Working from home, good/bad?

Aug 1, 2006
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I've been working from home 2-3 days a week in my current job, at first I loved it but now I don't so much. I find it so hard to get motivated working at home, plus there's always s**t to do like empty dishwasher, courier drops something off etc always a distraction. I find I can do it for a half day, say if I have a meeting in the morning and finish the day at home but a full day is soul destroying.

Do any of you do this? If so how do you stay motivated? I actually have been coming into the office a lot more now, it's a 45 min drive so a waste of time but I think overall I'm more productive.
 

RAPPA

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Feb 20, 2008
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I WFH on days where I have an appointment or something that would otherwise make it a waste for me to then hop on the train and waste 40 mins each way to get to/from work.

I agree in terms of there being distractions and also others assuming that because you're at home, you're available to speak to them etc. I also experience IT issues trying to connect to the bloody work network when I'm at home which gets frustrating but am used to it.

I find I work best from home if I have a specific task/s that require immediate completion. At the end of the day, the distractions at home in my experience are outweighed by the distractions at work from colleagues and the savings in travel time. I end up working far longer hours when WFH which is a downside, but all in all I find it a luxury.

In your situation, do you have an office or spare room set up which you can treat as an office? If you look at the breaks, lunch and/or rest periods you take at work, are they less in duration than the distractions at home?
 
It comes down to self discipline and time management. You're not spending the time commuting to work so generally you have more time to do things (like read BF in the morning :D )
 
Aug 1, 2006
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I WFH on days where I have an appointment or something that would otherwise make it a waste for me to then hop on the train and waste 40 mins each way to get to/from work.

I agree in terms of there being distractions and also others assuming that because you're at home, you're available to speak to them etc. I also experience IT issues trying to connect to the bloody work network when I'm at home which gets frustrating but am used to it.

I find I work best from home if I have a specific task/s that require immediate completion. At the end of the day, the distractions at home in my experience are outweighed by the distractions at work from colleagues and the savings in travel time. I end up working far longer hours when WFH which is a downside, but all in all I find it a luxury.

In your situation, do you have an office or spare room set up which you can treat as an office? If you look at the breaks, lunch and/or rest periods you take at work, are they less in duration than the distractions at home?

My email, Salesforce etc is all Cloud based so it's no better in the office when out, and I have really good internet at home, needs to be for conference calls etc.

Understand about specific tasks being easier to do, there's just something about being in the home environment that makes it tough. I do have a back office that I can work in but the natural light isn't great so don't like working there too much. I don't exactly have proper breaks while at home i guess so a bit more productive than at work, though I tend to be on BF a bit more ha ha

OP this is your boss you’re fired

Like sweep shots this sort of termination doesn't count.

It comes down to self discipline and time management. You're not spending the time commuting to work so generally you have more time to do things (like read BF in the morning :D )

Yep that's the theory of course, I still reckon it balances out with the lesser productivity at home. I save on petrol I guess but i get a car allowance anyway. Either way I've gone down to two days WFH instead of 3 and I think overall it's better for me.
 
Yep that's the theory of course, I still reckon it balances out with the lesser productivity at home. I save on petrol I guess but i get a car allowance anyway. Either way I've gone down to two days WFH instead of 3 and I think overall it's better for me.

I , luckily, have a flexible working arrangement that doesnt need me to be in the office at a desk, My reporting manager is based overseas and my team members spread like the 4 winds. I do work with extended teams and still find it beneficial to go into the office for the contact aspect.
 
Aug 1, 2006
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I , luckily, have a flexible working arrangement that doesnt need me to be in the office at a desk, My reporting manager is based overseas and my team members spread like the 4 winds. I do work with extended teams and still find it beneficial to go into the office for the contact aspect.

Yeah my boss is OS as well and I can basically work anywhere I have an internet connection, or I'm on customer meetings of course. But the office environment is a lot more conducive to getting stuff done for me, at least for a full day. Cafes are all well and good but it's annoying to make calls for everyone in there and buying lots of coffees gets dear.
 
Jun 14, 2015
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Benefits:
* I'm a massive tightarse and I like saving money on travel/ takeaway coffees/ lunch (too lazy to prep my own)
* Home office = bullshit tax deductions (furniture, decorations, internet, heating, etc)
* No one cares if half the tabs open on my PC are bigfooty or pornhub
* No need to wear pants
* Sleeping in, especially when the better half has a late start. Best way to start the day.
* Suits my natural rhythm- wake up midday, work 'til late
* Smoke weed all day.

Drawbacks:
* It's really hard to get motivated when I spend all day smoking cones, watching filth and hanging out on bigfooty.
* It's also stressful when deadlines approach and I've done * all :$

Still, I love it.
 
I had my laptop set up so I could work from home a couple of days a week after my parental leave finished.

I could do around 90% of my job from home which is good, just meant there was less to come back to when in the office which was my main aim.

definitely helpful for when we have appointments etc that I can still take a day / half day off and not really miss much.
 
I find I get more done, less people ask stupid questions, more effort for them to ask me something, and I feel obligated to justify being home so will do more
 
Sep 15, 2007
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I've been working from home 2-3 days a week in my current job, at first I loved it but now I don't so much. I find it so hard to get motivated working at home, plus there's always s**t to do like empty dishwasher, courier drops something off etc always a distraction. I find I can do it for a half day, say if I have a meeting in the morning and finish the day at home but a full day is soul destroying.

Do any of you do this? If so how do you stay motivated? I actually have been coming into the office a lot more now, it's a 45 min drive so a waste of time but I think overall I'm more productive.
Soul destroying? You are being irrational. Stop being irrational.

Working at home rocks.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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On the days my developer isn’t in, there’s a bit more PUBG played.

But god I would hate to go back to working in an office for a boss unless it was a great job with cool people and muffins.
There are now muffin delivery services. Plus you think there are cool office people but in reality they dont exist. Office people are just people who want to distract you away from your core work with other even more boring side work that you get no credit for.
 
Aug 1, 2006
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Soul destroying? You are being irrational. Stop being irrational.

Working at home rocks.

Irrational is slightly over the top I'd reckon, I'm just telling you how I feel about it.I think I prefer workplace interaction a bit more to be honest, my job gets pretty stressful sometimes and it's better to have human contact for me at stressful times. I think if it was just a punch in the clock do your 8 hours and log off it would be ok.
 
There are now muffin delivery services. Plus you think there are cool office people but in reality they dont exist. Office people are just people who want to distract you away from your core work with other even more boring side work that you get no credit for.
Not in my experience. Cool office people go out for pub lunches and return at 4:30.
 
Sep 15, 2007
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Irrational is slightly over the top I'd reckon, I'm just telling you how I feel about it.I think I prefer workplace interaction a bit more to be honest, my job gets pretty stressful sometimes and it's better to have human contact for me at stressful times. I think if it was just a punch in the clock do your 8 hours and log off it would be ok.
What industry do you work in? I find office time adds to stress not removes it. Have to attend more pointless meetings and people are always asking you to help them out taking away from your time. On top of that when working from home you have an extra 1-2 hours a day to work/relax cos you dont have to get dressed, shave and drive in and out to work. On top of that studies find that driving during peak hour is one of the most stressful things people can do. Plus at home you can work more your hours then standard hours. Can get up early and start at 7 and then have one or two big breaks during the day. Great help for stress.
 
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