[gexla]

Right, there are lots of factors.

I prefer working from the office, but I imagine I would have a different opinion if working from the office requires a long commute or scraping ice off my windshield in the morning. I also work for myself, so it's MY office. ;)

I also somewhat enjoy the feeling of being among the hustle of downtown. There is energy there. So many people doing their thing to carve out their slice of the pie and I'm among the relatively happy and successful. That's motivation and energy that I don't feel at home.

[Duff]

Another factor I forgot about is career goals. If you love programming and that's your chosen profession that you intend to practice, it's great.

If you career goal is to move up through the organization though, missing the chance encounters with people in the hallway or not being seen is a liability that may negatively affect you. I've noticed in my career that being in the right place at the right time means something.

[thirdstation]

The "out of sight, out of mind" treatment is hard to get away from if you work in a office where telecommuting isn't the predominant mode.

You have to work harder during your in-office time to create facetime opportunities. That may mean doing the rounds, spending time in common areas, talking to someone face-to-face instead of emailing and, unfortunately, going to meetings.

Making your schedule of in-office/at-home days public knowledge helps colleagues from scheduling important events on your at-home days (but not all the time).

It's also vitally important to follow-up on your phone and email conversations. It's too easy for people to ignore your VM's and emails so, you have to make them accountable digitally as well as in-person.

It's more work to make sure you're not forgotten but, for me, giving up the commute is worth it.

[StacyC]

Well said.