Panasonic Youth rob sanheim writes about software, business, ruby, music, stuff and things

Five Common Myths about Working From Home

I’ve been working (programming) from home since April with Seeking Alpha, and its been a lot of fun. I’ve discovered the true value of being free of distractions, as a phone call or annoying pet can break flow and burn ten minutes. I’ve also learned just how much more productive I can be when I’m not in an office, and when I really love what I’m doing. Amazing how that works.

I’ve also come upon some misconceptions a lot of folks, nerd and non-nerd alike, have when discussing my work environment. Here they are, in no particular order:

• Oh, you must watch your kids/pets/tv/chia pet all day, then, right? People don’t think you are actually working, or at least don’t think logically about what “working from home” actually entails. I’ve heard the “Oh, you work from home? You must be keeping your son at home with you?” question far too many times, now.
• You have less distractions. The entire summer there was road construction right outside my house, with the constant beeping of dump trucks in reverse a solid three hours in the morning. Then there were the days were they were jackhammering and moving concrete - it literally shook my whole office, and I’m in the second floor. Family and friends think because you work from home that you can chat whenever and as long as they want, so there are awkward conversations where I’ve had to explain that I can’t be on the phone all afternoon. The type of distraction might be different, but there are still plenty of things to steal your attention.
• You can work whenever you want. Maybe if you are a solo freelancer or working with just a few other people, this is true. If you have any sort of company structure, you probably have to be online and answering IM’s at least for a few dependable hours a day. Factor in keeping a schedule for family or social life, and you will probably want to maintain a rough 9 to 5 schedule even if you don’t have to. Yes, the schedule is much more flexible and I’ve done plenty of late night hacking, but you still need to consider your company or family needs.
• You can save a ton on tax deductions! You can only deduct things like utilities or mortgage for your office space if its used exclusively for your work. Same goes for equipment - use that printer for home stuff as well as work? You can’t deduct it. And if working from home is just a perk your company provides in addition to a company cube, you’re out of luck. The home office must be for the convenience of your employer - so since my company doesn’t have any offices anywhere, I’m fine.
• OMG!! Working from home must be like heaven on earth!1!1! Well, true, I wouldn’t choose to go back to my previous office environment. But there are plenty of downsides. A big one is the loneliness. I was never big on office gossip, but I do miss the time spent reciting Aqua Teen quotes or pairing up with someone for a quick design session. Not having to attend company functions (read: company “fun” day!) just might make up for that. There are also little perks you miss, like free coffee, free faxes and a real laser printer that can print the ebooks in less then an hour minutes and without burning through a $30 ink-jet cartridge. Did you know most office supply stores charge a buck a page for faxes? Thats insanity.

All in all, for most knowledge workers it just makes more sense to work from home. I think in ten years we may see a good third or even half of all programming work done by workers from home as more companies figure it out and realize that “eight hours in an office” doesn’t equal “eights hour of productivity”.

[...]Five Common Myths about Working From Home [...]

I agree that we will definitely see a rise of this type of work in the future. From what I see around me I think we’re in the boom right now.

well i can tell you what you miss : interacting with people, the boundary between professional and domestic (like your work day finishes and guess what you are still at work !) , having a set time to start and stop working, etc…

I wouldn’t work full time from home, it is insane !

Good read. I’m working from home right now!

+1 for working at home. I get much more done and get to work earlier. Having a separate office in your house that you rarely go into after hours gives some home/work separation. I dread the day i will have to commute and sit in a cube.

You’re right on the money! I have been working at home for three years and have enjoyed every minute of it. It can get a bit lonely and I miss some of the development-related interaction that I used to have in the office.

And talk about distractions! The worst part of the year is when spring comes and I look out the window and can’t quite keep myself from running outside for a few minutes… :-)

Faxes? Try efax.com.

Your words are an echo for so many. I believe like you than loneliness is the worst of the effects for this scenario. Also it’s very difficult to construct and maintain an effective communication channel with the rest of the team. The IM or conferences calls will be never be able to compete with a good personal meeting; that human touch can’t be replaced.
But otherwise the advantages obtained are so many… it’s a balanced trade off.

[...] Five Common Myths about Working From Home from Panasonic Youth is a very nice synopsis of some of the comments I get when I tell people I work from home. My mother in law (not officially) thinks I’m “off” when I work from home, It does my head in. [...]

asfsfd: I ended up going with http://faxitnice.com The main problem with all the other services is they charge $15 dollars a month for 100 faxes, or something similiar - I only need to fax 20 pages a month, if that. Faxitnice allows a pay per use plan, which fits my small number of faxes much better. The interface kinda sucks, though, but it works.

Thanks for all the responses! I should’ve mentioned in the initial post that I actully live in the same city as the two other developers with my company, so we can very easily have face time when needed. Having some sort of regular human contact can make a big difference, even if its only an hour or two every few days.

I know there are offices for rent in some cities, which lets you have an office environment with people around and yet still keep your freedom and flexibility. Sounds like a decent compromise.

Does this company “Seeking Alpha” need anyone else? :)

Barry: heh, not right now. If you are in the Madison/Milwaukee area, though, drop me an email anyways…

[...] It comes to my attention of a blog post - Rob Sanheim talks about his friends’ misconceptions on his working from home style. Comments like: [...]

