Could you work from home?

[R1Geezer]

would you want to?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11879241
Sure it has huge implications for transport/office accomodation etc but in reality is working from home for the masses viable. In my own situation there is no reason I can't work from home and indeed I do sometime but I just like to have the home/work divide. On occasions when I do work from Home I find I'm no where near as productive. So is there a GDP reason why we don't work from home. Presumably employers are having to weigh up the cost savings in buildings etc versus the inevitable productivity reduction. Your thoughts please.

[jno]

I used to have a few colleagues who worked from home, but my employers didn't want many to follow suit - they were worried about productivity, I think, so the output of home workers was monitored carefully and only trusted and experienced people were allowed to do it.

I also preferred to have time in the office and the companionship of fellow workers. But I wouldn't have minded saving the hour and a half every day it took me to commute.

[ummmm]

I worked from home for years. It gets a bit lonely at times.

[Zeuhl]

Same here.

I stay home and find lots of things to distract me.

We have one guy here who could work from home almost all the time as we can monitor his productivity but who prefers to make a 70 mile round trip to the office because he gets lonely.

To answer Geezer's question it would remove a lot of overheads and travel costs - and produce even more empty office stock! We would only be happy encouraging it for people whose productivity and quality we could remotely monitor; once you decide the need to have some size of office/meeting place the costs per head are not a big deal compared with the salary element.

[mccfluff]

i would love to but i would get to distracted and i'd never get anything done!

[flip_flop]

No chance.

Apart from the fact that I'd probably end up falling out with Mrs Flop and Miss and Master Flop because of the constant noise, I just simply do not have the self-discipline.

For example I could see me sat at my desk peering out the window and deciding to go and mow the lawn.

[China Doll]

I wouldn't mind doing it one day a week just so I could actually catch up on some stuff undisturbed but mostly I need to be in the office and I would miss the interaction; I also don't think I've enough self discipline to work at home on a long term basis.

The man hostage works from home though and he's fine with it and focused when he's working.

[YT52]

It wouldn't be possible for me, what could I do with a 2 Tonne forklift in a 1 bedroom flat?

[Zeuhl]

Have sex with Beth Ditto?

[ChuckFickens]

LMAO ^^

[ChuckFickens]

Anyhow...

I have worked from home as the industry I work in does lend itself to working from anywhere (remote access is a wonderful thing) and yes, I did find it hard to stay productive for the entire day, it was all too easy to wander off into the kitchen to grab a snack, or put the TV on and kill some brain cells with some daytime TV, or even wake up and think "well nobody will know if I stay in bed for another half hour"

I think it does have it's place, but productivity has to be closely monitored otherwise it is far to easy to have a lazy day.

[LoftyLottie]

I have worked from home but really found it very, very difficult. The biggest pleasure I ever got from work was from the social contact with colleagues. The work itself did nothing to inspire me at all. I gave up working from home after a year. And then I retired!!

[LoftyLottie]

Oh, and I wasn't very self-disciplined. Coffee breaks were very tempting and being a typical female I found it very difficult to work when things needed doing around me and in the summer it was virtually impossible - I resented being inside.

[venator]

I worked from home in the 1980s, after a fashion.

I was, among other things, Company Secretary, Finance and Admin Manager of a quoted property company, and lived 10 minutes walk from the office.

Most days, I worked from home, and was available at home or in the office if anyone needed to talk.

The one thing I depended for in the office was getting things typed and posted - we still had a room full of typists in those days!

[woofgang]

I used to work from home on a regular basis. I had a better faster net connection at home and a better computer. I was doing research and collating information for my boss and producing presentations always to a short deadline. The deadlinecassured mt productivity but also meant that if I worked early or late I could take hours back during the day. I did have to be at home and contactable during my contracted working hours (part time) but could enjoy long coffee beaks and lunch hours and got my hours travel to base back as a bonus plus a saving in petrol.

[woofgang]

"coffee beaks" ha ha

[R1Geezer]

Well I've got to say I'm amazed, mostly you seem to have the same thoughts as me. I know if I'm at home I devlop a sort of unconcius skiving mentatility. I also can't stand long journeys to work so I arranged it so I live 15 mins walk away! I would also mis the interpersonal interaction of the work place, not to mention the occasional liquid lunch!

[craft1948]

I worked from home for the last 3 years before I retired. As I lived by myself I found it quite easy as there were no distractions but I actually worked longer hours than when office-based.

[andy-hughes]

I work for BT - pioneer of the 'home working' approach, and I have been given the option, but refused to take it.

The incentive is purely for the business - it costs thousands of pounds a year to provide a desk in city centre office space, and I would not wish to make my home my workplace.

As someone who has commuted to my work for nearly forty years, I am happy with the routine, the company I have here, and the famous 'work/life' balance.

Colleagues i know who work from home seem unable to work sensible office hours, and are e-mailing late into the night, simply because the opportunity is there.

Add to that the still insurmountable approach that working from hiome is not really 'working' it's just diddling about, and there are far more reasons not to do so.

I work for the company - they provide my facilities. I live at home - I provide the facilities. never the twain shall meet.

[venator]

geezer - I forgot the liquid lunches! There was a good pub on my 10 minute walk - some people preferred to meet me there, too.

I worked Flexitime too, the workload was very variable. When I had a deadline, I often worked through the night, though.

[ummmm]

When I worked from home I clocked off at 5pm everyday. I was available to answer the phone but would only take a message to be dealt with the next day.