[dx034]

I believe working from home is possible with the right set up and social network. He said that he lived with his grandmother who needed help when working from home. That implies that he probably wasn't able to fully focus on work for 8 horus at a time. Working from home is only efficient (IMO) if you have a room that you solely use for work. You need to have a clear boundary between work and free time, separate physical spaces help.

As for the people, that is true but can be achieved while working from home. It certainly takes more effort but by meeting people for lunch several times a week and meeting others in the evening you can be as social.

One aspect he doesn't mention is the commute. For many of us, that's easily 1 hour a day that you get back to use it otherwise (e.g. to meet friends).

[icc97]

One of the issues of working from home is that you track your hours more closely. So where as in an office if you're only productive for 5-6 hours it's not tracked and so people probably won't notice. If you work from home your expected to be productive for 7-8 hours a day. This can mean working 2-3 extra hours that typically you'd save in commuting.

I don't see myself as being particularly more productive at home. I charge by the hour and so financially it doesn't make sense to commute and pay for an office, but for anyone who's getting a fixed wage I think the commuting benefits can be over stated. The main gain is in flexibility.

[ido]

I've worked from home for years and from an office for many more years (been working as a programmer for about 16 years now).

IMO the main disadvantages of working from an office can be alleviated by just working fewer hours - unfortunately companies are not very fond of that (it's almost impossible to find a job as a programmer for less than 40h/week).

My optimal work situation would be a commute of up to half an hour (15 minutes in each direction) and working 9am to 4pm.

[dx034]

> My optimal work situation would be a commute of up to half an hour (15 minutes in each direction) and working 9am to 4pm.

I certainly agree to that but as you say, this is hard to get. A short commute is probably better than no commute (to prime your brain for the different environment) but most service sector jobs focus on large cities (since few people appear to be willing to move to the country side).

[frobozz]

This is true, but the some of the same factors that facilitate WFH can also facilitate those companies locating their offices in suburbs or in large towns/small cities.