The rising popularity of working from home

This work-at-home thing seems to go in cycles, depending on how a company is doing financially. This article in BusinessWeek claims that companies are offering incentives for some workers to stay home and phone it in. Great picture, by the way--very apt. I work at home, and I don't miss the daily commute, or the office politics, one bit.

Keeping the others who inhabit the same space out of the office is sometimes an issue, as this Dilbert strip accurately depicts.

Remarks on Free Agent Nation

Self employed free agents are unaccounted for in official government statistics, but form a large proportion of the US workforce. Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation, estimated in 2004 that the number of free agents of various stripes was 33 million and growing. Many of these free agents work out of their homes, using the "free agent infrastructure" of the Internet, Starbucks, Kinkos, and FedEx to conduct their business.

Free Agent Nation is both a description of the free agent workforce and a argument for why workers should cut themselves free of large companies and work for themselves. It's a convincing argument if you have a strong set of skills and an entrepreneurial attitude. Easy to read, full of interesting data and opinions. This interview with the author gives a flavor of the book, first published in 2001 and reprinted in 2004. Recommended.

Blogging considered harmful

Is blogging from your home office bad for your health? Yes, according to this slightly hysterical opinion piece in the New York Times. The article cites three reports of heart attacks and some uncredited opinions from people who are worried that "something has gone very wrong."

If I feel tightness in my jaw or shoulder I'll be sure to call 911. Until then, I'll guess I'll keep practicing blogging at home in moderation.

Overcoming the "work at home" stigma

Surveys of office workers show that they tend to think that people who telecommute get away with murder. It really does not help when Scott Adams publishes cartoons that cruelly mock telecommuters. OK, so we work at home types don't dress up to go to the office, and we aren't distracted with constant interruptions. We're judged on our output rather than on appearance and schmoozing ability, and that's really a good thing.

Adams gave a nice interview on his experience with working at home. He's right about the eating part. It's really hard to stay out of the kitchen during the day.

Giving LinkedIn some Love

I like LinkedIn. I joined less than a year ago but I've already logged considerable time on it, sending invites and exploring its features. I've used it primarily as a way of keeping track of my business associates, and since I work at home, keeping track of my associates online is a natural. Here's a good article on how to make the most of your social networking site membership. I must confess that I don't always follow best practice for sending an invitition, but I'm going to get better at it now that I've read this article.

One of the really powerful features is the support LinkedIn gives for job searches. Specifically, how to find and connect with hiring managers in the companies you've targetted for a position. By now, everyone knows that you don't send your applications to HR, you try to make contact with hiring managers. It's not that easy, though. However, LinkedIn gives you a way of finding your connections to those individuals. It supports good practice for finding a job, and as a designer, I appreciate the thought that went into doing something this well.

Notes from the Home Office

I work at home, from an office just off the front door of my house in Durham, NC. I've joined a growing number of employees who work from home, so in that sense, at least, I'm at the front of the movement out of traditional office spaces and into alternative work environments. Companies like the arrangement because it saves them from moving employees and giving them office (or cubicle, or workroom, or anything else) space. I like the arrangment for a number of reasons.

• I'm a VUI designer for telephony systems, so much of my work is well-suited for working by telephone.
• I can focus on doing work. I don't spend much time on administrative stuff and office politics, the twin curses of my previous positions.
• I spend no time all day on unproductive travel by car.
• I can listen to my blues and old-time music and no one complains.
• I've always been good about writing reports as evidence of my work, and that's a useful skill to have if you work remotely.

I guess I could list some shortcomings to this arrangement. One is that I don't get to meet some of the people I work with and rely on, so there's no chance to socialize and get to know them as people. Or at least it isn't as easy. On a long term basis, you need to be in a traditional office setting in order to move up, but I'm not worried about moving up. If someone has any experiences with the pitfalls of work at home, let me know.