4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Ceiling too low for a G&L VTL ?Apparently it’s not “feasible or reasonable” to have my CNC moved to my garage, have 3 phase 480V ran to it, and ship material to my house
Have you grown to dislike working from home?
- Thread starter ripcord
- Start date
We have tons of money, pay attention to foreign aid bailing out corrupt corporations and special interests and military operations.
I don't think I could work from home. There's too many distractions, especially in the garage. I've worked entirely in manufacturing post-university so working from home wasn't practical.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Bullard off to the right ?
I've had a few jobs where there was at least partial work at home. I took one job with the understanding that I'd normally be using remote tools and didn't have to work from an office. But then the CEO asked me to come to this new office that he set up, and I didn't really like the commute.
Working only remote can get weird too. I occasionally work from a relative's home just so I could get away from my own family and have a semblance of "going to work". But it's a short drive and not a long commute. And it gets weird when I've never met most of my coworkers in person, although I've made occasional visits to meet up with some if either they were in the area or we just set up a social call. I did that once on a weekend in Southern California. It wasn't an official work trip, but it was fun in that I could physically see the people I worked with.
My ideal might be a hybrid schedule where it's occasional work/meetings at an office but I could work at home most of the time. A physical presence can be a good thing. It's good for camaraderie to have regular in-person meetups, but it doesn't have to be every day.
Working only remote can get weird too. I occasionally work from a relative's home just so I could get away from my own family and have a semblance of "going to work". But it's a short drive and not a long commute. And it gets weird when I've never met most of my coworkers in person, although I've made occasional visits to meet up with some if either they were in the area or we just set up a social call. I did that once on a weekend in Southern California. It wasn't an official work trip, but it was fun in that I could physically see the people I worked with.
My ideal might be a hybrid schedule where it's occasional work/meetings at an office but I could work at home most of the time. A physical presence can be a good thing. It's good for camaraderie to have regular in-person meetups, but it doesn't have to be every day.
I retired quite a while back, but when I did work, I lived out of a suitcase. I didn’t spend a lot of time at the office so it felt like I was working from home. I obviously feel there are some perks to working from home, but I don’t think I would be near as productive.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
How do you get internet to work at home?
I'm working from home now, and really like it for a few reasons, and dislike for others.
Likes:
Inexpensive to eat quality food. I typically eat leftovers from two nights prior (so not eating same thing within 24 hrs of each). Quick to prepare it, no packing or lugging around dishes. MUCH cheaper than fast food, and (can be, that's your choice) healthier too. Very quick to prepare, just heat in microwave or toaster oven depending on desired texture.
Less wear and tear on vehicle, and time saved not commuting. To a lesser extend, saves the risks of getting into accidents.
Don't have to dress well, save on clothing and cleaning costs. Save on cologne, even showers as I don't shower ever day except in the hotter months, unless going out in public or having guests over.
Nice computer setup the way I WANT IT, including much larger monitor than I'd otherwise have. Can multitask, doing business work as convenient, and other personal things scattered in. A restroom brake is only a few steps away. Can take personal calls without anyone thinking ill of it. Can put off lunch break if I'm on a roll, highly productive at something and can get more done to keep going longer.
Set my own hours, as long as work gets done in a timely manner. Get to spend more quality time with family instead of it being more rushed about fixing dinner, cleaning, other chores, and at this time of year, when to squeeze in being able to mow between the storms making that an ill-advised mess.
I'm sure there's a lot more that I just take for granted, like being able to simultaneously watch TV or a movie while working.
Dislikes:
If someone else in the residence is making a lot of noise, they feel entitled to do so in their own home. This has caused a fair amount of contention. They think what they are doing isn't very loud, but there's a big difference in a noise you expect, because you're creating it, and a noise you don't expect, because you are room(s) away and trying to focus on something else.
Ultimately I feel like I'm slowly drifting towards sloppy bad habits and being a shut in, but on the other hand, a large part of this is that the feeling is at the end of covid and at the end of winter. I'd ready to get back to the life I used to have, just wish I could maintain a certain % of work from home with that, but I don't think I'll be able to pick the percentage of that.
