Why I Decided to Spend More Time Working from Home

I've worked at home full time for the last 2.25 years or so, and it's been the most productive working experience of my 15 year career. I think there are some misconceptions and hidden benefits that I held before being in a long full-time WFH situation that I'm sure others hold also. I've been meaning to write up a longish post on my thoughts/experience, but here are some brief notes off the top of my head:<p>1. I think the tv/fridge/playstation distraction thing is a myth. I think maybe it's a problem when you WFH occasionally because you're not used to being productive at home and you can make it up tomorrow at the office.<p>2. WFH has the benefit of forcing you to be vastly evaluated on your work product. This is seven million kinds of awesome. I have lots to say about the benefits of this, but one thing is that it changes the way I make things. I think differently about how my colleagues (and not just developers) consume and interact with my work. I care about <i>their</i> FTUE when running my code or trying a new tool more than I used to.<p>3. Your commute is killing you. You probably don't think this is true. I didn't. I loved my train ride. Now I can't believe I gave that much of my life away. It really makes me sick. I'd trade 25% salary for no commute in a <i>heartbeat</i> now that I've tried both. Hell, probly 50%.<p>4. Everyone asks if you miss social interaction. I don't, because it's not missing. I interact more with my current team than any other team I've ever been on. We idle in chat all day, and I probably have an avg of 2-5 VOIP quick conversations or meetings daily. The interactions are more intentional, and valuable (socially and work-wise).<p>5. I'm a better writer now and my task management skills are much improved, for obvious reasons. More asynchronous work means less walk-by task management and more thoughtful emails/tickets, etc.<p>6. I don't burn out nearly as easily (in the short or long term). 12 hour days feel like 9 hour days used to. Five minutes petting my dog is vastly more psychologically relaxing than a walk to the water cooler or an office game of foosball.

The fact that working from home is still, relatively, rare in 2012 is baffling to me. When I think how many useful team interactions I have in a day vs. the amount of waste on meetings that either aren't necessary at all or could be more easily done via IM / e-mail it always surprises me. Of course this relies on self-managing, responsible individuals and a team with a good level of trust / communication, so perhaps that is where the fundamental difficulty lives. That and it does make it more apparent that some people aren't really required except to manage the overhead (bureaucracy) they themselves generate.

The problem with working from home is not getting no work done because you're too busy drinking beer and playing xbox. It's sticking to an 8 hr work day instead of working all day around the clock. It's putting the mouse down and spending time with your family. It's stopping yourself from returning to work after dinner.

I'm working from home full time right now, and I've found a few things which have made it productive <i>for me</i>.<p>1) An office. Granted, the office is also my man-cave, so it's full of distractions: books, posters, a gaming rig, and comfy chairs. However, it protects me from human distractions (such as my wife), which are the biggest barrier to getting work done.<p>2) Dressing for work. This is just jeans and a t-shirt, but it's exactly what I'd wear if I was working in an office as well.<p>3) Working on something interesting. Even if there's grunt work, if I'm having fun getting to a goal, distractions aren't an issue.<p>4) Balancing work and fun. I work until I need a distraction, and then distract myself. When my mind is ready to get back to work, I get back to work.<p>The end result is that I get all of my tasks done in a week, even if I don't work every day, and I have fun doing it.

Tidal's dev team loves working from home! I agree that "work is modal" -- I even wrote a [post](<a href="http://burakkanber.com/blog/staying-productive-while-working-from-home-or-why-we-need-workspaces/" rel="nofollow">http://burakkanber.com/blog/staying-productive-while-working...</a>) at one point about it, and how important maintaining a workspace is.<p>We've also started using a version of the pomodoro technique. We take :55 - :05 of the hour off to do whatever (check emails, talk to each other, eat a sandwich, workout, etc), but what has increased productivity for us the most so far is scheduling out our day hour-by-hour the night before. Combining that with the rigid :55-:05 break schedule has really kept us on track (not a single dev delay since we started). I think it's the combined effect of having to plan out your tomorrow at night (forcing you to think about priorities, rather than guiding by gut), and the fact that when you're working during the day, you don't need to take any time to figure out what to do next--all you have to do is look at your calendar. We've been incredibly focused and on-target as a result, so if you're looking for another productivity hack I'd try that :)<p>Edit: another positive side effect of scheduling out your day is the fact that it forces you to get really, really good at setting personal expectations, and it helps you be more realistic about what you can accomplish in 50 minutes. No more are the days of mis-estimating how long a task will take

