Working from home for me was likely slowly sliding into a deep depression with no one to talk to. I understand many people pull it off but I fundamentally believe we are social animals who benefit enormously from being around other humans. I don't think that means you need to work in a dedicated office, but an office / studio / around other hackers (regardless of who they work with) is a huge boon to life style and learning.
I enjoy working remotely because I don't have to lie to myself. There's no faking it for a boss who walks by. There's nobody to impress but myself (and my teammates on chat).<p>I think that actually makes me far more productive. Now the two cumulative hours I spent pretending to be working while in the office, I spend doing things like exercising or running errands. Then when I return, I'm far more rejuvenated than I would have been mindlessly sitting at the office.
Haven't we had those articles about 3 times a year over the last 20 years?<p>I worked from home for two years. The biggest issue for me was not being able to influence decisions and create relationships with the various stake holders. I like to be involved in more than just writing code for some corner, i.e. I don't enjoy just being a cog in the machine. We had one of those funny remote presence robots but that isn't really the same thing.<p>For me the social aspect was not an issue. My wife and kids are home (homeschooling, the future of school is also home). I would go out for lunch with friends and I have other activities.<p>Being able to occasionally travel and work from somewhere else was great. Owning my work environment, having a standup desk, an office, my choice of gear, was also great. Not so great was the expectation (mostly self imposed) that you're always available online.<p>I also managed people from home. Some in the office. Some also remote. That's also very difficult, making sure they didn't feel left out like I sometimes did. Trying to gauge contribution without seeing them working physically and trying to care less about how much time they're putting in and whether they're always available :) I.e. trying to be a good boss.<p>Now I work from home two days a week. It seems like a reasonable balance. Could probably even do 3 day a week. The office is in the same city vs. a different country so coming in when needed is easy.<p>In the not so distant future I think you'll be able to put on your VR system and be in the "office" or in a meeting, take it off and be at home. If everyone was in that system I think this could be a good solution.
I work from a remote office right now. Even though it is less isolating than working from home, I've noticed a major communication problem. When you are working with other people in the same office, you can notice unspoken things. You can see when something you said is unpopular. If someone hates something you said, its possible they will just keep quiet and avoid conflict instead of telling you about it. So maybe everyone in the main office is slowly starting to hate you and your ideas, and you don't find out till it has gotten pretty far.<p>I know HN loves working remotely, and I do too. But you have to accept that even if your office communicates well, no one is going to email you an update of the general vibe in the office as it changes moment-to-moment.
Increased working at home seems like it will be a good candidate to replace open office plan workspaces.<p>I like to think of workplace design as moving back and forth between private and open, each taking advantage of new technology when they become standard.<p>With good internet speeds and collaborative chat apps being ubiquitous, and real estate costs soaring in the great tech hubs, work from home makes sense.
I work from home, and it requires a lot of discipline especially when you have to wake up for the early morning meeting then wake your kids up for school
What I loved when I worked from home was...<p>PROs<p>- Wake up start working no shower or long drive in traffic<p>- Can work anywhere I want either sitting or standing<p>- Can take breaks anytime I want to go to doctor appt, go for a long walk/hike at various parks close by<p>- With my last two points I kept a healthier lifestyle .. didnt gain weight.. actually lost a little<p>- Not a plus for me completely, but my output was crazy high and my co-workers randomly gave me kudos for the work completed.<p>CONs<p>- Pay was a lot less then say working at govt. office<p>- Hours I worked due to the above was anytime between 10am & before I slept, but I got things done & more.<p>The job noted above was great, but I went on a reality TV show and they wouldn't work with me (show or job ... which i work remote so i didnt understand their position.. possible ego thing). Now I am back working at an office, fighting traffic and fighting the unhealthy aspects that come from working at an office. Overall, I love what I am doing at my new job more then the last (the actual work), so it's a trade off.
"a certain numbers of hours in-person to maintain accountability"<p>At GitLab we think that accountability doesn't require to be in-person. We see the value of regular 1:1 conversations with you manager but those can happen in a video call.
> <i>Once upon a time, working from home seemed a romantic and highly exclusive option for a luxury creative class.</i><p>Even this is not true; working from “home” used to be the <i>norm</i>. I ask you, did a cobbler of old or a general store shopkeeper <i>commute</i>? No, they had their home in the same building. It was only with industrialization that commuting, i.e. not working from home, became the norm.