Similarly, other occupants of home feeling like you can just be pulled away to suit their whims because there you are, when you need to get some work done. Establishing boundaries helps, but if you are RIGHT THERE A FEW FEET AWAY, others can get your attention while they coudn't if you simply don't answer or let alone, shut off your cellphone.
Dislike not having the in person connections with people, and meeting new people. And sometimes it's just fun to drive even if it's to work, and along with your drive to work, you pass by places you might want/need to drive to anyway, whether it be the auto parts store (being more relevant to this topic) or just to pick up from fresh food for dinner.
No getting as much exercise as if you had to go out, park and walk into work, walk around work, etc. At the same time, working from home you can budget your walking towards your needs like walking the dog or going to get the mail.
Above all I missed the real life interactions with people the most. Even on a video conference, it's just not the same as life used to be.
Likes:
Inexpensive to eat quality food. I typically eat leftovers from two nights prior (so not eating same thing within 24 hrs of each). Quick to prepare it, no packing or lugging around dishes. MUCH cheaper than fast food, and (can be, that's your choice) healthier too. Very quick to prepare, just heat in microwave or toaster oven depending on desired texture.
Less wear and tear on vehicle, and time saved not commuting. To a lesser extend, saves the risks of getting into accidents.
Don't have to dress well, save on clothing and cleaning costs. Save on cologne, even showers as I don't shower ever day except in the hotter months, unless going out in public or having guests over.
Nice computer setup the way I WANT IT, including much larger monitor than I'd otherwise have. Can multitask, doing business work as convenient, and other personal things scattered in. A restroom brake is only a few steps away. Can take personal calls without anyone thinking ill of it. Can put off lunch break if I'm on a roll, highly productive at something and can get more done to keep going longer.
Set my own hours, as long as work gets done in a timely manner. Get to spend more quality time with family instead of it being more rushed about fixing dinner, cleaning, other chores, and at this time of year, when to squeeze in being able to mow between the storms making that an ill-advised mess.
I'm sure there's a lot more that I just take for granted, like being able to simultaneously watch TV or a movie while working.
Dislikes:
If someone else in the residence is making a lot of noise, they feel entitled to do so in their own home. This has caused a fair amount of contention. They think what they are doing isn't very loud, but there's a big difference in a noise you expect, because you're creating it, and a noise you don't expect, because you are room(s) away and trying to focus on something else.
Ultimately I feel like I'm slowly drifting towards sloppy bad habits and being a shut in, but on the other hand, a large part of this is that the feeling is at the end of covid and at the end of winter. I'd ready to get back to the life I used to have, just wish I could maintain a certain % of work from home with that, but I don't think I'll be able to pick the percentage of that.
Similarly, other occupants of home feeling like you can just be pulled away to suit their whims because there you are, when you need to get some work done. Establishing boundaries helps, but if you are RIGHT THERE A FEW FEET AWAY, others can get your attention while they coudn't if you simply don't answer or let alone, shut off your cellphone.
Dislike not having the in person connections with people, and meeting new people. And sometimes it's just fun to drive even if it's to work, and along with your drive to work, you pass by places you might want/need to drive to anyway, whether it be the auto parts store (being more relevant to this topic) or just to pick up from fresh food for dinner.
No getting as much exercise as if you had to go out, park and walk into work, walk around work, etc. At the same time, working from home you can budget your walking towards your needs like walking the dog or going to get the mail.
Above all I missed the real life interactions with people the most. Even on a video conference, it's just not the same as life used to be.
This is true for me.
I do both and enjoy both. I also enjoy that the stigma is now gone from WFH post COVID. I hope that stigma never returns.
Stigma is back and probably worse in some ways. Depending on industry job type, of course. Certainly some companies have decided to watch productivity closer.
People who slack at work will triple slack at home. Not necessarily binary.
