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The work from home crowd can stop working when they're done with what's required that day. That's my experience when I was working from home here in Idaho from April to November. If I got done with what was needed, and nothing was pending, then I was free for the rest of the day. That was great and I'd be outside for a couple extra hours most afternoons.
My hope is that someday soon that companies realize they are only getting 4 - 6 hours worth of work from their teleworking people. Then they decide if you want your high dollar job that you need to come back into the office and give us 8 hours a day. Even if you are sitting around the office doing nothing, you are at least interacting with your coworkers... not your spouse, kids, dog, etc. Once the telework cycle reverses the housing market might correct. That, or large employers will offer those telework jobs to India and the Philippines. Heck, there seem to be a lot of Nigerian princes, and overseas social security agents that know how to use the phone and internet too. Maybe give them something legitimate and they might stop trying to scam me, lol.
The other side of working at home, though, is going at it for hour after hour when someone is on a roll and is really excited about some progress that's being made in their work.
When someone is in that frame of mind, they can pull an all-nighter and won't feel tired until there's a good place to stop or pause.
The boss always gets a lot for their money whenever that happens, and at home, where all the little necessities and small distractions are there as a relief for a few moments from work, Im not so sure everyone works fewer hours overall than at an office or someplace.
The home environment can be enormously beneficial for getting a lot of work done after a person schedules the time well.
If the boss is willing to take calls and such in the wee hours and other odd non-9 to 5 times- he might find he's benefitting by allowing his workers to plug away at home.
There are times when everyone in the business does need some close face to face with everyone else, but I suspect that more all-alone time might help a business' creative approach sometimes.
When folks are working together closely every day, they all tend to adopt the same approaches to their work. This can be good sometimes, and not so good other times.
A friend who works from home in a separate workshop in the back yard once told me he starts work promptly at 8 a.m. every morning, but its highly variable when he knocks off for the day. He said sometimes he will leave and go to the house for an hour or two then back to the shop far into the evening, working on something, letting it sit to cool and settle down in his mind, then coming back at it after hanging out with his kids watching a movie or something.
He does a lot of work for sure, and he does love his life a lot. A very happy man.
CDA is not only quite expensive, it is quite crowded. You might not be able to get onto the gorgeous hiking trails because the parking lots are jammed packed full and there is nowhere to park.
If you don't want property taxes, move to Wyoming. Or Alaska. Both have depletion taxes that cover the need.
At least for the present.
And both Alaska and Wyoming have a way of making up the revenue from their taxpayers in different taxes.
No free rides out here buddy.
Well, there is,sort of.
Gotta be a hermit who lives 100 miles away from the nearest civilization to get the free ride.
Dugout Doug did, but he lived in a hole in the ground almost his entire life. With no human company around except for some rafters who stopped once in a while to take a guided tour of his hole in the ground.
If you don't want property taxes, move to Wyoming. Or Alaska. Both have depletion taxes that cover the need.
At least for the present.
And both Alaska and Wyoming have a way of making up the revenue from their taxpayers in different taxes.
No free rides out here buddy.
Well, there is,sort of.
Gotta be a hermit who lives 100 miles away from the nearest civilization to get the free ride.
Dugout Doug did, but he lived in a hole in the ground almost his entire life. With no human company around except for some rafters who stopped once in a while to take a guided tour of his hole in the ground.
Wyoming and Alaska are both no state income tax states but do have property taxes. Perhaps Wyoming is more reasonable property tax.
My hope is that someday soon that companies realize they are only getting 4 - 6 hours worth of work from their teleworking people. Then they decide if you want your high dollar job that you need to come back into the office and give us 8 hours a day. Even if you are sitting around the office doing nothing, you are at least interacting with your coworkers... not your spouse, kids, dog, etc. Once the telework cycle reverses the housing market might correct. That, or large employers will offer those telework jobs to India and the Philippines. Heck, there seem to be a lot of Nigerian princes, and overseas social security agents that know how to use the phone and internet too. Maybe give them something legitimate and they might stop trying to scam me, lol.
I think the above is the reality. There are going to be some changes and adjustments in the telework force situation. Many (but not all) such workers are now in competition for work with millions of others, in the US or worldwide, who can do the same telework. Being local to a fixed site job eliminated a lot of competition for some jobs. Moving out to the boonies and then losing one's telework job is gonna catch some folks out.
BTW 'telework' is not all new. Regional sales is one example..... people have been doing this for decades. BTDT. You got judged by your production (sales results) and part of that was being willing to get your axe on the road and travel to see customers... so much for work-at-hone LOL
Last edited by nm9stheham; 05-02-2021 at 08:28 AM..
The other side of working at home, though, is going at it for hour after hour when someone is on a roll and is really excited about some progress that's being made in their work.
When someone is in that frame of mind, they can pull an all-nighter and won't feel tired until there's a good place to stop or pause.
