Working from home

   / Working from home #1  

tlj87

Gold Member
Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
434
Location
PA
Tractor
JD 4700, Kubota BX2370-1, Kubota RTV1140CPX, Kubota F3060, Club Car Precedent
We are hoping to move from the city to our property. Traveling back and forth, 1.75 hrs each way, every weekend stinks, and we want to get started on our homesteading life. Each weekend is extremely busy, from Friday evening when we get there to Sunday evening when we leave with all of the maintenance and projects we have going. We currently rent in the city, so we wouldn't be selling a home, but we will save money by not paying rent itself and utilities. My wife's employer has an office in the town closest to our property. An individual at that office is planning to retire at the end of the summer, opening up a position which is the same position my wife currently holds at her current office. In general, due to advances in technology, I can work from anywhere, although I currently am always in the physical office. So if everything "works out", my question is, how is it working from home on a regular basis? I'm sure I will be traveling to the office at least once a month, perhaps once a week - too early to tell. My concerns are 1) I have been with my current employer since graduating from college in 2010 and am very happy working for them. I was very fortunate to have been promoted during that time. I feel as though not being in the office may reduce my ability to advance in my career at my current employer. I do not want to be doing exactly what I do now, in 10 years. 2) Moving back to my hometown (pop. 12k) will limit job opportunities due, obviously, to less employers. What does it take to be able to switch career paths?

I do feel as though I would be able to fulfill my current duties without sacrificing my quality of work. But, how is it working most every day by yourself, in a home office? Any advice, tips, etc., please!
 
   / Working from home #2  
This is a great topic for discussion. I have worked from my home for the better part of 15 years now. I will admit that the first 6 months I was not as disciplined as I am now. I was goofing off and not doing my best work and doing projects around the house. What I did to stop that is I started getting up every morning and putting on a suit and a tie and putting on my employers work badge. Being dressed up made me not do any projects and focus on work. That really works for me. From a job advancement perspective that really depends on how your company looks at telecommuting and Face to face Time. I happen to be in a position in my career that I am not looking for advancement because I have a great work and life balance. From a productivity standpoint, I am probably two times more productive when I work from home versus when I work out of an office. Even though I can take an hour or so off to run to my kids school to watch a play or some other event the lack of interruptions during the workday allow me to finish work with better quality and faster times. When you are in a work office folks are always dropping into your office adding their 2 cents and commenting and sometimes it's a challenge to get them to leave. When you telecommute you don't have those problems if somebody is on a conference call and going on you can very politely say I have to run I have another meeting or my boss just emailed me and I've got to get onto another project. I will say sometimes it's hard to turn off work when your workspace is 10 feet from the kitchen or the family room. So sometimes I find myself checking emails late into the night but that the flexibility truly offsets any of that. I love it and it saves a ton of money from truck maintenance and fuel and clothing....
 
   / Working from home #3  
Been working from home since 1996, here are a few things I learned.

Set up a separate deadicated room for your office, kitchen tables just do not work.

Do not go in that room on weekends . I found myself working a few hours in the AM before the kids woke up, add it up and you just added another 3-4 hours to your week.

Set up time to go to the office a few times a month to keep up with the folks at work so they do not to forget you, out of sight out of mind will not help you climb the corporate tower.

With IM, e-mail and today's systems I can do everything at home that I can do in the office PROVIDING you have excellent internet access, if not do not even think about working from home.

Tell your clients or out of office employes your office number is..... Not my home office number is.... No one needs to know you are home, as long as you return calls and e-mail who cares. That is where having a room you can close the door to shut out the kids comes in handy.

Tell the kids daddy is at work when in his office and not to come in unless it is REALLY important. Yea that is hard, but you need to set boundries.

If the neighbors see you home they will call you to help them with a 100 different things, tell them you are at work and will catch up with them at 6 PM. They will say but I see your car, tell them you are work, eventually they will understand ....lol

Hope this helps.
 
   / Working from home #4  
I've worked from home since 1996. For the first four years it was for the same design studio that I used to commute to. One day I simply decided spending hours a day on a @#$% freeway was not worth the energy, time and angst. I was prepared to quit but my mensch of an employer gave me the option to work from home and just pop in once in a while with the finished work. Did that for two years before moving to the homestead, after which I learned to send files via the internet. A couple of years later I decided to start my own business and have been at it ever since - part time now that the Social Security Fairy visits every month.

It takes discipline to be indoors quilting or working on a design while Baby John is staring through the window, begging me to come out and play. But I love the work and the flexibility and never plan to retire for real.
 
   / Working from home #5  
I can work from home from time to time, usually about once a week. I don't have a problem being distracted at home but it is very easy to get distracted at work. Too many people interrupting work. :shocked::laughing: I find I can accomplish much more work at a faster pace when working at home compared to in the office. It also save me drive time which is a big savings.

