Working at Home Advice
Haqim al-khayyami Nov 19 2003, 6:46 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Haqim al-khayyami <monos...@ratshaven.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 00:46:46 GMT
Local: Wed, Nov 19 2003 6:46 pm
Subject: Working at home advice
My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
advice?
My home office right now is a quiet place, with a window that I can look
out by looking beyond my monitor (I do programming type work) I usually
find a radio station (www.ckua.com) to play in the background, just like
I did at my office.
I'm wondering if I put in cable tv if I might be able to stick at it
better? Anyone got any experiences? I need, I think, something to keep
my attention in the room better, I get bored sitting alone and coding.
Thanks for any advice, and good wishes are always appreciated as well :)
-H
Arri London Nov 19 2003, 7:56 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Arri London <biot...@ic.ac.uk>
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 18:58:28 -0700
Local: Wed, Nov 19 2003 7:58 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Haqim al-khayyami wrote:
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
> I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
> forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
> I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
> advice?
> My home office right now is a quiet place, with a window that I can look
> out by looking beyond my monitor (I do programming type work) I usually
> find a radio station (www.ckua.com) to play in the background, just like
> I did at my office.
> I'm wondering if I put in cable tv if I might be able to stick at it
> better? Anyone got any experiences? I need, I think, something to keep
> my attention in the room better, I get bored sitting alone and coding.
> Thanks for any advice, and good wishes are always appreciated as well :)
> -H
Glad you can find some consulting work in this bad economy! So good luck
with that.
I never work with any background noise so can't advise you on what might
work better. My problem now is a housemate/landlord (ie my mother) who
has the TV on about 18 hours a day; the part of the house with my office
is open plan. However wearing a pair of industrial 'earmuffs' deals with
that.
Keep your office comfortable and peaceful, so you aren't tempted to
leave.
When I have a lot of work [which is not often these days :(], I break it
into sections if that's possible. Then I 'earn' my lunch by working
until lunchtime, with short breaks. After lunch, I 'earn' my dinner the
same way. Unless there's really a lot of work or a very short deadline,
typically I stop by dinnertime.
Mostly I don't miss a workplace, so being by myself isn't really an
issue. The real problem is people who think working at home isn't
*working*. So at first they were calling during the day and were miffed
when I didn't want to talk. And there were the requests 'if you're going
to the store today, could you get....for me?' And they were miffed if I
said I wasn't going anywhere, I had work to do. That did decline with
time.
Set yourself your office hours, just as you would in an office. If you
don't have work that day, try to find some before you scarper off to
have some fun :p
Sam Robinson Nov 19 2003, 8:23 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: "Sam Robinson" <s...@samuelrobinson.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 21:18:10 -0500
Local: Wed, Nov 19 2003 8:18 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
"Haqim al-khayyami" <monos...@ratshaven.com> wrote in message
news:W9Uub.37350$hB5.8363@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
> I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
> forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
> I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
> advice?
> My home office right now is a quiet place, with a window that I can look
> out by looking beyond my monitor (I do programming type work) I usually
> find a radio station (www.ckua.com) to play in the background, just like
> I did at my office.
> I'm wondering if I put in cable tv if I might be able to stick at it
> better? Anyone got any experiences? I need, I think, something to keep
> my attention in the room better, I get bored sitting alone and coding.
Well, I started telecommuting back in '92. There are some tricks to it.
First comment is that what worked for me may not be your style. I started
the telecommuting thing coding, so perhaps I'm worth listening to.
First, figure that you're going to put in X productive hours a day and
something like 5X a week. Make it a number that matches what you do when you
go into work. I often add the commute hours as well.
Personally, the window and the thought of a tv are both major distractions.
I like music, and it sometimes helps me focus. Unless looking out the window
was part of your normal routine, I'd re-arrange to get away from the
distractions, writing code (for me at least) is about focusing.
It sounds like you're missing the work interaction experience. IMing and IRC
can help with this, but remember to go back to work. I ran a routine, where
I'd get up, go work for a couple of hours, eat something, go back to work,
stop and watch Animaniacs, go back to work and knock off around 5:30 - 6:00.
Total workday was about 9 - 10 hours. Some days were more work, and
sometimes I'd play hooky for a few hours and go play with the dog. I made it
a rule to always get about 50 hours in each week. In my case, I tended to
do about two office days a week, unless I had a deliverable coming up. Since
this isn't possible for you will be spending more hours on socializing.
