apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yeah, I tried working at home for a year and I turned into a constantly pyjama-ed hermit. One time, my partner cried when he came home because I was ALWAYS THERE. Yet I still sometimes yearn for those innocent times. I would always go for an hour-long walk in the middle of the day.

Oh, I have kind of the opposite problem of working way too long when I work at home. I work an appropriate amount, but since there's no "end of day" deadline I end up working way too LATE.
I've tried scheduling out the day and making to-do lists and such, but for some reason it just seems to act as a catalyst for procrastination. The whole "I can do it later... at 11pm" thing somehow always sucks me in.

I work from home. Personally, I think it is the best thing of all time.

Sure, if you need external motivation to get dressed, have a problem with separating your life/work without the physical separation, or you enjoy working around a lot of people, you maybe aren't going to enjoy it.

I work from home and adore it, too. For me, the real challenge is not getting motivated to work. It's getting motivated to shower and get dressed. I'm lucky if it happens before lunch most days.

I work from home 2-3 days a week regularly, and love having the opportunity to be able to focus and work with fewer interruption on those days. Getting to walk to dog in the middle of the day or making after-work plans that don't get missed due to bad traffic etc., make it even better. My schedule definitely gives me the best of both worlds!

#11 - multi-tasking! Throw a load of clothes in the laundry in the morning, switch 'em to the dryer at lunch and throw another load in the wash. End of the day, you've got two loads done instead of them building up 'till the weekend...

wow... Reading your post was like reading a description of my life for the past two years. I was recently presented with an amazing opportunity to rent an office space alongside a bunch of like minded people. So... for the past two weeks I have been working out of the house and I love it! I feel more productive already, although I'm still trying to get used to being dressed and out the door before 11:00.

Two of my favorite things about working from home were:
#12 doing early morning conference calls in my pyjamas
#13 watching reruns of desperate housewives at lunch

I loved working at home because it was a time when I was working for MYSELF. But, it began to feel isolating and I started feeling like I'd forgotten how to socialize comfortably. So I started working from an extra office at my moms company. That was great because I had the freedom to get there when I wanted and do what I wanted but the stimulation that keeps me moving. Plus, my mom had super-cool indy fashion designer clients that came in all day long, and that was so inspiring to me.

I am able to work from home quite a bit, though I do have to go into the office on a regular basis. I love working from home!!!! I really do. I tend to be more productive and I can usually focus better at home because I live alone (with pets) and there are fewer distractions for me at home than at work. At work, there are always so many other people around and I find that I spend too much time talking and not enough working at work. (Some of the talking is actually working through work-related issues so it isn't all a waste of time). When I *really* need to get something done, I almost have to do it at home.

I forgot to add.....

I sure wish my home office was as nice and neat as the one in the picture. Mine looks like a typhoon hit it.

#14 Taking an afternoon power nap in your own bed.

I have been working from home for about two years now and I am not really enjoying it, even though I have finally gotten the hang of motivating myself, setting goals, and trying to work 'normal' hours. Of course there are some perks (waking up late, working in pj's, showering whenever, being able to take the dog for a walk at lunch) but for me the negatives outweigh the positives. I never realized how much I need other people around me, and somewhere to "go" until now. I don't like how my work life and home life meld together. Before we got a dog there would be weeks where I only left the house once or twice.

Sexy lunch breaks? TMI? but still.... I cant be the only one...

I've been working from home for over 4 years now and I simply love it. I do have a proper routine of "getting ready" to work, which makes it easier to shift to work mode. I love being able to sneak in some TV time during lunch, and maybe even a nap on slow days. On the downside, I do end up working longer hours often and sometimes miss breaks. On the whole, I find it much better than getting up early, racing to eat breaka, endless commuting and coming home dead tired to make dinner. Working at home is much much better!

I'm an almost fulltime student so my working at home consists mostly of reading, writing papers and preparing a presentation. I see the perks of working at home and spending time with my kitties is certainly one of them. They like to cuddle with me, when I'm at the computer, but I have a hard time planning ahead. I ususally leave everything for the last minute and I sometimes dream of a job I can go home from and leave work behind. But as I am nearing the end of my studies I am guess that day will come soon and I'm sure I will miss all the perks once I won't work from home anymore.
But the solution of having an office outside of home, even if you are self-employed or work freelance, is probably the ideal solution. That way you get the best of both sides.

I've been working from home for 6 years at a 40 hr a week office job and absolutely LOVE it. I take an hour lunch and a couple of breaks.

My biggest problem is this, I am sitting here posting on Apartment Therapy instead of working, haha. I am weak when it comes to distractions.

I love not having to get up and get all showered and dressed and fight traffic to get to work. I recently got a dog, so I am always here for him if he needs to go out or something. The multitasking is great (doing laundry while working). A stress free invironment is a huge plus for working.

