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:
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.
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 their FTUE when running my code or trying a new tool more than I used to.
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 heartbeat now that I've tried both. Hell, probly 50%.
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).
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.
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.
I agree with all that you have said, but I do see negatives more prominently, so I'll list those as a balance point. Keep in mind as you read these that I live more than a day away from where I work, so that adds an isolation factor that not all home-workers will suffer.
1. Probably the biggest thing I miss is the informal conversations. The hallway conversations. I've become very detached from what is going on in my department, and I no longer have the pulse of what is going on.
I used to occasionally stop by my manager's office and chat for a few minutes, just an informal query of how business is going, what I've been doing, toss out some wacky ideas for improving things, etc... A phone conversation is simply not the same.
2. I miss going somewhere else to work. I can occasionally rectify this by going to panera's or a coffee shop, but it's not practical to do if I'm going to be having meetings that day. And I do get random calls from coworkers and managers...
3. I have become a bit of a recluse. I have this as a natural tendency to begin with, but now that I work from home, I don't even have work to get me out of the house.
I did fail to mention I visit the office (a 2hr flight from home) for a week out of every six or so.. which helps me with some of the things you mentioned. I do have random conversations when I'm up there over beers or dinner that wouldn't likely happen via phone calls or on Skype. It's definitely nice.
Another downside that gets me sometimes is that I miss shared whiteboards. I'm a pretty visual/physical thinker. It's nice to have a whiteboard you can both see. We mostly supplement w/ screen sharing or SMSing iphone images of sketches. It works but it's not ideal. One of the things I'd love to work on someday is tools to make remote-work better/easier. For instance, I think it's rad that many of the 37signals folks work remotely and build tools that scratch that particular itch.
I make extensive use of screen sharing, OneNote, and a wacom tablet. It works out pretty well, but you are right, it's not as nice as a whiteboard.
I've toyed around with the whole wiimote / projector idea as a cheap collaborative whiteboard. Sadly my company is not as open to "out of the box / off the wall" ideas as I am. It wouldn't be as useful if the other side didn't participate in the same way.
Perhaps there is a product / startup idea here. A projector with a camera built in, or something like that.
The HP Touchsmart computers would probably be an easier way to go. It would be nice if somebody marketed touch capabilities as an augmentation to traditional computer interaction rather than as a primary interface.
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.
There is something to be said about work-life balance too. When you work from home, it's really easy to let other things distract you, because "it's ok, I'll just work more latter to make it up." Then you end up working 12 hours, because of all of the interspersed distractions. If this happens too often, then you run into issues with the barrier between work and home breaking down.
I've personally, experienced this, and I've seen people comment on HN about having experienced it too, so this isn't just a hypothetical situation.
That said, I know people that successfully work from home, and do things like have a separate office that is only for work. I was just talking with someone over the weekend about how he took a bunch of time off of work, and at the end realized that he hadn't even entered that room the entire time (emphasizing how much of a separate "I'm at work" space it was).
Yes, it is true that working from home is not some panacea, there are simply different issues. Like all engineering, there are no solutions, only trade-offs. That said, for someone like me, who has no kids (just 2 dogs) and a g/f that works out of the home during the day, I have little to no distractions at home that I can't manage and I find I get MUCH more done, and MUCH more efficiently when working from home.
I am sure at the start of the industrial revolution there were people that complained that migrating to some remote location to work was 'unnatural' and 'full of problems' and it could never compete with someone working at 'home' (on the farm or in some small scale industry). They were both right and wrong and industrialization and centralization of the work force served a good purpose. I believe modern 'knowledge' work (I don't like that term, but whatever) again tilts the pendulum towards the 'work from wherever you prefer' kind of situation. We have ways of communicating and coordinating work even across the world. The fact that teams aren't routinely made up of members all over the world is somewhat surprising to me.
I realize there is overhead with coordination, but having essentially a 24 hour 'someone's always working' situation seems far more beneficial than 'everyone is working between the hours of 9 and 5, inclusive!!' (perhaps in two time-zones, so we have coverage approaching, but not quite reaching '24 hours'). Also coordination really isn't that big of an overhead as long as all people are professional and responsible (which, as I said before, is perhaps the bigger problem :))
Again, I am hand-waving over the complexity of how you get a team to work well in that situation. I think it takes a group of people with great respect and trust for one another, so perhaps the best idea is to work together for some period of time (say a ship cycle, a year, whatever you think is best) in a traditional setting to get those normal human bonds you form by working directly with / seeing people day in and day out, then let them scatter and continue the relationships over mail/IM/Skype/IRC/etc... if they wish.
