Nov 2, 2008

Benefits of working from home - Part VII - Alone in the office

With this post I'll stop talking about the advantages of working from home and start to discuss some of the drawbacks related to this way of work.

(sorry for the subject, I just couldn't resist :)

Note that some points that I first took as an advantage may appear again, but this time, with a focus on possible disadvantages; this doesn't mean I've changed my mind (what I would say is perfectly normal); its just
the other side of the same coin.

I'll start with the most problematic one (at least in my case), working from home meant to loose almost all contact with my friends and coworkers. I remember it perfectly when I was being interviewed (through skype) and I was asked how I felt about working alone, 8 hours per day; honestly, at that moment I did think it would not be an issue, but sometimes it is a little bit lonely.

Since I was not bound to an office anymore, after 4 months we (I and my wife) decided that the time to move to a quieter, safer, less violent place had come, so we moved from São Paulo to Londrina; you see, most of my friends still live in São Paulo and even having some (good) old friends (and my wife's parent) here in Londrina I somewhat miss personal contact.

Another important aspect of working from home is that all discussions (at least in my case) are done through some IM software (be it skype/msn/etc) and this is considerably harder to do than when you are engaged in a face-to-face talking.

It's enough for the first "not so good" series... let me play a little bit of "Star Wars" on my Wii ;)

See you.

Adriano

No comments: