A Conversation for Working from Home

Various addictions and homeworking

Post 1

The Wisest Fool

Homeworking tends to exacerbate any addictions you may have.
As a 20-a-day smoker, used to (happily) working in a no-smoking office environment, a month or two of working at home led me to become an even heavier smoker. I could work and smoke at the same time for the first time since college. Although this allowed me to work uninterrupted by nicotine cravings, my smoking was going unchecked as I had no excuse NOT to smoke. Plus you would not believe the amount of coffee I was drinking by the end of my stint.
Workaholics will find they have literally no escape from work, not even the journey to-and-from work. And even if your work colleagues who _do_ work in a shared workplace don't bitch about you working at home, your company-starved mind may become paranoid enough to believe they do.

There are many plus points however - zero travel costs (unless you have a stairlift), no expensive lunchtimes (unless you can't cook or make yourself a sarnie), _very_ flexible hours and the chance to meet all those fascinating people who stop by to sell you double-glazing, carpets or God.

btw On a cautionary note - standard household insurance may not cover you working at home and many letting agencies add clauses forbidding using your home as an office.


Various addictions and homeworking

Post 2

Ormondroyd

Strangely enough, I've found that I've smoked less since I've been working at home. The reason is simple. I used to work in a no-smoking office with a designated smoking room nearby, so I'd often go for a ciggy just to get out of the office and have a chat to other nicotine addicts. Now that those added incentives no longer apply, I'm down from about 20 a day to five a day.
On the other hand, daytime TV has led to some strange new compulsions. I am now a hopelessly hooked "Call My Bluff"
junkie... smiley - smiley


Various addictions and homeworking

Post 3

Tom I.

The addiction subject is interesting, also from your employer's point of view. Theoretically, an alcoholic can start living out his addiction to the extreme if he spends his working day at home, not having to concider the reaction from colleagues and management. Sometimes, an employer being less visible in the organisation, tends to be "forgotten" about when the subject of promotions and attending interesting projects comes up.

I personally think that remote workers are an asset for an organisation, but in order to make things work well, the organisation should either have several people working from home or elsewhere outside the office, or the remote worker should be experienced on the field.


Key: Complain about this post

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more