Does your employer allow it? Do you get anything done? Do you prefer to work at home? Do the distractions drive you mad?

Do you run a home business? If so, do you keep regular hours, or is that one of the benefits of working for yourself? Do you have a private space where you can get work done?

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

Answers

I used to work at home when I was in college actually; I telecommuted for an entire summer from Toronto for a company out here in Seattle, and then for the two months before I graduated while at my placement. It was great, but it took some serious discipline, especially the summer gig. The time difference worked to my advantage, as they were four hours behind - so sleeping in was no problem and I would be wrapping up at around the same time they were. It was avoiding all the things you're talking about that was superhard - especially in the summer! But I managed to set a pattern : Get up late, eat breakfast and watch the birds and the dog for awhile. Sit down and grind for 3 hours. Have a cup of tea or lunch and watch some nonsense T.V. or go for a walk. Work for 3 more hours, then eat dinner with my Dad and his wife and watch some T.V. Get back online and wrap up emails and some minor detail stuff for another hour or two. Go out, watch a movie, read a book for a few hours, snack then to bed. Repeat.

The two months that I worked while wrapping up school were in some ways easier, in some ways harder. I had to move in the middle of it - into a friends house - and my work station was just off of the living room. I generally did most of my work from 7pm to 10 or 11pm and the work I was sent was quite simple and those are also the hours when I'm the *most* awake - so that made it easy. The hard part was *not* paying attention to what was going on right on the other side of the curtain that separated my space from the living room. Insane giggle fits over old Star Trek episodes, impromptu jam sessions (house full of musicians), impromptu parties, movies I'd wanted to see (I've only heard and not seen all the hits from that year) flipping into the vcr, pizza fests, and of course, the inevitable music arguments.

But it was totally worth it, and if I could, I'd do it again. I get ten times more work done at home then I do at work - the distractions at work are generally worse. In fact, sometimes I liked to go in really late (when I couldn't telecommute) and then stay really late so I could have some peace and quiet when everyone went home. With telecommuting, I did tend to miss the daily interaction with co-workers though, and would sometimes go on email binges or desperate phone call rounds to find someone to talk to. But that happened once a month, tops! I don't know which I would chose if there was a decision to be made. Probably both - and alternate during the week.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

In May, we shut down our corporate office for the alternative of Virtual Offices. During that transition, it was my job to make the move the most cost effective and least disruptive as possible. We installed new telephone lines in everyone's home offices, set up email accounts and new cell phones. I closed more accounts than I know what to do with. It has proven to be more cost effective than the "corporate office."

There are some challenges to overcome: communication being the biggest one. We have meetings and voice mail, cell phones and pagers, and yet we still seem to miss info.

However, the benefits seem to win. I am home all day with my puppies - I have two little Yorkies puppies and the Mommy Yorkie. I take breaks to play with them and keep them from fighting. I go outside and look at the lake that is 100 feet from my front door. I play in my garden and I talk to my husband, who also works for the same company, also in a home office, which is exactly 35 feet from mine. (We have only one laser printer and when I need to print something on laser, I walk the printer cable from my office to his.)

I like this alternative. And while the communication will always be a factor, I love getting up each morning to telecommute while I am still in my jammies. My coworkers don't seem to mind the casual dress atmosphere!

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I forgot to mention one thing: it is now midnight and I am working. While I am writing this, I am attempting to fax a document to Africa. Working at home does create some interesting work hours, but I still think the benefits win.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

My current job certainly doesn't offer this scope, but I think it's just as well. I'm far too undisciplined - I'd never get anything done.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

If my time at uni was anything to go by, I'd get distracted very easily if I was working at home. When you've got a 4000-word essay to write, sometimes the only thing that'll make you write it is the realisation that the deadline for its submission is getting uncomfortably close. Apart from anything else, home is where I escape from workstick a CD in the CD player or switch on the radio, go online and blow off steam on forums and newsgroups, etc. I really don't think I'd want to work here. Then again, never having done it, I don't actually know what it'd be like

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work from home and also take care of my daughter during the day. It usually works out that I wake up a couple hours before she does, finish most of my work for the day then, and then spend her waking time playing with her. She usually goes down for a nap at 3pm, at which time I finish up any work I have remaining.

Yes, I also have a private office: In addition to being a swell tax deduction, it really is necessary to get work done.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I'm self-employed, but I work out of a city co-op type of office full of people like me. We share staff and facilities, but I have my own "office". It's 15 minutes walk from home.

For a while I took a break from the full-on work-style, and worked from home. I loved it, but it was more of a break; I was teaching and working from home. Unfortunately I had to work from my bedroom, or from the living room at a house I rented in the country, but with the laptop, fax/modem, mobile phone and occasional trips to the city it really didn't make much difference where I was.

Strangely, the drop in work consequent upon working from home pretty much evened out in income terms because of the lack of overheads. however ... I'm still in the city.

I'd do it again.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work at home. I'm a customer service agent for the state government in Texas. I work two or three days a week answering telephone calls. I telnet to their database so I can look information up. It's a great, I've been doing it for over a year. I live in Massachusetts. I think it's neat that I work for another state.

I keep regular hours, I work 10:30-5:30. I don't have private space. My computer is set-up in the dining room. I hate this but it makes sense because I'm in the middle of the house so no matter where my 3 year old is, I can see her. It's very embarrassing if she is pulling a nutty and I get a call. Mostly, she's used to it now and knows she needs to be quiet if the phone rings.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work at home a lot, especially when I'm writing. But I prefer to be in the offices. First off, it's air conditioned. My home office is that hot box from the movie Papillon. Secondly, there's an assortment of food in the offices that I don't have time to shop for and bring home. And thirdly, there's no television here.

