Yesterday I just didn’t feel like getting dressed and after taking a teleconference at 10 am I decided to work at home. I rarely work at home, but it is actually amazingly productive. I did quite a bit of work, and also managed to do six loads of laundry and bake some chicken.
Today I went back work and I realized why I can’t concentrate very well there. People are just talking constantly over each other and I hear them from my cube. Then I’m constantly distracted by people walking in the hallway because I happen to face the hallway. Additionally, there are too many snacks and drinks in the breakroom so I find myself going there every hour or so. You would think that an office environment lets you concentrate on work, but it is rather distracting. Being in my home office is much more comfortable than coming to the office. It is much quieter and much more relaxing.
Knowing this, I might ask my manager to let me work at home once a week. Several of my coworkers actually work at home full time so it is not a huge request. If I work at home once a week I could save a gallon of gas every week and also cook instead of going out. I could also shave off some snack calories. We will see how this works out.
How about you? Do you find working at home more productive? Or do you need the human interaction at the office?
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9 comments ↓
I’ve been working at home full time for a few months now. Sometimes I love how I can get work done and clean up the house a little bit. Other days, I practically run for Panera to get a little human interaction.
Oh, and I eat WAY more at home. I never kept snacks at my desk in an office, but now I always find myself in the kitchen!
I am semi-retired, but I do not miss the distractions at work. I work about three hours a day at home, and I think I can accomplish just as much as I did in 8 hours at work. You can check out What I Miss and What I Don’t Miss on my blog http://gruggersway.today.com
I actually love working from home and I am probably 20% more productive. I think it is mainly because I have more fruitful distractions at home that let me take a break from work and refresh before I go back to the boring work I have to do. When I am at work I often get very distracted because I don’t want to do said boring work.
I am just the opposite. I get too distracted at home to effectively work more than an hour a day from home. Also, I tend to snack more at home
Hi Xin! I clicked through from a BlogHer ad… congrats on being added to the BlogHer mix.
I find that I can be more productive at home because there’s nobody to talk to about the latest news and company gossip. But I do miss the daily interactions with other people.
I wish I could work at home all of the time. Every once in a while I have the opportunity to and its amazing how much you can get done without distractions! Unfortunately, part of my job as an assistant is about being at my desk for every little need the people I support may have so I can’t do it too often… but I would LOVE to have a job where I could WFH every day! If anyone know of any admin jobs like this let me know!
When at home I find that it is harder to stay on task. It is also harder to work for yourself without anyone to keep you accountable. I blog for all of my income but I have been considering getting a very small, very cheap office so that I can seperate work and home life better and in turn be more productive.
I like the idea of working from home too as I get to focus on my tasks and it reduce interruption and I can save and eat healthier home cook food and be with my family
I recently took a job that allows me to work from home a lot and I love it! I think it all depends on who you are and what works for you, but I personally am able to concentrate and get things done when I’m home alone. Plus, I love that I can make my own lunch and start working much earlier when there’s no commute. I find it’s much easier to balance work and personal life this way.
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