Re: On Working Remotely

[Bill Blackford <bblackford () gmail com>]

Reading this thread, is encouraging to me. My whole team are remote
workers and for myself, I've asked to maintain a cube in a nearby POP.
I have small ones at home who don't understand why dad can't be as
available to them as they wish. For me, I can't focus well with these
kind of distractions especially if I'm on a call or can't drop what
I'm doing, but I admire those who can. Also, at this point, I don't
have a dedicated "office" area at home and find myself huddled over a
work bench in the garage next to my server rack. Not the most ergo
setting.

That said, unlike my co-workers, I don't get a home office stipend, I
spend more in gas and my days are longer when I add the commute time
into the mix. Ideally, I would like to transition to working more at
home. I also perceive it's going to take some time for me to change
the paradigm of 9-5, (6-4) and transition to a model where I can work
the same amount of hours and be just as productive by logging in these
hours in non-contiguous chunks. Having the ability to "context-switch"
as Jan has labeled it, I believe is key here. This is a helpful
thread, thanks you all for sharing.

-b


On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 7:40 AM, Jan Schaumann <jschauma () netmeister org> wrote:
> David Radcliffe <david () davidradcliffe org> wrote:
>
> > I do have to say to anyone planning to work from home, make sure you have a
> > proper work space.
>
> For whatever it's worth:
>
> I have been working from home for the last 3.5 years.  I live in
> Manhattan in a one-bedroom with a 4 year and now a 2 months old
> daughter, meaning I work on my laptop in the middle of the livingroom
> with all my life around me.
>
> I context-switch a lot; I put down the laptop to read my daughters a
> story or play for a few minutes, I go shopping, cook etc.  But: when I
> go to visit the office (about once a quarter or so), I wonder how on
> earth my colleagues get any work done.  They are constantly interrupted,
> asked to have coffee, lunch, breakfast, a snack, go for a walk and just
> chew the fat.
>
> Yes, I work a lot at night and on the weekends.  That is the one thing
> that people who do not work from home are not aware of: you have no more
> distinction between "home" and "office", which usually means that when
> I'm home, I'm working.
>
> I could see how having a "home office" with a closed door could create
> this impression of "going to the office" and "coming home", but I don't
> find it either desirable nor (in Manhattan) practical.
>
> -Jan



-- 
Bill Blackford
Network Engineer

Logged into reality and abusing my sudo privileges.....