However, the office does have a comfy sofa, so naps are not out of the question. I guess I can be distracted wherever I work. In the mornings, I do go to a coffee shop and work, and those seem to be my most productive two hours of the day. I can blot out the sounds of blenders, steaming milk and people chattering, but for some reason, I can't work when there's a tv nearby.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work at home. I am self-employed, as a writer. It used to make me crazy that I was so undisciplined, that I'd be working until 4 in the morning some nights, and then not at all for two days.

Then I just accepted that I'm never going to be the type to stick to regular schedule, and that as long as I met my deadlines, what difference did it make that I was still unshowered and in PJs at 5 pm?

I don't have a real office, and I desperately wish I did. There's no place for me to get away from my workspace. In my New York apartment, which is bigger (I'm in Florida now), I have an office set up in an alcove, away from everything else, which helps.

I've been thinking lately about either taking freelance jobs on site, or getting a full time job. I could use the interaction for a while.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work at home half the day and at an office the other half. Because I have like, nine jobs.

But right now I"m supposed to be working, but instead I'm over here. Is it because I'm at home? Not really. I do the same thing in the office. But here I can get up, play with the cats, or take a nap.

I love it, but the temptation to not actually work is huge.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work for a computer company and we can telecommute. It's a common benefit around here (Silicon Valley.)

However, I don't do it for various reasons. I'd need to have a PC at home (my own machine is a Mac.) I'd need to have a work area other than the desk where my Mac is. I need the stimulus of coming into the office, to my desk and feeling like okay, now I'm here to work. I'm not very disciplined and function best with some kind of external structure. I still go on the Internet and goof off a lot of the time, but I know I'd get even less done at home.

I also need the interaction with people and just to get out of the house. When I've worked at home, at the end of the day I felt sad and tired like I'd been home sick all day. It's not the same, for me, as being home on a day off.

One of the people I work with lives in Santa Cruz and only comes in to the office two days a week. We used to have another person in our group who lived out of state and came in once every two weeks. We're technical writers and can get the information we need by email; we don't need to be in the office to answer phones or actually talk to people most of the time. There are various people in our organization who are writers or programmers who have schedules like that. I'm glad to have the option, if I ever want it.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I currently have three jobs, two of which pay me (you might call the third a hobby, but it allows me tax breaks and I have a reasonable expectation of profit in the next year or two, so I consider this an apprenticeship). The non-paying one (writing) and one of the paying ones (freelance web design) I do from home, and I keep weird hours, and sometimes get distracted, but I live alone and have no pets, so unless the phone rings I can usually buckle down. The other job (arts administration) is a full-time position, in an office, and it would be impossible to do from home.

I've tried. Last summer we moved offices and were without space for about three weeks, as the construction work in our new space was behind schedule. I worked from my bedroom, but the lack of files was frustrating. I could only do the job from home if I transported the files home, which would turn it into an office....

Joanne

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work from home, and while I really like it, I'm not very good at it. I find that I've developed some bizarre routine that I must complete each morning checking various journals and forums that takes like two hours. So that's two hours each day before I even start working. Then I usually start a project, then I take a break to see if Pamie has updated yet. Then I do a little bit of work, then I think of something else I wanted to check.

I don't watch TV or nap, though. If it weren't for my cable modem, I think I would get a lot more work done.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I work at home as a graphic design artist. I work from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM everyday, working on websites and contacting clients via phone to schedule meetings for later on in the day. Meetings are scheduled between 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM to make it easier on the client if they have conflicting work schedules. I put in a total of about 6 hours each day, on average.

Working at home is nice because you can take more breaks to handle real-life things that you might not have time for in a regular work environment. I have a home office that is quiet enough for me to get a productive amount of work done in a short amount of time. With five computers around me, a fax machine, copy machine and various cell phones and pagers ringing off the hook, it's a good thing that my home office isn't in the middle of the dining room table because I would drive the other members of my house clinically insane.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

Wow! A lot of you work from home!

I do too, sometimes. I develop courseware (i.e., design the courses, write the books, build the exercises) for software training and I also teach courses, etc. None of this is distance learning so when teaching I have to be in the classroom (which may be in the same building as my office or may be thousands of miles away). When I'm not teaching I'm pretty much free to work from home as long as I can get my work done. The funny thing is, I usually go to the office to work and work from home only two or three days a month (whereas I could probably justify doing it ten or twelve times a month)... but when I'm in the office I can often find people if I need to ask a question... and it is easier to have a lot of my books in one place and not have to carry them back and forth... and also, although I have cable Internet at home, if I need to access the corporate intranet and certain systems I need to connect using my laptop via a 56k telephone modem which is annoyingly slow... so most of the time it is easier to go to the office even though that means a half hour commute and bridge toll. The funny thing is, I still do work at home on my own time... reading (i.e., studying), preparing and practicing presentations, etc.

My previous employer (several years ago) when I was working in MIS, was absolutely against any working from home, totally anal outfit... we'd say we weren't talking about putting in our normal day at home but when we got off hours calls and had to go in to fix systems that had crashed or whatever, much of that could have been done from home via modem but they were terrified of losing control of what people were doing every minute (as if they had a clue in the first place.)

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I could; some of my co-workers work from home one or two days a week. As a programmer/analyst in California, most of our users are in Florida, with others scattered about the country. So, working from home doesn't change things much.

But, I don't work from home because my stay-at-home wife would never give me the solitude that I'd need.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

I wish I could work from home. Well, I've done a little of it, but I'm pretty much working here. I don't have the resources at home (i.e. editors I can talk to for a few minutes on the spur-of-the-moment, other reporters to ask for phone #'s/info, phone books for half the state...), plus I don't have telemarketers calling me every 5 minutes at work. Still wish I could sleep in, though. If I did work at home, I'd probably do nothing till about noon, then eat, then work in the afternoon and night.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000