Remember that in an office environment a 40 hour week is about 28 hours of
focused work. Less if you've got meetings that week.
If possible, you may want to find some sort of classes or something to take
to get a day or two around fellow techies. When I was freelancing (well,
unemployed) I made a point of finding ways to spend time with other
technical people. This is a serious battery charger and worth spending some
billable hours on every week, either on lunch get-togethers or by attending
users groups or whatever works. Catching up with folks you used to work with
can be good too, and it's not bad networking.
Finally, in today's business climate, if the place you used to work at can't
make payroll you might ought to be looking for another gig.
FWIW
SamR
Haqim al-khayyami Nov 19 2003, 9:08 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Haqim al-khayyami <monos...@ratshaven.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 03:08:21 GMT
Local: Wed, Nov 19 2003 9:08 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Sam Robinson wrote:
> If possible, you may want to find some sort of classes or something to take
Oooh, great idea! I think I'll try to find a way to work that into the
routine, once I get enough billable hours in to be able to afford some
classes. I know that the company that hired me is hot to do some
asp.net stuff, so maybe I can find some classes on it. Shouldn't be to
hard, what with PSU right around the corner from here.
Adding things together, from what you and Arri posted, I think breaking
the day into chunks is called for. I guess I did this naturally at the
office. Work until 10, have a short coffee break, work until noon, etc.
The other thing I need to do is start working on two parts of the
project at the same time. So that if I get bored with one part, I can
switch, and then come back later. That's worked well for me in the past.
I think I also should be spending more time on the phone with my friends
in the evenings. I miss chatting with them a lot anyway, since they've
all moved out of the area.
Great ideas, thanks all :)
Rowan Hawthorn Nov 19 2003, 10:41 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: "Rowan Hawthorn" <nob...@nowhere.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 04:41:46 GMT
Local: Wed, Nov 19 2003 10:41 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
"Haqim al-khayyami" <monos...@ratshaven.com> wrote in message
news:W9Uub.37350$hB5.8363@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
"Everyone has posted good ideas, to which I'll add (or expand on) the
following, since I work from a home office exclusively now, and have been
for almost two years. Note, as another poster said, this is only what works
for *me.*
"1. I need music, TV, *something* going on while I'm working - too much
quiet breaks my concentration to pieces, because it allows outside
distractions. But since I can't stand commercials and there are few things
*more* distracting, I don't actually watch TV. I have a laptop with a DVD
player on my sidebar, and headphones attached. I either play music CDs or
DVDs in that, with the headphones on to block outside noise.
"2. I have a window in front of my desk, but if it were open all day, I'd
never get anything done, because I'd be jumping at every movement. So I
leave the blinds closed until I need a break, then I use it for a 'treat' so
to speak.
"3. I work much better in the evening, and there's not much use in forcing
myself to sit and stare at the monitor in the early hours, but it's
necessary to keep regular hours, just as if you were at a job. So the
morning hours I'm at my desk to handle any support issues that come up, but
I'm basically just playing with the computer, doing paperwork, whatever.
When my evening 'work time' comes around, I plug in a disk, slip on the
headphones, and start to work on whatever programming projects I have going.
"4. My office is separated from the rest of the house, even though it's
mostly psychological. I have to keep reminding family and friends that even
though I'm home, I'm *not* on vacation. Having a separate little cubbyhole
helps reinforce that better than if my desk was set up in the living room.
"5. Approach it as any other business. In my office, I'm surrounded by my
*large,* wraparound workstation, a couple bookcases, filing cabinet, and
office supplies cabinet. I have my 'big board,' a cork message board,
printer table, couple nice pictures, and my certificates from various
classes. I work under a company name, even though I'm not incorporated.
Basically, the more you treat it as a *business,* the more likely you'll
make it work. And if you can work out a schedule that fits your lifestyle,
it's more likely you'll *want* to make it work. There are downsides, but
I'd have a hard time now doing the employment thing again.
"Anyway, good luck. Hope it works for you."
--
Rowan Hawthorn
Marten Kemp Nov 20 2003, 6:53 am
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Marten Kemp <martendespamk...@thisplanet-link.net>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 12:53:23 GMT
Local: Thurs, Nov 20 2003 6:53 am
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Haqim al-khayyami wrote:
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
> I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
> forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
> I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
> advice?
