Who works from home?
Discussion
I work from home, and it's very rare for me to visit client sites so I spend my days alone pretty much all the time.
I love it. I can't stand office politics, or being forced to spend my days working in close proximity to people I wouldn't choose to spend my free time with. I still maintain contact with the outside world by means of phone calls and emails, but I can take those on my terms - if I'm swamped with work, I can ignore them and come back to them later.
Many people miss the social side of things when they work from home, but personally I'm not one of them. My job involves working alone for the most part anyway, so my work setup suits me perfectly. The flexibility it offers is good, too - for instance, our son was off school sick for a couple of days last week. I could still work and keep an eye on him as well.
Working from home might not suit everyone, but it's ideal for me. I'd never go back to an office-based environment unless circumstances forced me to.
I love it. I can't stand office politics, or being forced to spend my days working in close proximity to people I wouldn't choose to spend my free time with. I still maintain contact with the outside world by means of phone calls and emails, but I can take those on my terms - if I'm swamped with work, I can ignore them and come back to them later.
Many people miss the social side of things when they work from home, but personally I'm not one of them. My job involves working alone for the most part anyway, so my work setup suits me perfectly. The flexibility it offers is good, too - for instance, our son was off school sick for a couple of days last week. I could still work and keep an eye on him as well.
Working from home might not suit everyone, but it's ideal for me. I'd never go back to an office-based environment unless circumstances forced me to.
I can work from home if I want to, but I choose to go to the office, partly because I've always had the discipline of 'going to work', and partly because although a lot of my work is on my own, there are key moments when a few minutes spent discussing something in person with a colleague at the desk can save hours of telephone calls/emails. I also like the interaction with people, I work in a good team who get on well with each other.
Without wishing to sound condescending I'm not sure that there are many employers who would want to employ a school leaver working from home, simply because most entry-level positions would normally require an element of training/supervision that can't be done if you aren't in the workplace. Good luck if you can get it though!
Without wishing to sound condescending I'm not sure that there are many employers who would want to employ a school leaver working from home, simply because most entry-level positions would normally require an element of training/supervision that can't be done if you aren't in the workplace. Good luck if you can get it though!
Everyone is different. You have to be disciplined to not watch TV, play xbox, do personal errands etc.
As above. When i got my first job, the social aspect was great and i would not have worked from home then, even if i had the option.
i tend to work from home when i am less busy so i can spend time with my wife and daughter. When i am busy i am always in the office.
It is nice having the flexibility.
Stu
As above. When i got my first job, the social aspect was great and i would not have worked from home then, even if i had the option.
i tend to work from home when i am less busy so i can spend time with my wife and daughter. When i am busy i am always in the office.
It is nice having the flexibility.
Stu
I work from home these days, probably 98% of the time.
I'm very thankful for it. There have been very few offices I've actually enjoyed the company of. Even where I did, I detested the commute, the arse rationing the biscuits, or the sysadmin who thought giving developers less server space than they had on their mobile phone was sensible.
Being able to crawl into my home office and keep everyone at least a phone or a Skype call away is gold dust. I can socialise with the people I choose to and not the bugger that's going to monitor my internet usage. My absolute worst days are when I have to visit an office full of soulless people going through the motions of pretending to care about their job, eyes glazed over as they stare at the clock, desperately trying to avoid doing any actual work to the point where it's easier to do their job than jump through the hoops they set out.
YMMV, probably in accordance with your age and level of cynicism.
I'm very thankful for it. There have been very few offices I've actually enjoyed the company of. Even where I did, I detested the commute, the arse rationing the biscuits, or the sysadmin who thought giving developers less server space than they had on their mobile phone was sensible.
Being able to crawl into my home office and keep everyone at least a phone or a Skype call away is gold dust. I can socialise with the people I choose to and not the bugger that's going to monitor my internet usage. My absolute worst days are when I have to visit an office full of soulless people going through the motions of pretending to care about their job, eyes glazed over as they stare at the clock, desperately trying to avoid doing any actual work to the point where it's easier to do their job than jump through the hoops they set out.
YMMV, probably in accordance with your age and level of cynicism.
stuno1 said:
Everyone is different. You have to be disciplined to not watch TV, play xbox, do personal errands etc.
