WFH - advantages and disadvantages?

[d000hg]

Ha! Did this too during a 12 month gig which was 8 days in every 10 WFH. Cabin fever set in by the end but boy was it a culture shock going back to a commute 5 days a week.

I think I have the optimum situation now. 3 days at home 2 days on site with freedom to flex.

I've had contracts where I not only never went on site, I never met anyone from the client, spoke to them on the phone, and even IM was unusual - virtually everything was done via email.

It was great.

[Navigator101]

2 at once

I love WFH as I'm in control of the working day with overheads, & If you focused with a few extra hours you can run two contracts back to back.

[DaveB]

I've had contracts where I not only never went on site, I never met anyone from the client, spoke to them on the phone, and even IM was unusual - virtually everything was done via email.

It was great.

Current client B is like that. Work gets done as and when around client A requirements (which are 3 days onsite 2 days WFH). The mail me stuff, I do it and mail it back, job done.

[lecyclist]

Assuming this is at least a semi-serious question, and people still read threads after 7 pages.

The most interesting factor I think is a philosophical one, and WFH gives you the opportunity to explore whether you really seek freedom to pursue your own goals and dreams , or are inclined to throw away real opportunties for self-growth, development, and personal enlightenment. i.e. We all say we want to be free, but ultimately, is this so unsettling that we prefer to exchange it for a life where we are told what to do? I'm talking here about personal growth and not the other responsibilities and time commitments that go with family life per se.

There is a great movie from 2001 called "Waking Life", a kind of raytraced animated movie for adults that follows stream-of-consciousness encounters of the central character. There is one encounter where the protagonist is asked to consider whether love or laziness is the essential underlying characteristic of the human condition. I tend to think it is laziness. This is the inertia that keeps us surfing the net, submitting comments to ContractorUK forum, or looking at cat videos, when we know there are more pressing needs in our lives we should be addressing. All part of life's comedy where we pretend not to acknowledge our mortality and the preciousness of time, and through some laziness or inertia are unable to generate new good habits for ourselves.

There is also the analogy of Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray learns to ice sculpt, play piano etc. given the freedom of infinite time. But recall the last time you were out of work for 3 or 6 months, and if the time was not particularly productive or life changing in a positive way, this can provide a model for life through the lens of real freedom. And can be an indicator for how satisfying the prospect of WFH will make you.

If there are 2 axii on a graph, where 1 regards the controlling aspect of work (employee sitting at desk being watched and micromanaged, contractor working in office with some level of freedom, contractor working from home with time based targets no monitoring and unlimited freedom, or complete freedom from work), and the other axis is the level of personal happiness derived from the situation, WFH is an interesting thought experiment to explore that will reveal much about your own character. People who dip into the contracting world once, before returning to a life of permanent employment due to anxieties about job security or even peer pressure, will be more comfortable around the left hand side. While career contractors may find their comfort zone nearer the right.

Its been a struggle to motivate myself, but over the years working from home I have managed to pickup foreign languages (to B1 level), made fantastic progress on my piano playing (to the boredom of my family), and built some time into the day where my son and I go off on bikes or visit his favourite places together. There are many other good things and life events that have arisen from the WFH experience, that I prefer not to share in a public forum. I'm not pretending to be some highly motivated figure: my Wattbike indoor trainer sits in the reception area with a jacket hanging on it for 4 months, and I know if I could just spend 30 minutes a day on it (perfectly feasable if I wasn't writing this post) I would feel better for it.

I think WFH is a fantastic laboratory experiment for every career contractor to try, and while it is not for everyone, it will hopeful be illuminating in terms of what your own relationship with freedom is. How much freedom of course depends on the remote working conditions.

Pluses:
-Self development opportunities
-Work your own hours
-Live and work anywhere (I've worked from hotels and cafes all over Europe)
-Sitting outside in the good weather, catch up on gardening, going to beach
-See more of family
-No commute


Minuses
-Cabin fever
-Ennui.. or Kierkegaard's dread of freedom
-Sometimes, but not always, rate is lower
-Risk of becoming disconnected from colleagues (without occasional on-site visit)
-Potentially less client loyalty. If you are offsite and invisible and not cheap, you are an easier resource to fire. Ideally WFH is an extension of an existing trust relationship.

Essential WFH tips
1) Software that moves your mouse on the screen, so you can truly exercise your freedom, and not be judged superficially through your "Communicator" status by colleagues with an axe to grind about a) remote workers or b) remote working contractors
2) Need to setup phone numbers (Skype in/out country numbers, phone forwarding and the like) rather than provide your real phone number. This will let you manage the perception of incoming callers, also who can access you when, clearly separating personal and private communications even when the incoming number is witheld.

Regards,
Lecyclist

[jmo21]

1) Software that moves your mouse on the screen, so you can truly exercise your freedom, and not be judged superficially through your "Communicator" status by colleagues with an axe to grind about

A permie at a placed I contracted a while back used to walk about with his wireless mouse in his pocket when WFH. He told one person, and soon everyone knew.

[WTFH]

Essential WFH tips
1) Software that moves your mouse on the screen, so you can truly exercise your freedom, and not be judged superficially through your "Communicator" status by colleagues with an axe to grind about a) remote workers or b) remote working contractors
2) Need to setup phone numbers (Skype in/out country numbers, phone forwarding and the like) rather than provide your real phone number. This will let you manage the perception of incoming callers, also who can access you when, clearly separating personal and private communications even when the incoming number is witheld.

1. Set up a meeting for yourself that lasts a few hours. Status will be "In a meeting".
2. Get Clientco to put softphone software on your computer. Your office phone is automatically redirected, so you can be anywhere.

[FarmerPalmer]

A permie at a placed I contracted a while back used to walk about with his wireless mouse in his pocket when WFH. He told one person, and soon everyone knew.

I know a permie who has a second optical mouse on his PC which sits under his desk on an analogue clock face, so every minute it moves with the second hand, not enough to upset his work (when he does any) but means he is never logged out

[kevpuk]

As long as I am not disturbed when Judge Rinder comes on.....

[LondonManc]

Biggest pros: Commute, work/life balance

Biggest cons: Cabin fever, missing key conversations that you don't realise make up part of the essential project information.

[allaboutthebenjis]