> My home office right now is a quiet place, with a window that I can look
> out by looking beyond my monitor (I do programming type work) I usually
> find a radio station (www.ckua.com) to play in the background, just like
> I did at my office.
> I'm wondering if I put in cable tv if I might be able to stick at it
> better? Anyone got any experiences? I need, I think, something to keep
> my attention in the room better, I get bored sitting alone and coding.
> Thanks for any advice, and good wishes are always appreciated as well :)
> -H
When I had a regular job and I could work from home I started
the workday with a "commute" down to the local 7-11 for coffee.
When I came back I was *at work*.
The only real problem was my ex ("Since you're going to be home
all day, why can't you just...?").
--
-- Marten Kemp
(Fix name and ISP to reply)
Larisa Nov 20 2003, 1:59 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: purple_bov...@yahoo.com (Larisa)
Date: 20 Nov 2003 11:59:49 -0800
Local: Thurs, Nov 20 2003 1:59 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Haqim al-khayyami <monos...@ratshaven.com> wrote in message...
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
> I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
> forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
> I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
> advice?
Yes. I do translating work as one of my numerous part-time jobs. I
cannot work at home. Just doesn't work for me. I get distracted, I
cannot concentrate, I just can't work like that. So, I take my laptop
and head to the nearest coffeehouse. Or whatever. I sit at a table,
work, and listen to the conversations around me. It helps to be
surrounded by life.
LM
P.S. I've been in your situation - the company I worked for could not
make payroll and asked us all to work for free. I worked for free for
8 months. When they got some money, finally, they showed me the door.
I have yet to see any of the $$$ they owe me. Keep that in mind if
you're working for free.
Pat Kight Nov 21 2003, 8:30 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Pat Kight <kig...@peak.org>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 10:24:40 -0800
Local: Thurs, Nov 20 2003 12:24 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Arri London wrote:
> Haqim al-khayyami wrote:
>>My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
>>a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
>>I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
>>forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
>>I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
>>advice?
>>My home office right now is a quiet place, with a window that I can look
>>out by looking beyond my monitor (I do programming type work) I usually
>>find a radio station (www.ckua.com) to play in the background, just like
>>I did at my office.
>>I'm wondering if I put in cable tv if I might be able to stick at it
>>better? Anyone got any experiences? I need, I think, something to keep
>>my attention in the room better, I get bored sitting alone and coding.
>>Thanks for any advice, and good wishes are always appreciated as well :)
>>-H
> Glad you can find some consulting work in this bad economy! So good luck
> with that.
> I never work with any background noise so can't advise you on what might
> work better. My problem now is a housemate/landlord (ie my mother) who
> has the TV on about 18 hours a day; the part of the house with my office
> is open plan. However wearing a pair of industrial 'earmuffs' deals with
> that.
> Keep your office comfortable and peaceful, so you aren't tempted to
> leave.
"Actually," says the Spinster down in the Lounge, who spent 10 years
working at home as a freelance writer, "while I agree about the
comfortable-and-peaceful part - and would add "aesthetically pleasing" -
I'm not sure staying stuck to the chair is such a great idea.
"For one thing, it's bad for your body. For another, it's what makes the
whole thing seem like drudgery, and defeats the substantial advantages
of working at home ... which for me included being able to do the work
during my naturally most alert and productive hours, which don't
necessarily coincide with a standard eight-hour workday.
"What worked for me was to arrange my daily workload by task, not by
time, and to schedule in regular short breaks, approximately every two
hours.
"I tried to make sure I got up and moved around a bit for every break. I
might do a quick household task - put in a load of laundry, for
instance, or fix my lunch, or go outside and get the mail. Maybe play
with the cat for a few minutes. But I didn't allow myself to sit down in
front of the TV set, and if I decided I wanted to read, I'd set a timer
for no longer than half an hour.
"Like Haqim, I'd grown accustomed to the background noise of my
workplace, and found the house way too quiet - it actually broke my
concentration. Music was problematic - if it was good music, I found
myself listening to it; if it wasn't, it irritated me. So I got in the
habit of tuning the radio - which was in another room - to NPR, which
provided a good level of background talk-sounds.
