What are your feelings on telecommuting/working from home? Does your job allow it? If you practice it do you find you get more or less work done? If you work from home do you end up working longer hours than you would at the office? Are you willing to trade having set office hours for answering calls and email "after hours?"


This is a fairly popular topic at my office. Within the last year I've finally gotten all the tools that allow me to work from home effectively, but yet I still feel a bit uneasy about it. Most other groups in my office have jobs that require them to be in the office so I feel like the slacker if I am not there every day with them. I am trying to get over that though, as my boss has said that working from home "now and then" is no problem. On days I have worked from home I do get much more done because I don't have constant interuptions and I also work longer hours simply because I cut out that hour in my car. I gosh, it is nice to answer your morning emails while watching an episode of Ellen.

However I know if/when I shift to this more flexible work from home when necessary schedule there will be a trade off. If I am home and the laptop is open I will answer the emails that come in at 8 pm (which is common as many of my colleagues, my boss included, are in different time zones). Do that enough and people will come to expect it. I see my boss doing it - I get emails from him at all hours of the day and night. One of my co-workers the other day said that he had been traveling and opted to get caught up on his emails at 1 am. As he was sending the emails he was getting replies back at 1 am!

I love it, would do it once a week if we had the option. Our boss is pretty anti, but occasionally, if you aren't feeling great but want to get some work done, or if you have some other decent reason, it's done. Working in my pjs is definitely part of it, but I also have to contend with a pretty yucky office - small, drafty, uncomfortable. So curling up on my couch with my laptop seems like heaven after that.

I've been working from home for almost five years now and while I really enjoy it, I do wonder if I've now got to the point where I actually couldn't go back to an office environment now, which in some ways is worrying - it would certainly be a difficult adjustment. I certainly waste lots of time, but honestly, I wasted massive amounts of time in every job I've ever had - I don't think I actually produce any less than I ever did. It helps that I have deadlines and there really is no choice about not getting the stuff done - but yeah, often I'll procrastinate all day and then have to do it in the evenings or weekend, so if you like to have a very clear divide between work and leisure, it's probably not a good thing. I don't so much mind about that. And I love not commuting and being able to make proper lunches etc.

It's not great working in the living room though so I'm very much looking forward to moving and having a dedicated office and a garden, because often I do feel very claustrophobic and shut in. I do go out every day, but if there's work hanging over me or I'm waiting in for a delivery (like right now), I can't - or even if I can, I don't have anything particular to do outside, so after a short walk, I'm back in. The way I try to cope with this is to have regular activities scheduled, classes and so on, and obviously to arrange to meet up with people so that I am sort of forced out of the house sometimes. And I usually work from the library a couple of days a week. It also helps, frankly, living with someone who's coming home from an office, it really breaks the day up and it's better than when I was working from home and living on my own. But unreasonably, I get really annoyed when they contact him at home and he has to work after hours, it drives me nuts!

That brings up some good points, Pandrea. While I would like working from home once maybe twice a week I would imagine it would get quite lonely to do full time. I do waste a lot of time at the office chatting with co-workers, which I like to call "building repore" ;).

That doesn't bother me, actually, I'm fine with just chatting online (and, obviously, keeping in touch with friends at other times) and prefer my own company. It's more about literally being stuck indoors, for me, but I'm sure for some people lack of watercooler time would be an issue.

That sounds like a potential blessing to me - the people I work with are nice enough, but I could do without them. In some cases, I'm so sick of their voices it makes my head hurt. (Really small office.)

I'm hoping it's the wave of the future; some of my near-future life plans depend on it. And as a Web Thingummy, everything I do is via the computer and can be done at home. No one needs to see my face. I think I average four phone calls a month.

I actually tried it yesterday, because my car was in the shop and I couldn't get it if I went to work. I don't think I did more work than usual, but it took far less time. It was like heaven to do it at home, lounging around next to my cat, and to get to sleep in. Of course, we're not allowed to work from home without a formal arrangement, so I called in sick to do it. This time, it was an urge to be responsible that kept me working in a solid block; in the office, I lean toward distraction and entertainment. I guess keeping the work to work hours would be a matter of discipline.

My office is theoretically very work/family friendly, and some people work 80 percent time, with the rare person getting to work from home one day a week. Also the university is required by the state each year to record how many of its workers carpool, bike to work, telecommute, etc.; so theoretically it should get green points for full-time telecommuters. But I think my office is still hindered by the same fears that keep the practice from becoming widespread elsewhere: that home workers will be less productive, and (a bigger one) that other workers will be jealous.

My job is very demanding on my time and requires me to be pretty flexible about when work is done. As a result they are extremely flexible with us on schedules. My department's policy is:

Everyone needs to know if you're in the office or not so send an email to the group.
Provide contact info for how to reach you if you're out.
Don't miss important meetings

I absolutely love having the flexibility and take full advantage of it - however it has had the drawback of making me really lazy about getting up in the morning anymore.

My work is okay with telecommuting, but only if you live a certain distance away from work. If you live very close to work, like I do, then it is frowned upon. Which is kinda frustrating because sometimes I could do with the flexibility of being at home or just the peace and quiet of being at home.

That does not sound fair, BJC. Presumably the employees chose to take the job knowing the distance from their homes in the first place and were okay with it. It is like the argument of mothers getting special stuff because they have kids to care for or people with families being paid more because they have a family to support.

I don't think parents should be paid more just because they have children, but I think it's right that work be supportive of workers with children, in the form of benefits, daycare, flextime if desired.

Definitely, cause, without children we basically have a Children of Men-type situation on our hands, and I don't want anything bad to happen to Julianne Moore.

Really, though, it's almost impossible for a family to get by any more on one salary (I barely do it without kids). Jobs need to have some understanding of that. Certainly it's not fair for those who choose not to have kids to bear the brunt, but I think there are more equitable ways to deal with it, like job-sharing and flex hours. (Ah, 9 to 5, you really remain relevant to this day).

BJC, your situation does seem unfair to me. By nature it doesn't matter how far a telecommuter is from their office; you should benefit from that as much as those who live far away.

MY call centrejob, I'd have loved to have done from home sometimes, but I had fixed hours and we needed the info held on site, (plus my then employers were control-freaks and skinflints, so frankly it was never going to happen...).

The job I'm in now isn't suitable, - working in a museum doesn't lend it to telecommuting really! We have flexitime though for Office/non-front of house Staff which is useful, as I hate getting up really early, but don't mind later finishes. I do have a nice office which helps and nice surroundings, which helps. I never mind going into work there. There is a certainly element of doing stuff at home - reading or at present, playing about with the format of new labels. I do know my boss often answers emails in the evening, cos she's got the equipment to allow to log on at home - but she's peripatetic round several sites (and her husband is seriously ill at the moment), so she's doing that to fit round all the demands.

They're fairly easygoing at work - I could either take flexitime if I needed to be at home, or do something at home - not that I do, but the woman I'm currently maternity cover at work for, is back in the new year, and we're discussing the best way for her to put in her hours without necesitating FOH to have stay late, but not have her in the building on her own!

I would agree that's unfair BJC - I can understand a certain element of wanting people in the office, but surely it should be equitable for all!