Working from home

[Artery]

Are there many of you here? What do you do and how did you come about working from home?

It's something I'd be interested in doing but it all depends what kind of jobs could be done from home, I'm assuming it's just mainly sales which isn't for me. Then I'm also assuming it's gonna be all about contacts too.

What could I be looking at?

 

[chroniclard]

Programming in your pants.

 

[dowie]

lots of jobs can involve working from home - but I'd not chose a career simply based on the premis that you can work from home

some programmers work from home, some consultants work from home some solicitors work from home, some piano teachers work from home

 

[memyselfandi]

I tend to work from home a couple of days a week on average (my employer is flexible and I can do my job remotely). I wouldn't want to do it all the time though as the lack of human contact can be a problematic, going into the office a couple of days means I can actually meet and interact with people.

I used to do third line Unix support ... now I'm more in the area of developing standards used with in the company in my technology area, reviewing technical/solution architect designs for technical correctness as well as providing assistance when third line get stuck.

A lot of non-hardware IT jobs can be done remotely as long as you have VPN access to the company.

 

[Rroff]

I've done a bit of technical support (answering support tickets, etc.) from home in previous jobs when there wasn't a need for me to physically be in the building - but generally that would be like 2-3 days a week and still require going into work the other days.

 

[peterwalkley]

Software Development Specialist is my official job title (jumped up programmer), but day to day its coding, design, consultancy, support, training, R&D and other general nerdiness.

Been working from home for over 15 years now (near Chester), making trips to the office (Central London) when required. I haggled it as part of the deal when going permanent from being a contractor. If you are an employee, the key thing is your managers trusting you are there working and not watching chavs on jeremy kyle. Extremely reliable broadband is essential too.

I only visit the office every few months now. There is little need when the customers I work with are all overseas and the other teams can be pretty much anywhere.

 

[bazzabear]

I project manage clinical studies. Will be starting to work from home from next month, having just been made redundant from an office based job.

In terms of the human contact, I will have the advantage that my wife will also be working from home (we're both starting work for the same company, doing the same job, on the same day!)

I'm a little worried about staying focused when at home, but we're creating a definite office space, so that should help.

 

[DiscoDave]

I worked from home in my previous job as a Sysadmin/vmware engineer. I now work as a consultant and work from home when not on a client site.

I'm surprised more people aren't open to the idea.

 

[Ev0]

Similar to the above I largely work from home when not out to see a client etc, work in tech pre sales but did the same when working as a consultant.

Suits me fine, allows me to live where I do and still have a decent job as not much around this way.

 

[godinman]

 

[malachi]

I work from home sometimes. Only if I am waiting for a delivery but I would hate to do it full time like my cousin who is an self employed programmer. I am sociable person and like to be around people.

My cousin was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency last year, so that's just saying something about him working from home and no, he isn't over weight or old.

Just abit of a warning really as its quite common apparently.

 

[timmeh]

I work from home, our nearest office is 1400 miles away so I can't just pop in for a few days a week. My wife only works 1-2 days per week so I'm not sat on my own all day which helps with my sanity a bit but I can easily go for a day or 2 without talking to someone from work. We have an instant messenger service and have conference calls whenever we need them but it doesn't replace the social side of being sat in an office.

I find that I can go for a week without leaving the house too because by 6pm I don't want to do anything other than sit on the sofa/in the garden and there's nothing to do around here other than go eat or go shopping.

I've also put on a lot of weight. I went from walking 6miles/day when I worked in an office to pretty much 0 so the weight piled on.

 

[Caged]

I work from home 1-2 days a week and I get a lot more done than I would normally - I don't get delayed on the way in, and I get interrupted less because people need to either email or phone/IM me to talk, rather than just seeing me sat around and interrupting whatever I was in the middle of.

I'm a big fan of working from home on a semi-regular basis, but I'm not sure I have the discipline to do it full time, I'd end up playing video games and convincing myself that the increased productivity makes up for it.

 

[Scotty123]

Work from home full time. Someone I met in an online game who lives in the US started up their own company and knew my interest in programming and designing web things, mobile apps, etc.

Been doing it 9 months now and it's great. I prefer working the hours of around 8pm to 4am . I enjoy the work as well and really get into when it's late.

Definitely will only take another/next job if it's 100% at home. Productive and enjoyable.