The idea that great coders have to move geographical location to pursue some jobs in a connected world just seems very depressing to me.
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.
Yeah, I've basically had to institute a 'no working after dinner' rule for myself. If I have extra tasks to get done, I get up early - sometimes very early - but an early morning start feels far less intrusive on my family life than working in the evening. (It's an easier rule for me to keep than it would be for some, since I'm a morning person, and the evening is a low-productivity time for me.)
Whenever I work from home I make sure that I set a cutoff time or clear stopping point near the end of what I want to be my "work day". Then I remove myself from my computer, take a walk or cook dinner or watch a movie or do anything that isn't code/work. Then if I have other work to do at night (for my job or for my own projects) it feels separate.
I'm working from home full time right now, and I've found a few things which have made it productive for me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The office and actually getting dressed for work in the morning make all the difference for me. Even if I end up on the couch with my laptop watching Mad Men at the end of the day, starting that day in the "studio" with a cup of coffee sets the tone for the rest of the day. It's a symbolic reminder that I need to focus on my work.
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 :)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I have to agree with the idea of being in a place where you can be isolated to focus on work. When working in an office, I've often found that the best times to work are either early in the morning or late at night when the office is basically empty[1].
That said, I think that if you are disciplined enough, you could work in the same place that you live (even as someone that finds it difficult to keep work/home from blending). If you set up a routine that you do when you wake up on a work day, and stick to the routine, you could 'trick' your brain into differentiating the space based on what you are doing. The thing is that you would need to have a certain level of discipline to pull this off.
[1]: It also helps that I find the sound of an empty space with just the HVAC noises as background sort of soothing. I liked just stalking empty classrooms, etc at university too.
My current and previous jobs have been 100% (or certainly >90% including travel) working from home. You need to let them know in your initial contact and they need to already have remote workers. The ones who say "maybe" will wait until the end of the interview process and change their mind.
It does take a lot more applications to get an offer and it does mean you have to write off most the big players (Facebook, Google, Apple generally won't have new hires working from home) but it's totally possible and I doubt I'll ever work in an office (or maybe even for an employer in Scotland where I work from) ever again.
My job didn't start as a remote working deal. I worked at my company for 8 years in the office. Then I got married and was going to move. I was fully prepared to get a new job though. At the time it wouldn't have taken long. But I liked my job and was good at it, so I said I'd like to continue remotely. After discussing for a few months we decided it was worth trying.
Its a no brainer for companies that are distributed anyways. I work at a bigCo, spread across the country. Many of the people that I work/interact with daily are in different timezones. Suddenly driving to the office isn't a big deal. Doesn't hurt that I have a horrible commute. Have been working here for a little over a year, and have went from 1 work from home day a week to 3 (although in practice it often ends up 4). As someone fresh out of college, it was an unexpected surprise, and will unfortunately tarnish my opinion of any future job prospects, as it's something I've grown quite fond of.
I worked 100% from home/remote for almost a decade. I found it via connections/chance... I'd emailed someone I read about in a magazine, we kept in contact, a few months later he asked if I'd like to help his friend with a small website project. Apparently they liked my work, because they kept sending me more of it.
Yeah, I'm getting the impression it's usually a more casual deal or something you grow into after 'proving' yourself at your current work-from-office position.
Perhaps it's a niche for a jobs board? If you try and search for remote/telecommute jobs at the moment all you seem to get is spam.
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.
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)
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.
[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).
Is that actually true? Seems to me the typical office is an ergonomic nightmare designed to tickle some manager's social dominance instincts at the cost of a hefty productivity hit (and schools are similar indeed). Obviously there are companies like Fog Creek that do optimize offices for productivity but I was under the impression these are still exceptions?
Not to de-rail the thread, but what is the backlash against home-schooling? I know that it's become more popular in recent years, but people did home-schooling in decades past.
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.).
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.
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'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.
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)
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All that being said, after I figured it out, it looks like a cool product.
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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.
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.
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.
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 their FTUE when running my code or trying a new tool more than I used to.
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 heartbeat now that I've tried both. Hell, probly 50%.
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).
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.
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.