I worked from home for a time. Ended up not caring for it: I prefer to have clear mental, physical separation between my work and home lives, where when I'm home, I don't think about work until 7AM next day. WFH inherently made that impossible.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
We have massive investments in our main campus and other offices around the globe. It’s full tilt back to work but now with one WFH day allowed per week - and one EDO/month. Surprised that not that many take the WFH option on a regular basis - especially the better performing engineers who organize lots of meetings etc …
I think many got tired of Zoom and now put sandwiches out for “lunch and learns” again - some back and forth and a laugh or two …
Oh, and doing big conferences again …
Normalcy …
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WFH 100% since "2 weeks to flatten the curve"
Ive worked from home before, but not on a regular basis. Im a software developer with a laptop...I can do my job pretty much anywhere. I always found it odd that "face time" was a big deal for my company, considering the only people that ever saw me were other developers in my department.
Covid changed all of that. They sent us home on March 16, 2020 and we haven't officially been back since. There have been a few days I was asked to come in to help testing, etc. I put on my best t-shirt and shorts and sucked it up for a few hours.
But at this point, its been so long...I dont think I could ever go back. "Work clothes" dont fit, commute is no longer a thing, my wife and kids work and school schedules are now built around me being able to transport kids during "the middle" of my work day.
I give massive props to my company for letting this happen. I could probably make more $$ somewhere else, but the freedom they've allowed us to have (and keep) prevents me from looking. Ive been with the company for 19 years so I know a lot of people there, and I still interact in person with my department once a month...we all go out for lunch together...so I can't imagine starting over someplace that I dont know anyone *and* would actually physically have to go to lol
Ive worked from home before, but not on a regular basis. Im a software developer with a laptop...I can do my job pretty much anywhere. I always found it odd that "face time" was a big deal for my company, considering the only people that ever saw me were other developers in my department.
Covid changed all of that. They sent us home on March 16, 2020 and we haven't officially been back since. There have been a few days I was asked to come in to help testing, etc. I put on my best t-shirt and shorts and sucked it up for a few hours.
But at this point, its been so long...I dont think I could ever go back. "Work clothes" dont fit, commute is no longer a thing, my wife and kids work and school schedules are now built around me being able to transport kids during "the middle" of my work day.
I give massive props to my company for letting this happen. I could probably make more $$ somewhere else, but the freedom they've allowed us to have (and keep) prevents me from looking. Ive been with the company for 19 years so I know a lot of people there, and I still interact in person with my department once a month...we all go out for lunch together...so I can't imagine starting over someplace that I dont know anyone *and* would actually physically have to go to lol
Well said. In a previous post I spoke about my wife's work at home experience.
I failed to mention what she does to alleviate what you mention. Even though our home has a home office, one in which we both have our personal desks and Mac workstations, laser jet printer as well as a sofa ect so it still looks homey, though right now we are just putting it all together again in our new home. We both have nice laptops too but we enjoy sitting at a desk, shopping on line, researching stuff (not work related) We enjoy our home office set up for our personal use.
Since my wife being required to work from home starting about a decade ago (lost track of time frame) She has her company supplied workstation, which is pretty robust, including company phone line, VPN direct to corporate office ect, web cam, web cam lighting ect.
Ok, back to the point. We, myself and her made sure to set this up in a separate unused guest bedroom. She turns on her work station exactly at 8AM and turns it off exactly at 5PM (plus during breaks during the day) So once she leaves that room everything is shut down, phone line put on voicemail and she literally doesnt walk in that room again until the next workday.
Not at my company, and not with my management fortunately. I’m sure there are people that were able to skate by during Covid and now they’re going to have to pay the piper. It is what it is. But that is not the case with me over the last three years, these have actually been the most productive years for me on record. It is undeniable. I guess I’m a rare breed, I thrive when I’m left alone and treated like an adult versus being micromanaged.
After our first year of 100% WFH my boss talked to all of us together and thanked everyone...our production had actually stayed the same and/or gone up (depending on the metric)
To me, its a give and take - I may step away at 2PM to grab something from the grocery store, etc. But I will also be there at 5:30PM if I get a text to hop onto a quick call (which actually remains a quick call, because everyone else wants to "go home" for the day, too)
I don't mind putting in a bit extra every now and then, in return for the freedom of being able to run out for a bit during the normal work day...something that I wouldn't have been able to do while actually in the office (at least not without raising eyebrows)
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