Since I say home all day, it is nice to get out of the house on weekends or evenings. I am not yearning to just go home and crash from always being away at work. If you're a people person and need constant interaction with others, it's a no brainer that working from home wouldn't be for you. I am energized by being alone. Being around people all the time drains me. This is the perfect balance to allow me my space and to be around others when I choose. :)

#15 - sexy lunchbreaks - mskk - you're not alone (well that would defeat the whole purpose wouldn't it..)
#16 - wearing a facial mask while on a long call
#17 - decent cup of coffee and a drink to finish off the day (friday is cocktail time!)

Seriously though, I'm fortunate to have a separate room to work in. It helps if you can shut yourself off from distractions (however nice) in the house. But more importantly, being able to shut that door at the end of the day keeps the boundaries in place.

And yes, it can get lonely, however, I'm only 10 minutes away from the office so when I start worrying about my sanity I just go to the office, prove I'm still alive and well, catch up on the gossip and then I go back home and enjoy the peace and quiet...

When I was in graduate school, I worked from home in the mornings and then went to my campus office after lunch. That was the perfect set-up since I am super productive in the morning and had no problem focusing at home. But then once the TV came on at lunch, it was hard to get re-motivated. Plus, my kitties would sleep on my bed in the afternoon and most of the time I ended up joining them for a catnap!

Now I work in office 9-5. When we have a snow day and I work from home, I can't get motivated because it feels too much like the weekend. I guess its all about training and practice.

I could not agree with designpirate more. I'm the same, down to the AT distractions and being energized by solitude.

I work from home 1-2 days a week- it is certainly hard to motivate properly (like the time I spend goofing off "reading the blog news"), but I like the flexibility of being able to sleep a little later, or to take my work to the nearby library or coffee shop- just do a bit of brain-clearing walking when needed. I usually work from home after a LONG day out- like yesterday I had work hours from 830 AM til 930PM. Today, my later duty hours will wrap up at 7PM. So yes, getting to work at home this morning is a sanity-saver. A little extra sleep, the chance to drink my own coffee and smoothies... It works.

It also helps that our study is a separate room and used for nothing else but work. Even the desks are reserved for just work. We have a secretary downstairs for householdy bills.

I work from home 2-3 days a week, it's the perfect balance. I get to go in to the office for more social work, but stay home for the more solitary work or long conference calls. I'm not into TV, so it's never on at home, and I do have a dedicated office. I think that's important for me, but I know it's not always possible.

The biggest advantage for me is that I can take Mom breaks. I have kids, and so I can duck out to read to their class for an hour, or run up for the Valentine party, or even run up and have lunch with them, and then run back home to finish my work day. I can stay involved while staying employed, which is perfect!

I wouldn't even hazard a guess how important this flexibility is to me and the other Moms I work with.

I can't find it in me to see the downside of working from home. Maybe I need to try it and find out for myself.

As a librarian (linked irrevocably with the physical plant wherein I work) I don't get to work at home, so I envy those of you (including my "domestic partner") who can. But flex-time (which I also don't have) seems another nice option -- at least you can sleep in when you really need to and comp for it later...

Working from home is the reason I decided that we needed a bigger place. (One that doesn't necessitate the desk being just 2 yards from the bed.)

It's also lit a fire under me, decor-wise. If I have to hang out at home, answering the phone or writing code, I need to love it there.

I'm lucky in some respects though: I might take calls and do desk work in the apartment, but I DO get to go work in a studio with clients. And I can finally get a dog!

No one looks over your shoulder. In past office jobs, that drove me bananas.

It never failed that I would do a four hour stretch of intense designing and, once completed, would kick over to something leisurely in the browser. An instant later, the boss would appear over my shoulder, "Hey, Jordan, what are you working on?"

Ugh. Viva les telecommute.

I second what nikkibee said. I work from home a couple of days a week, and having an aesthetically pleasing place to be in while you work is a necessity. For me, it has to look nice, be clean, and orderly.

For me, the pros are the fact that I can sleep in a bit and not worry about traffic. I work an hour away from home, so it can really be a sanity saver. Also, having the ability to do multitasking like laundry or running lunchtime errands is great too. As for the cons, too much working from home though can be a challenge. The lack of schedule tends to throw me off. Also, I'm a firm believer in showing up into the office and having face-to-face interactions with people. Sometimes things just get done better that way.

I've been working from home and for myself since November 2005. I thought I'd be going loopy after a year, but I love it.

Granted, I need to make a bigger effort to "seek out the company of others," but the idea of having a typical 9-5 where I have to be somewhere by a specific time depresses me.

I'm exploring local "co-working" options/opportunities, though, and think that's something I'll be doing in the next week.

wow, this is great to read, glad I'm not alone and nice to hear some other ways people work from home and structure their time!