On Working Remotely

Mon Dec 5 15:40:04 UTC 2011

David Radcliffe <david at 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
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