I have been working mostly from home for over 4 years now, like a previous respondant did, I too miss the design discussions that used to take place and the interaction with other like minded people, but then I go into what is my base company office for a day or too it never happens anyway.

With Petrol at £5 a gallon and a 130 mile round trip to the office there are huge economic benefits to working from home. Then of course comes the summer, a sun shade a quiet corner, wireless broad band and working in the garden…

[...] Over on Panasonic Youth there is a post relating to the five most common myths about working from home. It is not entirely blog related, though most probloggers or even part time probloggers probably work from home. I am one of those people. I work from home currently, and I am really sick of people believing these myths are reality. You have less distractions. The entire summer there was road construction right outside my house, with the constant beeping of dump trucks in reverse a solid three hours in the morning. Then there were the days were they were jackhammering and moving concrete - it literally shook my whole office, and I’m in the second floor. Family and friends think because you work from home that you can chat whenever and as long as they want, so there are awkward conversations where I’ve had to explain that I can’t be on the phone all afternoon. The type of distraction might be different, but there are still plenty of things to steal your attention. [...]

See, the loneliness and lack of interaction doesn’t sound too bad to me, since most of my coworkers are incompetent and do little more than drive me nuts.

One day I hope to figure out a way to make a decent living working from home. If nothing else, it’s two extra hours a day that I’m not wasting commuting from home to work, right?

The most common myth that I hear about working from home is “oh, you must work in your pajamas all day long, right?” I suppose there are some people who work from home and do this, but I get up every morning, rain or shine, and walk my dogs and feed my other animals. I have to get dressed for this or the neighbors would probably call the cops. :-) Granted I could get back into my PJs and I do just wear jeans and a t-shirt most days, but it still bugs me that people on the phone with me assume I must be lounging in my PJs while they are hard at work in their business casual attire.

[...] Working From Home Myths Over at Panasonic Youth they have a post today about five myths of working from home. Here’s my take on their comments: [...]

I’ve been working from home for Nine years now. I have yet to work only 40 hours in a week. My mother still gets upset when I tell her I can’t talk right now and no she can’t come over and watch me work. I’ve done conference calls in the car because it was quieter than my house, and since our company is across every time zone on the planet, everyone feels free to call me day or night.
And still I wouldn’t have it anyother way! I do miss seeing people everyday, but when it gets bad, I just go into one of our offices and “plop” myself down for some social time, disguised as work.
My favorite saying is “Did you not hear the “WORK” part of - I work from home?”

My husband has been working from home for several months, and I’ve considered it (Last year, I didn’t apply for a plum job, because it was telecommuting).
It’s hard not to ask him to handle errands. There are some that are much more reasonable for him, he can bring the car to the mechanic, walk a few minutes to a coffee shop, and chug away on code till they’re done. Taking advantage of this can be a real problem, as running around town can easily knock off an hour or two of productivity, and he has to try to pick it up in the evenings.
We’ve found subscribing to wireless at Starbucks is worthwhile, they’re a great rental office (when you’re getting a nice office, coffee and breakfast, it’s hard to beat $6). The ambiance is good, the desks are always clean, and there are several entrepreneurs who’re in and out as well. He stays on a 40 hour schedule by heading out with me in the morning, hitting Starbucks, and using their office for half a day.

[...] Rob Sanheim lists out five common myths about working from home (via Blogging Pro). I qualify to agree with them because these days I am truly working from home. I would add one more that a lot of my friends think of - no need of discipline and process. I say they are more important while working from home, since you do not have your colleagues to motivate you and keep you focused. It is easy to sway between extremes of only work and only home and this balance is extremely important to be productive. This has given me a good chance to experiment with processes and develop my own. It is mostly eXtreme Programming (XP), but customized for my work and my preferences. And yes, I do keep timesheets, for myself. They turn into a real treasure to dig into some months later. They help you realise patterns in your work and help create reusable solutions. Process design is really interesting, and if done right it is pretty powerful too. [...]

[...] A great post from Rob Sanheim describing his experiences of working from home. I agree with most of the points that Rob makes, productivity goes up, but there are still those distractions such as the family pet trying to jump onto your lap. The closing paragraph should sell it to anyone… All in all, for most knowledge workers it just makes more sense to work from home. I think in ten years we may see a good third or even half of all programming work done by workers from home as more companies figure it out and realize that “eight hours in an officeâ€? doesn’t equal “eights hour of productivityâ€?. Posted by Garth Filed in Remote Working [...]

[...] Det finns en del myter om att jobba hemifrån. Om du är van vid att sitta i bilkö upp till en timma varje dag för att komma till jobbet, och tänker att jobba hemifrån skulle vara rena himmelriket bör du känna till några av baksidorna också. [...]

You have hit the nail on the head. It always amazes (annoys) me when people think I do nothing, or work about 2 hours a week. They always get an odd look on their face when I say “Nope - do about 40 hours from home”.

But - it is easier though - I can work in my pyjamas if I want :)

Shirlene

I am truly working from home. I would add one more that a lot of my friends think of - no need of discipline and process. I say they are more important while working from home, since you do not have your colleagues to motivate you and keep you focused.