Work From Home

I can finally lay out some of the pros and cons of working from home as a remote worker. To be honest, working from home is an anomaly in my career. The only reason I have this privilege now stems from the Pandemic of 2020. Before this latest stint, I was 100% in the office, even when working on remote teams, with remote coworkers and remote bosses. When the initial decision for us to work from home was announced, I expected it to only last two weeks. That’s extended to four years.

For the first few years I made very little changes to my daily routine. I really expected us to go back at some point and I didn’t want to set up a new pattern that I would have to unwind again. Since that window has passed, I’ve still not made any changes to my day to day honestly. I didn’t do the work in Thailand/live in a van in a National Forest route. I’ve never done a “day at the pool” or “working from the back porch” either. I am a creature of routine, and doing my work in the same spot at the same time is most comfortable to me. Besides, I’m not trying to change the routines of my family’s either. Overall, I like my setup here in my home office as it facilitates my work flow. I have the pleasure of utilizing four monitors, two that are stacked, one that is vertical, and another to the side. I also have a premium keyboard and mouse and a top of the line office chair from Secret Lab. Although I surrendered my original home office to my son so he could enjoy his own space, I was able to move my setup to the basement. Eventually I will install an office so I can go back to having my own space.

One of the arguments in favor of working from home relates to productivity. Am I more productive? I’m not entirely sure. For one, I was fairly productive in the office and I transferred those same skills of time management, organization, and prioritization that I utilized before to home. One behavior I’ve greatly reduced is context switching. I deeply dislike context switching, aka multi-tasking. There is a significant cost in productivity to it and I try to minimize it as much as I can. One of the great improvements in distraction reduction is probably related to being around people. I do not have anything visual to distract me, like someone in a red sweater walking past my desk, or anything auditory either, like a deliveryman bringing in that day’s UPS deliveries. You don’t notice all of the commotion around you until you realize there is nobody around you.

What about other changes in my day to day? One enormous difference is my reduction in compartmentalization. In the office, there is a work version of myself and there is a home version of myself. Most people do this, or at least those who try to exhibit an act of professionalism. I personally don’t like an enormous difference between my two selves because I try to live authentically, and I am sometimes uncomfortable around those who really turn on that “other self,” as if they’re hiding something. But to no longer digress, once I turned the key in my vehicle to start my commute, that was the end of work thoughts and my work personality for the rest of the day. Now, there is no compartmentalization in what I do. I think about work problems all the time, in the mornings, evenings, whenever. It’s nice to solve a really stick one and be able to hop onto my machine and do it. Of course, I was assigned a laptop when I commuted, but that meant getting it out of the bag (if I brought it home), firing it up, logging onto a VPN, waiting for it to boot, opening all of my programs, and then doing it. Now, everything on my VDI runs all the time and is ready to go.

If there is one pickup in productivity, it is that I never miss work and I’m never late. Not that I missed work much when I commuted (I loathed to make that phone call into the boss), but I’ve not missed a day of work in four years and counting. I can work sick and it’s OK. I can still stay on track by taking a nap at lunch if need be if I am really feeling it, and I’m near my own restroom if it’s something gastro related. Tardiness was another infraction that’s gone away on my part. I used to commute through one of the most congested traffic corridors in the United States (super fail on Eisenhower’s administration for planning to squeeze together multiple interstates to cross one three lane bridge over the Ohio River). I made it to work on time most days as long as there was not a traffic accident, but getting home on time was a total crap shoot. I’m not sure why every employer in my area wanted their people in at 8:00 AM, it seems like staggering those times would cut commute times down significantly for most people. My employer now, when we were in the office, had an 8:30 start time and I could get to it without getting on the expressway. That was probably the best trip in I’ve had working full time.

Cons

Competing against larger talent pools for roles
Relationship building is difficult, especially across verticals
Not for everyone – some lack discipline, struggle with autonomy
No More Compartmentalization
Gossip Means More Surprises