working from home

[drone]

I was just wondering if there is any of you out there who for one reason or another work from home? I am thinking of switching to an area in my line of work where I could essentially work mostly from home.

What do you like about it? pros...cons,,

would you reccomend it?

 

[Pretzel]

Here is my situation, I currently work from home and my head office is in Toronto. My wife also works from home. In an ideal world that wouldn’t be a problem but we live in a 600 SF. Condo.

I think we would be more comfortable with working from home if we had a bigger space/office room. We both like working from home but in the end, it all depends on your personality.

Pros:
1.No traffic - therefore no wasted gas and less speeding tickets
2.Less wear and tear on your vehicle as you are driving less, also less gas and hence better for the environment
3.No office politics
4.No need to prepare a lunch the night before since you can just eat at home
5.You get to work in your pajamas (if you like that)
6.No need to iron your clothes unless you have a meeting/appointment
7.Money saved due to purchasing less clothes
8.No need to shower/shave as much therefore less wasted water
9.Depending on the type of work you do, you might be able to enjoy a nice coffee on a patio with your laptop during the summer months

Cons:
1.Feeling out of touch with head office
2.It seems like I work more when I am at home than in the office. Office has lots of distractions, e.g. “cooler talkâ€, birthday celebrations, luncheons, etc. When working from home, sometime you get carried away and forget about lunch or take a 5 minute lunch vs. an hour at work.
3.No interactions with co-workers. If you are an extravert this will be very difficult for you.
4.More time spent on administrative tasks, e.g. filing, faxing, shredding, etc since there is no Admin Assistant to help you
5.Might notice an increase in your monthly bills (heat, hydro, etc...)
6.More wear and tear on your home since you are spending more time in it
7.More mess around the house and difficult to keep paperwork, etc organized unless you have a dedicated room for your work
8.There is very little work-life balance, the line between personal and professional gets blurred
9.Depending on the type of work you do, you might be stuck inside your home the whole day and not get enough fresh air or some sun...

Sick days are not easily used since you still can work from home. This could be either a pro or con depending on the type of job you have.

We had a snow storm early December and as I watched the news of how many accidents were reported that day and how badly the roads were I felt blessed for working from home!

 

[bleeepbluuup]

Even if you are an introvert, the isolation of working at home will get to you after a while, especially if you live alone. You will have to purposefully schedule outings to get your dose of sun and socialization.

If at all possible, work in a room with a door. I don't have one on my home office and it stresses me out: because I can't shut out distractions from other members of my household (at a regular office others may be distracting but at least they're doing office-appropriate things, not watching action movies), and because I can always see my workplace even on my off-hours.

But yeah, it's nice not to have to deal with office politics or commuting.

 

[lead82]

spelling

i tend to work from home once a week, mostly on fridays on when there are snowstorms. I use the 2nd br as an office. I still like going to the office to socialize with people.

 

[lead82]

The one caveat about working from home too much is that you get passed up for promotions and raises. Out of sight out of mind.

 

[drone]

Thanks for all the great posts!

I'm not a people person, so, I don't think I'd be affected by not having office folks to hang out with...though the post about it being easier to waste time at work (parties, conversations, etc..) was priceless!