

Does working at home make you more productive? Yes (with data)! - ojbyrne
http://blog.rescuetime.com/2009/11/18/does-working-from-home-make-you-more-productive-yes-with-data/

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mark_l_watson
I have mostly worked from home for the last 12 years. There is a real trick to
it: identify projects that are mostly self contained with well defined
deliverables; avoid projects that require tight coupling with the activities
of other workers.

The biggest drawback is missing the fun of 'white board time' but adequate
time on the telephone (or Skype for video) helps.

The advantages mostly involve being able to schedule work time for when you
are feeling (and being) most productive. The ability to take a break (even if
it is only doing 20 minutes of yard work, running an errand, playing a musical
instrument for a few minutes, talk with family and neighbors) is often just
the thing to later help get into a good work flow.

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callmeed
Sorry to state the obvious but the "data" doesn't prove anything.

Working at home might make the Rescue Time team more productive, but it
definitely isn't true for me, and probably many others.

Come work at my house, guys ... my kids show you what distracting is all about

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wglb
Ah, you have identified the problem.

I worked at home when my kids were born, and I solved the problem by having a
separate office with a door. When the door is closed, I am "not home".

But then the trade off is when you do take breaks, you visit with them
multiple times per day. Also, there were times that we would put a blanket on
the floor in my office and the kids would nap there.

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callmeed
Yes, that's one of the problems for me ... my home office doesn't have a door
... it's just a bonus room on the first floor. In fact, the doorway is so wide
I can't even get a baby-gate in there to keep the little one from rifling
through my books or camera gear

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unperson
I've worked from home for a few years now and from a productivity standpoint
its wonderful. For me at least, the ability to work from my desk, sitting in
my chair, with my lightning, with only distractions that I create (such as
music), all while avoiding any time-wasting commute is huge for my ability to
focus and get stuff done.

Despite productivity benefits, the major drawback of working remotely is a
lack of social interaction beyond telephone/e-mail/im, which can be very
taxing emotionally because physical cues are hugely important to
communication.

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jorleif
I've worked from home for a year but now I'm back at an office again. Working
from home seems very good for concentration, but I missed discussions with
other people. It felt like after some time I would run out of energy to do it.
This might be different if one was "doing his own thing" and be very
motivated, but I think the ideal for me would be working from home (or
somewhere else than the office, as I now have kids at home) for a couple of
days a week, and then be at the office for the rest of the week.

I think to make telecommuting really work, one would need to get a good
understanding of the intangibles involved. An antipattern of telecommuting
would be spending more time in meetings during the days in the office, to
"catch up", communicate or whatever. Rather, one would need to somehow make
the people working from home feel like they are socially part of the working
environment. Maybe having some kind of non-meeting social settings during
office days would work. Perhaps a long lunch or dinner or something?

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lurkinggrue
I wish I was at home right now. Coworkers nearby keep having conversations
about things that make me facepalm.

I would be working better if I didn't have talk of reality shows forced into
my brain when I am trying to concentrate.

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niels
I'd love to try rescuetime, but their linux client was working last time I
tried. Don't remember what the issue was exactly though.