For me, the best place to work is where I can be in a "work" environment, but without worrying about anyone disturbing what I'm working on.<p>Living in a studio and a half apartment means I'm either in the room I sleep in or the room I do everything else in. It's not a good environment for me to work, and I really don't like bringing work into that environment, either.<p>Working in an office with a certain kind of culture can mean that you're expected to be available and to respond to any inquiry via email, IM, phone, or someone walking over to your desk at any time. This really doesn't work for me, either.<p>So working at that kind of job means I really find I work best when I'm completely disconnected (phone off, email not open, not signed into IM) in a cafe. I have my laptop, and that's all. No distractions, pure focus.<p>The absolute ideal for me is an office environment where I can work in blocks of at least a couple of hours without being expected to respond to any non-emergency immediately.<p>Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Where are people finding all these 100% work from home jobs?<p>Whenever I suggest it to HR/recruiters they just aren't interested. Most places will only allow a day or two working from home, if that.

Working from home is great! You also cut down on commuting time, which can be a big source of unhappiness in your life:<p><a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/06/perils-commuting" rel="nofollow">http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/06/perils-commu...</a><p>Also, a +1 on the pomodoro technique. It helps me get back on track if I <i>accidentally</i> open up FB or HN. :-)

I've found that some people are perfectly fine working from home without a separate 'work' space, and some aren't. It definitely feels like something that varies from person to person and situation to situation. For example, working at home when you live by yourself is different than if you live with your wife (stay-at-home mom) and child.<p>I've found that I need to be in a certain mindset to really focus on work, and sometimes that's hard to achieve at home. I found myself really forcing myself to work against my focus, and that tended to cause stress. (Though it's also possible it was just an indicator that I needed to find another job)<p>I also think that working remotely without much physical contact with 'the office' is definitely a detriment. Going to 'the office' once every couple of months can help you feel more in-touch with your team/co-workers.

Most organizations spend an enormous amount of money on offices. Offices can be argued are temperature-controlled, resource-hogging (if not LEED certified), calibrated, noise-attenuated (sometimes), free of most distractions (possibly pre-Facebook [1]), constrained, regimented environments with strategic floor layouts designed precisely to get people who are paid a salary to focus and produce value for their company. Schools are similar (witness the backlash against home schooling). Focus is very important but as the OP posits - it is a matter of learned self-diligence and control.<p>[1] The companies I've heard of that block Facebook, personal email et al. (e.g. financial institutions) typically make it near impossible for work to be brought home (which can be good - separation of work and home).

I posted this on the blog:<p>I worked remotely frequently at my last job (which I left a few months back, so the experiences are still pretty fresh). I discovered that being in the right environment is absolutely key…and absolutely non-static. I did some of my best work on the bus to the coffee shop (and in those same coffee shops as well). Conversely, I’ve hardly been able to work while at home because of the lack of noise (weird, I know.).<p>White noise and chatter helped me think, and fending off the distractions was pretty easy because I was in a zone where I was most productive.<p>Nice reference to the Pomodoro Technique; I’ve, unknowingly, done variations of this technique and it works really, really well. It’s exactly like exercising.

I work from home for a company that is 100% remote (even the local guy) with all of its 60+ employees (almost entirely developers).<p>We basically just work regular hours like any normal job, except no commute. Seems to work very well (at least for me).

I've worked remotely for most of my career.<p>I've had companies that didn't care where my 'remote' was (my home, a coffee shop, my farm, etc), but I've had companies get really anal about where my 'remote' was.<p>I'm working a mixed-mode gig now -- in the office two days a week, remotely the rest -- and I'm far less productive when I'm on-site than I am when I'm working from home. (For example, I'm on-site today, and they're watching Spaceballs on the tv nearest my cube -- so the next two hours are a total wash to me; as a consultant, I couldn't really ask for anything better)

Great article - off topic and feel free to ignore (assuming the author is listening) - but I find your product, based on your website, very difficult to understand. Description on the homepage left me with questions. Finally went to the tour, and got an idea what it is, but not why I would use it, or how it actually integrates with whatever CMS I'm using.<p>All that being said, after I figured it out, it looks like a cool product.

For me it's less about the distractions and more about not having people to pull me out of the rabbit holes I fall down. At the office I have constant reminders that I shouldn't be spiraling down into wikipedia hell while at home I don't.<p>So my solution was to download a chime app that sets off a bell every hour on the hour. Now every time I hear that I find I automatically turn productive again.

I honestly think the best approach is a blended one. Some time physically in person with your team, and the rest of the time WFH. I find my occasional trips into the office (2 hours away) to be incredibly useful and productive. The key is finding the right balance between in office and WFH to get the most done and benefit the most psychologically.

I just want to say that I fondly remember Gramstand from around 2008-9. That was such a nice little cafe to work in.