As above. When i got my first job, the social aspect was great and i would not have worked from home then, even if i had the option.
i tend to work from home when i am less busy so i can spend time with my wife and daughter. When i am busy i am always in the office.
It is nice having the flexibility.
Stu
Thats not really working from home though as per waht you say... that is defrauding your company of a full days work as you are not busy so you can spend time with your family, assuming that means not doing much work... so not actually doing work from home, you are having an unofficial day (or half a day) off slacking.As above. When i got my first job, the social aspect was great and i would not have worked from home then, even if i had the option.
i tend to work from home when i am less busy so i can spend time with my wife and daughter. When i am busy i am always in the office.
It is nice having the flexibility.
Stu
Du1point8 said:
Thats not really working from home though as per waht you say... that is defrauding your company of a full days work as you are not busy so you can spend time with your family, assuming that means not doing much work... so not actually doing work from home, you are having an unofficial day (or half a day) off slacking.
I work on projects so there are peaks and trough, not a steady stream of work.As such when required i work from home when there is a small workload. This is done with the permission of my managers who know my work load so no, you are not correct. I am not doign it to defraud my employer at all.
Stu
I work for home most of the time and have done for many years. I have a global role and will take meeting and answer emails in the early morning and late evening. The great advantage is that I can take my children to school and actually have a life occasionally.
My wife and children are used to me being at home, so I do not get disturbed and when I'm working, I'm working. No interruptions etc. If I come out of my office, then I am open to chat etc...
My job does 'flip' though, in that although I work at home I will go to America for a couple of weeks or the far-east and that is once or twice a quarter.
My wife and children are used to me being at home, so I do not get disturbed and when I'm working, I'm working. No interruptions etc. If I come out of my office, then I am open to chat etc...
My job does 'flip' though, in that although I work at home I will go to America for a couple of weeks or the far-east and that is once or twice a quarter.
k about and get sacked pretty quickly.
Hello SGirl. 
I used to, but got so sick of the 'can you just' all the time, while I was supposed to be working.
Now work in a 'proper' workplace, actually doing a real job (compared to what I was doing before), and it's nice to see colleagues, and nice to be able to go to work and just get on with it, but there are days when I wish I still worked from home. (usually when I have a 6.30am start)
Now work in a 'proper' workplace, actually doing a real job (compared to what I was doing before), and it's nice to see colleagues, and nice to be able to go to work and just get on with it, but there are days when I wish I still worked from home. (usually when I have a 6.30am start)
hornetrider said:
Link to Mitchell and Web sketch in 5...4...3...
I came in here specifically to see how many answers it would take for someone to post it.
My office is a 165 mile round trip - I go in a couple of times a week as it's important to show your face - and you get to know a lot more by being there than not.
The rest of the time, if not visiting customers I use the commnal space in a Regus office 20 mins from home.
I can't work from home - I end up doing all manner of other 'jobs' rather than getting on with the job in hand.
And god help me if there is cricket on, or Top Gear I haven't seen in a while, or my neighbour is in, or it looks like nice weather for a ride out on my bike - or a drive in the car while the roads are quiet - or that wall could do with touching up etc etc etc,
Thunderace said:
I'm homebased and love the flexibility it gives me, but when not 'officially' visiting our sites I tend to drive to my nearest office (25 miles) a couple of times a week to be around people and pick up on background information, rumour, etc.
This for me. I work better also. Home working can be boring and lonely and if you're like me then there's too many distractions, especially at the moment while my home office is being decorated as I tend to sit in the living room with laptop on knee and phone in hand. Not conducive to a good days work to be honest.
Doubt it would work at such a young age as the OP given training etc will be required for a good few years yet.
My old company had a real downer on people working from home and just assumed they'd all be slacking off. In such a high paced modern world there should be plenty of scope for people to work from home imho. If people have x, y and z to do in a given week so long as they get it done who cares where or what hours they work?
TX.
My old company had a real downer on people working from home and just assumed they'd all be slacking off. In such a high paced modern world there should be plenty of scope for people to work from home imho. If people have x, y and z to do in a given week so long as they get it done who cares where or what hours they work?
TX.
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