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Ask Slashdot: What Are Your Tips For Working From Home?
ichard writes "In a couple of months I'm going to start working from home full-time. I've been thinking about the obvious things like workspace ergonomics, but I'm sure there are more subtle considerations involved in a zero-minute commute. What are other Slashdot readers' experiences and recommendations for working from home? How do you stay focused and motivated?"
Seriously, don't have a significant other or children at home. It's my biggest hurdle. I used to be all about working from home, but trying it after having a daughter means "Daddy's trying to do work" turns into "Yay! Daddy's Home!!! Let's bug him ALL DAY!".
If I got a job that required working from home, I'd probably build a small shed in the backyard with insulation, power, and ethernet and just work out there so they're less likely to bust in every 5 minutes or be screaming down the hall or whatever.
-=JML=-
Fully agree. I liked to get up have a shower, get dressed, then step out of the apartment walk up the street and grab a coffee, then walk home...and start work. The process of stepping out the door had a psychological effect of getting me ready for work.
Big +1 on this one. It's essential that your family/friends/etc recognize that when you're in there you're "at work" and need to be treated as such. That being said, be flexible if your company is. Sometimes when working from home I'll run and pickup my kid from school even though my wife usually does that. Just because he'll think it's cool that dad picked him up and it's a nice break in the day. My work is based on accomplishments, not hours so I have that flexibility and I use it.
Couple of other things:
1) Get ready for work! Don't just slump out of bed and jump in the chair. Eat breakfast, take a shower, get dressed. You'll be more productive, I guarantee it.
2) Don't get caught in the trap of working too much. When your work is at home it can be hard to walk away from it. If you're done for the day, stay done.
MG
My brother-in-law works from home and has a very set routine. He gets up at the same time every day, showers, shaves, dresses, eats breakfast, and then he takes the kids to school. On the way back, he stops at the 7-11 and fills his commuter mug with coffee. He goes back home, comes in the other entrance, and walks straight to his home office. When the day is done, he reverses the process, picking up the kids, and coming home, with them, through the front door.
He claims it's the transitions from home mode to work mode and back again that makes it doable.
Sign up at a gym or something that gets you out for a reason and then schedule it. It can be flexible but don't spend all your time at work.
...and say that I do the exact opposite.
I've no set hours, no routine, no dedicated space, I play guitar when I'm blocked and have a movie or TV series playing all the time to provide a distraction (for some reason not multitasking doesn't work for me).
So what I'm trying to say is that this is completely subjective, just do what feels natural.
The most important thing is to be passionate about the projects you pick up, if you are then never mind staying focused, you'll go into overtime without even realising it.
Good luck man.
Everyone seems to be telling you to act as if you wouldn't be working from home. If that is so, then what's the point?
I'm currently running my (small) company from home. It was founded recently, so it's too early to say if I'm doing this all wrong or all right, but here's my experience so far:
Do take advantage of this style of working. I absolutely enjoy being able to have breakfast and lunch when I feel hungry and not when the clock says it's the time and my co-workers are waiting for me at the usual place.
I enjoy the company of my pets - lots better having them there in person than having photographs on your desk. Children might be more difficult to stuff back into the cage after a few minutes of raising your spirits, so you may want to develop a protocol, but if you have any, they are probably one of the reasons you are working your ass off, so do what you couldn't do at the office - at the very least, have lunch with your family or something.
Do enjoy the flexibility. Doing grocery shopping during the day, when the shops are empty, is so much more relaxing compared to doing it in the evening when everyone does it after work (YMMV depending on how shops are open in your place).
Keep time. Software or good old watch, doesn't matter, but keep a record of the time you actually spend working. This will help you much, much more in keeping in line than some arbitrary "working hours". And it will help you in both directions, stopping you not only from working too little, but also from working too much.
My personal opinion is that pretending that it's just like work at the office isn't the best way to do it. The number of comments advising it suggest that it is definitely a workable way. Still, there is quite a bit of potential for making it better than work at the office, at least in some respects.
Our ancestors often didn't have any seperation between work and private life. If you are a farmer or something like that, that is still pretty much the case today. Then again, your job probably doesn't feed you and doesn't have the same kind of immediacy and direct meaning. Still, it's a point to think about when people tell you to keep the two strictly seperated.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
And as a corollary to that, make sure YOU know between XX:XX and YY:YY you're on the job. And more importantly, after YY:YY you're NOT on the job. This was something I always had trouble with when I worked from home. I'd sit down in front of the computer and start working, then go and throw a load of laundry in since it was there, and then work some more, then go have lunch in the kitchen, then work, go get the mail, do a few other 10-15 minute chores around the house and as a result of that feel that I should put more work time in and then next thing you know it's 9PM and even though I took breaks I still probably ended up working 9.5 hours and I feel burnt because I've been (mostly) sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours.
That's why I like working outside of home, it gives clear work/home delineation (for the most part).
I am the least wanted presence of any employee I know. When I sold most of my stock in the small company I founded to our new CEO and major share holder, the exiting CEO said things would work out better if I worked from home. Six years later, they keep an empty desk which is theoretically mine to honor my employment, but I've been working at home all this time. Now, I don't disagree with them, but it has been quite an adjustment. The first two years I would have agreed with the other posters about having an office and a door - I did. We've got a stupidly large house, a mistake I will not make again, which was motivated from years of too little space in Silicon Valley. Eventually, I missed the personal contact with people, and I love my family. I've given over the office to the kids, and we call it the "Children's Lounge". I put an Xbox 360, and hi-def TV, and a computer for each of them in there, and they love it. I work in a lazy-boy chair with my feet up (I got blood clots in my leg and lungs from working too long without moving). I now work in the family room, and life is much better than when I was closed off in my solitary office.
Part of the adjustment was training my family to understand that for 8-ish hours most days I'm going to sit in that damned chair and ignore whatever it is they want from me. There was about a year where I'd say my wife seemed to resent me "always being at my computer", though it was only about 8 hours a day. Now days, I like working from home. I know a lot more about my kid's lives just from casual listening while working.
Now, I take issue with the guy who thought headphones were a dumb idea. I was blessed with exactly Steve Job's shaped ears, so even though I hate Apple, I go through about two pairs of iPod headphones a year, which I power with my Linux/Windows dual boot laptop and my awesome Galaxy Nexus phone. I listen to audio books I create with TTS synthesizers, and it's just a huge improvement in my quality of life. They don't block my hearing like "in-ear" headphones, so I can keep them in a lot of the time.
Another major issue is training your co-workers to work with you remotely. For example, software I've been working on with a team remotely will be installed on some sales guys machines tomorrow for the first time. I've asked that before installing our software, that each machine have the latest Skype installed, and that voice and remote desktop sharing tested. I can do better support with Skype than standing in someone's office looking over their shoulder. Getting people to actually switch to on-line communication can be pretty hard. I've been commuting twice a week to a pretty remote office (3-4 hours driving a day) to build relationships with our excellent but naturally social phobic engineering team, partly so they wont feel so weird talking to me on Skype. Also, having your team mates just a click away all day is wonderful. It makes it almost feel like you're at the office. I have my family and my team mates. However, I don't get away very often for an after work beer or two.
Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell