Working from Home

I miss going into the office every morning.  I can’t believe I’m saying this after  complaining about waking up when it was cold, navigating the DC Metro crowds, and doing the same routine each and every day.  But I miss it.  Working from home is quite a different scenario with its positives and negatives. Granted my own experience so far is a little skewed since I work only part-time for my internship and part/full time for school, but I wonder if other people who have changed from working in an office to working from home have had similar experiences.

Positives

+ I get to watch both episodes of Saved by the Bell from 8-9 am if I want to, instead of leaving during episode 1.

+ I can work when I want to. The typical 9-5 doesn’t apply anymore.

+ I can do work anywhere.  Home, coffee shop, park bench, Potbelly’s, Costa del Sol…

+ I can take a 2 hour lunch without feeling guilty about it.

+ My apartment is always clean now since I clean to procrastinate.

Negatives

– Most of my interaction with others is through a computer now.

– There is no one to talk to over the cube wall (Miss you Jenna!).

– Meetings are all virtual.  I miss the face-to-face collaboration.

– On days when I didn’t have any work to do, I didn’t get paid because I couldn’t bill those hours (this is back when I was doing some consulting work)

– I stare at the same walls in my apartment before, during and after work (this must be why people have home offices, instead of working at their dining room table).

– I feel like I need to be connected constantly so I won’t miss an email or a phone call.  Whereas in the office, if I wasn’t at my desk, come back later.

This new lifestyle definitely takes some getting used to.  I think my perfect scenario would be to have an option each day to either work from home or go into an office with lots of people around me.  Then I could still talk over the cube wall if I wanted to.