Alison said it well. To work at home sometimes seems like a luxury (especially when the weather's bad, and you can have something simmering on the stove for dinner, and don't have to worry about traffic) and sometimes seems like a confinement (less social interaction, more probability that you think you should be doing laundry WHILE you're doing your work).
I think working four days a week instead of five days a week is nice, but there's one big downside as far as the actual work goes: You get only four fresh starts instead of five. You know that feeling you have in the morning when you first sit down, fresh and with a cup of coffee, to tackle work? When you have a day ahead of you to plan and anything seems possible? It's nice to have five of those fresh starts in one week. When you work four days a week, what you do is lengthen each day, which means you are lengthening that time in the afternoon when you're a little tired, a little stressed, a little wilted and concerned with finishing work. And if you're in a business where it's important to place or return phone calls, that always seems to work better in the mornings than in the afternoons.
I think working at home is most suited to people who don't tend to get distracted, who can motivate themselves, and who find it easy to get social interaction elsewhere. If you tend to lose focus, or if you identify with the people in your office and you like the activity there, you may be happier continuing to work there than at home.
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Alison said it well. To work at home sometimes seems like a luxury (especially when the weather's bad, and you can have something simmering on the stove for dinner, and don't have to worry about traffic) and sometimes seems like a confinement (less social interaction, more probability that you think you should be doing laundry WHILE you're doing your work).
I think working four days a week instead of five days a week is nice, but there's one big downside as far as the actual work goes: You get only four fresh starts instead of five. You know that feeling you have in the morning when you first sit down, fresh and with a cup of coffee, to tackle work? When you have a day ahead of you to plan and anything seems possible? It's nice to have five of those fresh starts in one week. When you work four days a week, what you do is lengthen each day, which means you are lengthening that time in the afternoon when you're a little tired, a little stressed, a little wilted and concerned with finishing work. And if you're in a business where it's important to place or return phone calls, that always seems to work better in the mornings than in the afternoons.
I think working at home is most suited to people who don't tend to get distracted, who can motivate themselves, and who find it easy to get social interaction elsewhere. If you tend to lose focus, or if you identify with the people in your office and you like the activity there, you may be happier continuing to work there than at home.
October 13, 2008 - 8:43amThis Comment
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