"And I'd often split my day in two - working from about 10 a.m. to 2
p.m., which is a high-energy time for me, then taking a few hours off to
run errands, etc., and sitting back down to work around 6 pm for another
4 hours. That worked with my own personal energy cycle, and resulted in
higher productivity than I think I've ever had on an in-office job.
> Mostly I don't miss a workplace, so being by myself isn't really an
> issue. The real problem is people who think working at home isn't
> *working*. So at first they were calling during the day and were miffed
> when I didn't want to talk.
"This is where I found my answering machine a blessing. When I was
working, I set it to answer on the first ring; if I was expecting a call
I could listen and pick up; if not, I simply turned the volume down and
ignored it till my break.
> Set yourself your office hours, just as you would in an office. If you
> don't have work that day, try to find some before you scarper off to
> have some fun :p
"While I agree with the concept, see my note above about personalizing
the schedule. I know very few people who are completely productive for
all eight hours of the standard workday. Trying to force your work into
a 9-5 pattern when you don't *have* to is, in my experience, a great way
to generate boredom and resentment. Instead, figure out when you're
sharpest and most productive, and build your schedule accordingly. If
you lose steam after lunch, take off for a few hours. Heck, take a nap
(Latin America has the right idea!).
"Working at home ought to be *better* than working in an office. Do what
you can to make it that way."
--
Jezebel
kig...@peak.org
Jim Hetley Nov 21 2003, 9:14 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: canis_latr...@excite.com (Jim Hetley)
Date: 21 Nov 2003 19:14:28 -0800
Local: Fri, Nov 21 2003 9:14 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Haqim al-khayyami <monos...@ratshaven.com> wrote in message...
> My company has hit hard times... and since they can't make payroll for
> a while, I've taken some independant consulting work to tide me over.
> I find though that I miss being in a work place, and have troubles
> forcing myself to work for more than a couple hours a day.
> I was wondering if others face the same challenges if they can give some
> advice?
I've worked out of a home office for ten or fifteen years, both the
day job and the writing. A few suggestions:
Get a separate room -- with a door that can be closed and respected by
any co-occupants.
Set a routine -- doesn't matter if it is midnight or noon, but when
the clock strikes, you go in there and work.
Set a goal or a deadline -- I try to get at least 500 words of the
latest dreck typed per day, or tell myself that the floorplan for that
group home has to be done today to prevent the end of civilization as
we know it.
Set your answering machine on stun.
I _wouldn't_ get cable TV or other distractions -- gave up on public
radio when they substituted talk for music, because I started
_listening_ to the damned talk shows....
And take breaks, just as if you were stealing time from your boss.
Jim
Arri London Nov 22 2003, 6:13 pm
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
From: Arri London <biot...@ic.ac.uk>
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 17:15:17 -0700
Local: Sat, Nov 22 2003 6:15 pm
Subject: Re: Working at home advice
Pat Kight wrote:
> Arri London wrote:
<snip>
> > Set yourself your office hours, just as you would in an office. If you
> > don't have work that day, try to find some before you scarper off to
> > have some fun :p
> "While I agree with the concept, see my note above about personalizing
> the schedule. I know very few people who are completely productive for
> all eight hours of the standard workday. Trying to force your work into
> a 9-5 pattern when you don't *have* to is, in my experience, a great way
> to generate boredom and resentment.
Nowhere did I say 9--5, now did I? I've never once had a 9--5 job. Those
are meaningless office hours to me. However, I did consistently work 10
hours a day, with breaks, at most of the jobs I had. That's excluding
the 18-hour a day jobs I had.
But setting 'office hours' for someone who might not be used to working
unsupervised is one way to assure work gets done in a timely manner. In
my line of work deadlines control my output. If I need to turn something
around in 24 hours, that's when it must be done; there isn't always the
luxury of deciding when I might be most productive.
Instead, figure out when you're
> sharpest and most productive, and build your schedule accordingly. If
> you lose steam after lunch, take off for a few hours. Heck, take a nap
> (Latin America has the right idea!).
> "Working at home ought to be *better* than working in an office. Do what
> you can to make it that way."
> --
> Jezebel
> kig...@peak.org
If I lived alone, I'd be working from about 19:00 to about 03:00. That
isn't possible, so I have to work what would ordinarily be unproductive
hours for me.