I don't really want to work at <i>home</i>, because that just means sitting at my kitchen table all day long... but I do appreciate working away from the office, or at least having the flexibility to get away from there some days.<p>People get into these debates about working at home vs working at the office, where some people like to be at home and some people like to be at the office, but my primary desire is just simply to not be in the same place all day every day.<p><i>That's</i> what depresses me, not any innate features of either an office or my home. Both are nice enough places. I just want some damn variety and freedom in my day to day life.
I work from home, but I spend half my time at coffee shops. Sometimes it's hard to concentrate at home, but then there are times like this morning where I've been in the zone. Wish I could nail down exactly what makes the difference.
3 years working from home. There are pros and cons, but the pros for myself and my company easily win the day. When I think of all the time - productive and personal - that I and other people have wasted commuting, it hurts my head.<p>Generally I think of working from home in terms of collaborative work and execution. About 10% of what I do is collaborative while 90% is pure execution. For collaborative work, there's no substitute for being in the same room with other people. But when it comes to executing, which is most of what we do, being in a private office at home allows me so much more productivity than I ever have in a typical office. The social isolation that people mention does occur occasionally, but there are ways to mitigate it.<p>Another thing to consider is that many teams or organizations are naturally distributed across offices or companies already, including teams that work on open source efforts. When it comes to this kind of work, collaboration must be electronic and where you sit doesn't really matter. You may as well get some more out of your day by skipping the commute.
A trick that worked for me is getting a dog. They keep you on schedule and give you breaks along your day (since they have to eat, go potty and go for walks).<p>Plus they are better than rubber ducks.
I sure hope the future of work is working in a location that balances the needs of the worker and the team. For some teams that's an open office, for some it's cubicles, for some it's completely remote, for some it's some mixture.<p>But apparemtly, the future of work is claiming your work style is the future of work.
I've worked from home for 6 years (with two years in between when I would come to the office 3 days a week).<p>I never really had issue with the socialization but then I tend to travel a lot (I travelled 7 months this year), and I tend to like meeting and talking to people I don't know.<p>One thing is sure though is that it's harder to find the drive when working from home. I'm usually more productive from home but if there's any external event that causes me to be down, it's much easier to have unproductive days. Overall, even with those unproductive days, I'm still more productive than in an office (especially places with open plans).
For me, it's very clear how work/life balance is affected by working at home vs. working at the office. If I work at the office all the time, my home slowly becomes a mess: I'm always running late and I don't have time to clean up and organize my home. I don't eat. I start hating everything. I'm less productive at the office because I didn't eat and probably didn't sleep well. I can't concentrate. Forced socialization makes me miserable. When I go home I get depressed because I find a mess and I don't have energy to clean up. However, if I work at home, I work very happily, ideas start to flow, I concentrate, I take my breakfast when I need to, I take breaks not just to drink coffee and do the small talk thing some like, but to clean up a bit my home, eat, do errands, etc. If I stay at home, I'm happy, my home is clean and organized, I eat, and my balance feels right.
I feel isolated when doing 100% remote work. Noting that isolation cell is a form of prison punishment. For others it is total freedom to be able to work remote from where ever they want which I understand. What I have found out that I like to work with other real human coworkers. Have tried both working in a normal office and 100% remote working and I prefer real colleagues. This takes me to the analogy of the Bluezones where peopole live the longest in the world one of the contributing factors to a long life besides eating healthy is a strong community.<p>Checkout the concept of Bluezones here
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone</a>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone#/media/File:Vendiagram.gif" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone#/media/File:Vendiagr...</a>
For me a coworking space is so much better than home. As long as they're not talking directly to me, there's an energy I get from being around other people who are intent on their work even if they're not on a team with me. At my space there are other programmers; we can't all show our code toeach other but we have great lunchtime talks, which is something I'd never get at home.
> Working from home for me was likely slowly sliding into a deep depression with no one to talk to.<p><pre><code> Thats why Working From Home is very productive. You dont get disturbed by others and can get a lot done.</code></pre>
as long as there are managers, there will always be a a high percentage of 'work in the office' situations.<p>People always talk about the future work environment from a rational point of view. That is not how business works.
I love working from home but it makes problem solving some times a lot harder. Issues that can be dealt with by all going into a room for a while now take much longer over other mediums.
the majority of marriages get started in the workplace. a safe place to get to know each other, without the pressure of dating. working together teaches you a lot about a person.<p>take the social cost into account. not everyone excels in the dating scene.