leave the house every day for lunch. If you drive through a fast food place, find a park and eat your lunch there (or eat in the restaurant). Call friends and ask them to meet you somewhere on your lunch hour if at all possible at least 2 or 3 times a week. You’ll appreciate the company and the break in your day.[/li][li]Turn the ringer off on your business line after hours. There was nothing more annoying or frustrating than attempting to ignore a ringing phone at 9:00 at night or buckling under and answering it, only to be stuck working another hour or more.[/li][/ul]
Best of luck to you - I hope everything works out to your long term career satisfaction.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
I work out of my home, though it’s not full time. I’d imagine you could pull it off if you were really focused. I find myself re-organizing my junk drawer when I go there to find a pencil sharpener, which is okay for a part-time job, but… Anyway,I save bunches of money on clothes, gas, and childcare. And nothing beats sleeping in in the morning versus having to be in the office at 8am sharp. I’m a night owl by nature, so this suits me just fine.
Like PCW, I work part-time at home and part-time in an office setting now. Personally I prefer the work at home end, but it is nice to go into work and catch up on the office happenings, even as a consultant they think of me as a regular employee.
Five years ago, I ran my sales office from my home, which still was the ideal situation. I could in fact, get up, make my coffee and start working in the matter of a minute, the best commute in the world. If a client would call I simply would tell them I am in the middle of a bid but could meet with them in such and such time (depending on their location, I added on about 40 minutes to shower, shave and brush the teeth).
I enjoy the freedom and with no boss or co-workers to hover around, you can actually get more work done. I am self employed now, so budgeting time can be hard.
On the down side, if you don’t carefully place your office, it will be staring at you. I didn’t have a lot of choice with my sales job and I had been introduced to the internet so I made it a rule every night to place all my work in it’s appropriate folders etc. Every Friday I would clean and file and shut down the office at 4:30 (sometimes earlier) and go enjoy a beer with a client.
I run my business out of my apt., but my job involves running around all day so I get out into the world and don’t feel reclusive. I’m also addicted to running errands during conventional business hours, and now can’t stand to be in a grocery store on weekends. So far the only downside is that my living room/home office combo is definitely not ideal for either.
Tips:
If the phone wakes you up, let the machine get it. A half-asleep voice doesn’t make a good impression. Especially at 10:00 a.m.
Tell non-business related callers that you’re on your way out the door to an appt. Unless of course, you’re procrastinating, in which case feel free to catch up on the latest news.
Don’t be afraid to put business callers on hold - they won’t know you’re loading the dryer. (hey, some days the clothes will sit in the washer all day otherwise)
I’ve discovered I’m never not going to do the work, but that I will neglect personal errands. I’ve learned to run to the bank, grocery store, dry cleaner and so forth before beginning the day’s work. But in this respect everyone is different and you’ll have to play around with scheduling before learning what’s best for you.
Recordkeeping is a PITA, but essential. A little each day is less of a headache than trying to piece the past together monthly or (eek!) quarterly.
I worked at home for a time and loved it. Believe it or not, I’m actually a pretty good craftsman. I make small things out of almost any type of wood I find. I made 11 inch tall little outhouses, with working doors and the little shelf and hole inside, little log cabins out of the twigs and branches of Oak trees, rustic, 6 to 8 inch bait houses out of cut and finished popsicle sticks with screened doors and windows and tiny signs, whimsical tree houses 12 inches tall, some with working hoists and ladders, some with grain of wheat lights worked into the foliage, and ‘shack’ cabins ranging from 6 inches to a foot in length with stone smoke stacks, and some had tiny lights in them and were decorated with tiny flowers, grass and vines and sold them.
I liked working my own hours without anyone peering over my shoulders. If I screwed up, no one bitched at me and the loss was mine alone. Plus, I liked going out for walks in the woods for ‘material.’ I even built a 24 in long by 8 inch by 10 in tall, log cabin doll house for my niece to play with, complete with fireplace, tiny lamps, working doors, and (crude) furniture. Even screens on the windows. The roof comes off so she can play with the stuff inside.
I liked delivering papers also, for a second job years ago. I’d show up. Get my stuff, drive away from the noisy crowd to a quiet place, fold and stack 'em and deliver. No one looking over my shoulder – though I had to pay a substitute for days off.
I liked being a courier also. Grab the stuff and go! No one looking over my shoulder, no gripes so long as I did the job right. I could take extra time as needed, buy lunch and eat it under a tree, a/c going in the van, a good book in my lap and, then go about my afternoon work. I even got my orders via radio.
I work at home and I believe Shayna hit the nail on the head. Following a schedule is important and dressing as if you were actually going into the office is very important.