 

[Rroff]

I work from home 1-2 days a week and I get a lot more done than I would normally - I don't get delayed on the way in, and I get interrupted less because people need to either email or phone/IM me to talk, rather than just seeing me sat around and interrupting whatever I was in the middle of.

I'm a big fan of working from home on a semi-regular basis, but I'm not sure I have the discipline to do it full time, I'd end up playing video games and convincing myself that the increased productivity makes up for it.

It can need some self discipline but one thing I found good is that I can put on a tv show (either rewatching something I've not seen in awhile or a series that is ok but doesn't hold my interest enough to dedicate time to normally) in the background and bang through repetitive tasks far more efficiently than when in the office.

 

[Siliconslave]

I do technical pre sales for an ecommerce software package.

I work from home upto 7 days a week prepping demos, working on RFPs, on the phone or doing remote demos.
I'm then either in one of our offices, maybe three times a month, meeting the team etc, or on customer site (all over the UK, and occasionally internationally) running demos or the like.

I started off in the office most of the time but as I got more senior in the role I became more autonomous and started working remotely, negotiated a home working contract then moved out of the South and to the ass end of no-where. It does mean that if i want to move job home working is a prerequisite, couldn't be office based now, but luckily my experience is pretty well sort after so hopefully i can mandate that.

The mix of travelling intensely and having long periods at home works well for me, i'm remotely connected to my team so constantly talking to people when i'm at home.

 

[York]

I've been able to work from home to varying degrees for about the past 4 years. First two years the company was very flexible and you were able to work from home two-days a week (working as a Project Manager), then I switched roles and became a Consultant.

Fully based from home travelling to customer sites when needed - did that for 6 months before the first company wanted me back and agreed to a home working contract as a Solutions Architect.

I like working from home when I want to, and still travel into the office 1-3 days a week typically. Plus side for me is that the company now pay for all travel (and food!) when I'm not at home, and I still get the social aspect of being in an office when I want it.

 

[Edrof]

I write from home: copy/text for websites, leaflets, businesses (you name it, really); CVs; script stuff; letters; proposals; almost anything you can think of. There are lots of perks to working from home - especially for introverts - as long as you can find the clients.

 

[Edrof]

How do you build up enough of a client base to make that feasible, and how long does that take? What sort of money can be made from doing that, assuming up to normal full time hours or whatever.

How you get out there depends upon what your field is, really. I started as an article writer and the pay is terrible - especially if you fully research what you're writing about like I do (that's why a lot of articles are poorly-researched and you should rarely trust them). Bazillions of websites are crying out for content though so it's fairly easy to get work.

Writing copy is harder but more profitable and it's pretty much the only way a writer can make a decent living. I write and edit copy for clients on a part-time basis at the moment (evenings and weekends) and I have enough clients to keep me busy. Money is variable and my rate changes depending upon the nature of the work. My current clients came through word-of-mouth as I don't advertise myself anywhere but that'll have to change next year as I will hopefully get to go full-time.

There should be a wealth of clients out there but most people think their English is perfect and just do it themselves. Well, sorry folks, it never really is perfect and I see mistakes ALL the time when out in the wild - from billboards to websites. Writers are affordable and can vastly improve how positively you're perceived, whether you're writing a CV or a national advert.

Hope that helps!

 

[El Pew]

I do technical pre sales for an ecommerce software package.

I work from home upto 7 days a week prepping demos, working on RFPs, on the phone or doing remote demos.
I'm then either in one of our offices, maybe three times a month, meeting the team etc, or on customer site (all over the UK, and occasionally internationally) running demos or the like.

Very similar for me, except security and not e-commerce software.

It's great being able to fall out of bed at 8.45 and still be ready to go at 9.00, but you have to have a certain level of discipline. It helps very much if you have an office space, you really can't work on the couch. I'm having my cellar re-modeled as an office, meanwhile i'm working on a big table in my conservatory. Someone else at my company recently bought a garden office pod to work from, it looks pretty cool.

You need to treat your office like it's a workplace - be up, showered, dressed, coffee brewed, ready to go at 9. It sounds great that you're able to work in your pyjamas but I quickly found I wasn't in the right frame of mind if I did that - I like to be properly dressed and humanised before I can work properly.

Take a proper lunch break, maybe go for a stroll to keep a basic level of fitness at least. I also found it helps to have a radio or podcast or something on at a low level, I can't abide absolute silence. Make occasional trips to the office so you're not a complete stranger too.