One problem I have seen with people who work full time is that they miss/lack the connection to coworkers. This is not good. If the company is laying off people, often the first to go are the people who work from home full time. It is easier for managers to fire someone over the phone rather than face to face and it is easier to get rid of the person you have never really formed a relationship with in the first place. I have seen this happen to a few people.

Later,
Dan
 
   / Working from home #6  
If your employer supports it, go for it.

Most of my work is computer-based, so I can really do it from anywhere. I work from home two days a week. With the mix, I value both my time in my home office (more productive) and my time at the main office (to keep in touch and wrap up loose ends). I find that I take care of the serious work while at home and have more time to myself, and handle the chore type tasks for the company when in the office with interruptions.

Before we had a baby and when we lived in town, my telecommuting days were pretty regimented, starting work early as soon as I rolled out of bed, having a quick lunch at my desk, and then breaking at 2-3pm for a bike ride or workout at the gym. Then come back home and work a couple hours before dinner.

Now with a baby and living out in the country, there are a lot more distractions/chores and my days working from home are more broken up. Still not as bad as working in the main office with interruptions, but not the same as before. It probably takes me 10 hours to put in 8 hours now...
 
   / Working from home #7  
i think the line of work you're in has something to do with this. and how much self discipline you have. interacting face to face with your superiors at work is more valuable toward career advancement. i've worked at home for the past couple of tax seasons for a cpa firm 60 miles from here. i've been working there for tax season for the last 15+ years. there is a disconnect from the activities and other personnel there and i've lost interest in working there. if you have the means to try it out without giving up your rental for a couple of month it would give you a chance to see what its like.
 
   / Working from home #8  
I work from home and after about 4 years I have come to love it. All of my time is spent in email, IM and phone/conference calls. After serving 26 years in the military and then starting work with a large corporation in IT and being in an office for 16 years it was tough at first being at home. I am more productive as a manager because I am not being pulled into meetings that don't need me, I am not spending time bs'ing and so bottom line I get more done in 4 hours than I did in the office in 8 or more. You do have to be disciplined and yes as previously stated there must be an office space that you go to and do your work. I close the door so the grandkids know not to come in.

Pros - less stress, business casual has a whole new meaning, more productive and a new freedom to on some days pick the hours you want to work your job and do things that need done at home.

Cons - it gets a bit lonely at times in my room, I do miss being around people at times, but when I think about all of the Pros I am just fine. Family has to understand you are at work and they must leave you alone to work.
 
   / Working from home #9  
I've been working at home part time since 2000, and full time since 2008. I LOVE IT! I can spend more time with my kids, I take them to school, pick them up, have them here with me during the summer, etc.

I was in a similar position as you (I work as a developer for an IT consulting firm). I moved to 'the city' right out of college for work. After 2 years, my wife and I were ready to move back 'home.' I talked to the head of our office and told him I would love to continue to work for them remotely if they would allow it. We talked to my clients and it worked out really well. My immediate boss said 'that's more of a personal move than a professional move'. I agreed, but it was what was important to my wife and I at the time. Plus, I had no desire to be a big manager or anything like that.

That was in 2000. Since then, I have had engagements with local clients where I have gone into the office for days, weeks, months on end, but in the beginning of 2008, I was back to WFH full time. I have not advanced as much in my career as I would have had I stayed where I was, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. We are in the process of building a new house on 48 acres, and there is NO WAY that would have happened had we not moved, so I don't regret it at all.

Couple things that have been mentioned already:
  • Set aside a separate room as an office - this makes it a bit easier to separate work from home.
  • Be disciplined and diligent about getting your work done - don't slack and let work slip...it's easy to do
  • Set limits - don't work ALL the time - it's easy to do since you are at work all the time, but make sure you don't over do it. I tend to work a lot, but I get OT for it, and have plenty to do. I normally save the OT for after the kids (and often the wife) are in bed.
  • Make occasional trips into the office to make sure your manager doesn't forget you.

Best of luck!
 
   / Working from home #10  
My company started eliminating office positions in favor of remote workers in some departments years ago. In 2010, they made this mandatory for my division. Working from an office was no longer an option. We are completely paperless, and all of our information is computer based. The change has been extremely gratifying. The key is to maintain a routine and be disciplined. I get up at the same time I did when commuting. I walk into my office, and can get a jump on the day before the phone starts ringing. This gives me some flexibility later in the day. Like others, my productivity has increased, not decreased. I can take a break and ride the bike at noon, and often will pick things from the garden for lunch. Can't beat the view from my office window. That's why we moved to a farm in the first place. Like others have said, create a dedicated space, and set boundaries for your family if they are at home during the day. I would also recommend making one trip per month (minimum) to the office to meet with co-workers and manager, even if it is just for lunch. You need to maintain some personal contact.

The downside is that I never really leave the office. If my office phone rings, I answer, regardless of the time of day or weekends. I can't really blame the caller when I make the choice to answer it. Same with e-mail. I cannot see myself ever taking a job that would require me to be in the office every day. Having adjusted to this lifestyle, going back to an every day office job would be unbearable.
 
 
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