The boss always gets a lot for their money whenever that happens, and at home, where all the little necessities and small distractions are there as a relief for a few moments from work, Im not so sure everyone works fewer hours overall than at an office or someplace.
The home environment can be enormously beneficial for getting a lot of work done after a person schedules the time well.
If the boss is willing to take calls and such in the wee hours and other odd non-9 to 5 times- he might find he's benefitting by allowing his workers to plug away at home.
There are times when everyone in the business does need some close face to face with everyone else, but I suspect that more all-alone time might help a business' creative approach sometimes.
When folks are working together closely every day, they all tend to adopt the same approaches to their work. This can be good sometimes, and not so good other times.
A friend who works from home in a separate workshop in the back yard once told me he starts work promptly at 8 a.m. every morning, but its highly variable when he knocks off for the day. He said sometimes he will leave and go to the house for an hour or two then back to the shop far into the evening, working on something, letting it sit to cool and settle down in his mind, then coming back at it after hanging out with his kids watching a movie or something.
He does a lot of work for sure, and he does love his life a lot. A very happy man.
Sounds like your friend is involved in design/creation. I do engineering and know of what you speak.. it takes some time 'to get your head wrapped around' the difficulties in a particular design, and once you do, you get 'on a roll' and don't want to stop until a good stopping place. (Like the house design I am doing for Dubois WY right now... been 'frying my wee brain' on that LOL)
There are a lot more jobs that involve repetitious, mindless work, such as processing forms, applications, selling standard products and goods, etc. And not everyone is so motivated to be productive work; they are just there to put in their time in exchange for the paycheck. The work structure of an office is needed to maintain a steady work pace for some work and employees; that is just the way it is. If you have ever been an employer of work from-home-types (raising my hand), you know the drill. Some things always happen to slow work regardless of where, but in the office, you can better manage some problems. (And get new headaches too!)
I have worked for home or a remote office for 24 years, both as an employee and a business owner. It takes some modest discipline (like your friend who starts at 8 AM regardless) and inner motivation to stay productive. Being self-employed is a BIG motivator; if you don't make it, you don't pay your bills... period! When there is a regular paycheck coming in regardless, the motivation is not as strong... that is just human nature.
Been working from home in market research / marketing for the better part of 7 years and it does take some discipline and in my field you don’t have an option of a “4-6 hours work day”. It’s 8-12 or bust. Haha. I think we are safe from this change especially considering the turn over and difficulty in getting qualified people to start with.
After Coeur d’Alene, the top metro areas in the ranking are Austin, Texas, Springfield, Ohio, and Billings, Mont. Spokane, Wash., just across the state border from Coeur d’Alene,
Which of these things is not like the others?
I wasn't able to view the full methodology but would not take this list as gospel.
It’s not just the new folks moving here. Spokane folks come here all the time. I was in the forest yesterday and the overwhelming majority was folks from Washington. Every trail head was more than half full of Washington plates. Locals just get to pay. But we don’t get to play. It’s a great scam they got going. Make us pay for the parks and places to recreate. But they are too crowded for the locals to go enjoy. We do not need tourists. We need locals going out and enjoying their town. The traffic on Saturday on Sherman ave was backed up all the way past zipps. You can’t get around down town or park. I went to see the show. I left as fast as I could. It’s too bad. The city of cda has no vision. Does not care about the environment. Except now the mining pollution they have been ignoring for decades may mess up all their plans if the lake releases its deadly mining waste into the water column. The lake is a ticking time bomb. And the city is directly responsible for ignoring this issue. They have know for over 30 years. A lot of people will be surprised when cda lake turns into a super fund site. Property values will get back to a reasonable level for the pollution your living with.
The work from home crowd can stop working when they're done with what's required that day. That's my experience when I was working from home here in Idaho from April to November. If I got done with what was needed, and nothing was pending, then I was free for the rest of the day. That was great and I'd be outside for a couple extra hours most afternoons.
My hope is that someday soon that companies realize they are only getting 4 - 6 hours worth of work from their teleworking people. Then they decide if you want your high dollar job that you need to come back into the office and give us 8 hours a day. Even if you are sitting around the office doing nothing, you are at least interacting with your coworkers... not your spouse, kids, dog, etc. Once the telework cycle reverses the housing market might correct. That, or large employers will offer those telework jobs to India and the Philippines. Heck, there seem to be a lot of Nigerian princes, and overseas social security agents that know how to use the phone and internet too. Maybe give them something legitimate and they might stop trying to scam me, lol.
I don't think your observation is accurate, at least in my case. I find that I'm working more since telecommuting. I may be able to go to the gym or a hike in the middle of the afternoon, when I previously would've been in office meetings or commuting home. However, the other side of this is that I'm answering emails at 5am, on calls at 6am and then again in the evening after having dinner. My total number of work hours are more than before. I'm just integrating them into my work life. As a disclaimer, I work for a global company and have direct reports in all geographies so have to work this into my schedule.
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