Re: On Working Remotely

[Michael Thomas <mike () mtcc com>]

What the heck...

I've been working on a project for the last three years at home and
mostly by myself. It has been one of the more productive times of my
life codingwise precisely because I am at home and can juggle life's
responsibilities as needed all without really having one. When you go
into the office day-in day-out you have artificial bounds of work/life
-- even though we all know they're blurry these days. I don't know...
I really don't relish those bounds all that much anymore because
inspirations hit when they do, not when you happen to be in the
office (like, oh say, after the morning shower).

The downside is not having somebody to bounce ideas off of, even
if it's mostly a soliloquy. I've worked around that by having a weekly
meeting with others working on the project which works ok, but it's
not always adequate. On the other hand given that my project is
related to skiing, the lift conversations are terrifyingly geeky for the
poor souls riding with us :)

MIke

On 12/05/2011 07:09 AM, David Radcliffe wrote:
> Same here.  I like isolation just fine and work much more productively and
> usually for a longer time at home.  I don't have kids and my wife has learned
> when she is home if I say I will be working, don't bother me.
>
> It actually works quite well.  I like socializing but not when my mind is on
> work.  I can code very effectively for hours without breaking because I get in
> the zone easily at home.
>
> I do have to say to anyone planning to work from home, make sure you have a
> proper work space.  I have a computer room.  It contains a dozen systems,
> electronics gear and parts (I used to have time for that hobby), and
> comfortable and ergonomic work spaces.  There is no TV.  No reason for one
> because this is the work room.  The mind set should be "I am now in the work
> room, so I am at work."  Really works for me.
>
> On Sunday, December 04, 2011 01:46:51 PM Keegan Holley wrote:
> > Maybe I have a different personality, but I find it much easier to work
> > from home (provided home is empty).  I think "networking" from home, which
> > I do periodically during the week is different from coding from home which
> > I do on the weekends.  It does take some getting used to.  I find I'm much
> > more productive from home. (again as long as home is empty)  I spend less
> > time talking about sports (professional, college and little league) TV, the
> > opposite sex, hunting... etc. etc.  I also tend to make healthier choices
> > since the coffee and cigarettes aren't free and no one invites me to order
> > pizza for lunch when I'm at home.  To each his own though.
> >
> > 2011/12/4 Jay Ashworth<jra () baylink com>
> >
> > > Some more thoughts on telecommuting, from the guy who built Stack
> > > Overflow.
> > >
> > > http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2010/05/on-working-remotely.html
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > -- jra
> > > --
> > > Jay R. Ashworth                  Baylink
> > > jra () baylink com
> > > Designer                     The Things I Think                       RFC
> > > 2100
> > > Ashworth&  Associates     http://baylink.pitas.com         2000 Land
> > > Rover DII
> > > St Petersburg FL USA      http://photo.imageinc.us             +1 727 647
> > > 1274