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Old 08-10-2013, 10:10 AM
 
Location: San Antonio, Tx
8,238 posts, read 10,699,449 times
Reputation: 10217

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amber18 View Post
I work for an airline call centre...and soon they will be sending us all home so eventually there will be no call centre on campus..so I am quite excited for it because it takes the stress out of transporting to work and a crammed call centre...but the negative would be getting that cabin fever like feeling...ae there any people here that do wfh full time? whats it like? any advice for me? Ill be sent home by December.
I started doing it part time 6yrs ago and went full time 4yrs ago. The cabin fever is real. I can go days without leaving the house or seeing another human beyond my wife or kid. For all of the perks working from home (I put 3000 miles on my car last year) there isnt a day that goes by that I dont miss the atmosphere. I have considered leaving to go back into an office environment but I am afraid I'll regret it.

If there is one piece of advice I can give it is to create an area to work in that isnt a common area in the house. In other words dont make your work space in your living room or bedroom or a room that you hang out in every day. You have to have a feeling of "leaving work" or it will drive you nuts.
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Old 08-11-2013, 01:27 PM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,022 posts, read 14,442,452 times
Reputation: 5570
It depends on your job.. can you fulfill the core requirements while working at home. Obviously, you can't do that if you're a waiter or an assembly line worker but you probably can if you're a computer programmer.

Use Teamviewer if you need remote access to the computers in your office.

Call in sick one day and actually do your work from home. Try to be as productive as possible - make it seem you get more done at home. Then fess up to your boss that you were actually working from home despite feeling "sick" and show him/her the results. Propose working at home once a week as a test then make those days very productive and ask for more.
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Old 08-11-2013, 03:42 PM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,944 posts, read 31,079,407 times
Reputation: 47329
I am not a fan of it unless it is for long term, valued employees who have otherwise proven themselves. I work in IT support and these "remote users" often have a sense of entitlement that they are better than those who work in a conventional office. Call me old school, but I believe everyone should show up at the office unless they are a senior employee who has proven their chops. I worked at a place for two years and never had the opportunity to work remotely and it would infuriate me when a new hire telecommuter called and gave off this aura of superiority.
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Old 08-11-2013, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,705,767 times
Reputation: 12337
Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar View Post
It depends on your job.. can you fulfill the core requirements while working at home. Obviously, you can't do that if you're a waiter or an assembly line worker but you probably can if you're a computer programmer.

Use Teamviewer if you need remote access to the computers in your office.

Call in sick one day and actually do your work from home. Try to be as productive as possible - make it seem you get more done at home. Then fess up to your boss that you were actually working from home despite feeling "sick" and show him/her the results. Propose working at home once a week as a test then make those days very productive and ask for more.
This is excellent advice. Eventually, you could be working from the beaches of Hawaii or your apartment in another country, with no one being the wiser. Read The Four-Hour Workweek for great tips on this!
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Old 08-11-2013, 07:10 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,705,767 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations View Post
I am not a fan of it unless it is for long term, valued employees who have otherwise proven themselves. I work in IT support and these "remote users" often have a sense of entitlement that they are better than those who work in a conventional office. Call me old school, but I believe everyone should show up at the office unless they are a senior employee who has proven their chops. I worked at a place for two years and never had the opportunity to work remotely and it would infuriate me when a new hire telecommuter called and gave off this aura of superiority.
Why would they be entitled simply because they're allowed to work from home? Each person is allowed to negotiate his or her own perks and benefits when being hired. Maybe if you asked your boss if you could work remotely, he would say yes... or maybe there's a reason why you can't that does not apply to the telecommuters.

I freelance, so it's different from being an employee, but I work for one company who prefers that everyone be in-house. I simply made it clear up front that that was not an option if they wanted me to do their work for them. The big boss agreed, because I do excellent work. If others in the office don't like it, there's nothing I can do about it, but I went ahead, proved my worth, then set the boundaries that I'd be working within, which happen to include not coming into the office and setting my own hours. If you provide a valuable service, you might be able to do that, too (obviously depending on whether your services can be provided remotely!).
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Old 08-11-2013, 08:55 PM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,022 posts, read 14,442,452 times
Reputation: 5570
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy View Post
This is excellent advice. Eventually, you could be working from the beaches of Hawaii or your apartment in another country, with no one being the wiser. Read The Four-Hour Workweek for great tips on this!
I work for a chinese company that strongly values facetime.. almost got fired pulling off Tim Ferriss advice on negotiating a remote work agreement.. they have no problem with working at home from time to time but relocating to Tahiti , brasil, or even China and still working for them will never be allowed.

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk 2
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Old 08-12-2013, 04:58 AM
 
Location: Poinciana, FL
212 posts, read 333,414 times
Reputation: 566
I've been a full-time teleworker for almost 8 years now. I support a very diverse team of project managers who are spread all across the US. Before moving to 100% telework, I would head into the office, but it really didn't make much sense as there was no one physically present at the office that I worked with. All communications were via phone, e-mail, instant messaging - and that could really be done anywhere.

It is a perk that I do not have to travel into an office 5 days a week. To make it work, you really need to devote a dedicated workspace in your home - with a door that can close and privacy. The cabin fever aspect is troublesome at times. There's a lot to be said for traditional jobs where you get more face to face social contact with peers and co-workers. "Going to lunch" most days means a quick sandwich eaten in front of my workstation - taking bites in between conference calls.

There are 13 managers on my team that I support, and I give each of them the choice to either work in the office or telework. All but two of them are 100% teleworkers. It has turned out to be a win-win as we no longer have to pay for dedicated office space, etcetera. The pros definitely outweigh the cons for me personally, but it does feel somewhat confining, and it does limit your social contact through the workweek.
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Old 08-12-2013, 05:58 AM
 
16,376 posts, read 22,427,722 times
Reputation: 14397
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy View Post
Why would they be entitled simply because they're allowed to work from home? Each person is allowed to negotiate his or her own perks and benefits when being hired. Maybe if you asked your boss if you could work remotely, he would say yes... or maybe there's a reason why you can't that does not apply to the telecommuters.

I freelance, so it's different from being an employee, but I work for one company who prefers that everyone be in-house. I simply made it clear up front that that was not an option if they wanted me to do their work for them. The big boss agreed, because I do excellent work. If others in the office don't like it, there's nothing I can do about it, but I went ahead, proved my worth, then set the boundaries that I'd be working within, which happen to include not coming into the office and setting my own hours. If you provide a valuable service, you might be able to do that, too (obviously depending on whether your services can be provided remotely!).
Did you "prove your worth" while coming into the office in the beginning? Often when you are a negotiating a new gig, they only have your resume and references to go by, plus anything that was discussed in the interview. They really don't know that you are a 'star performer' until you begin working.
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Old 08-12-2013, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,705,767 times
Reputation: 12337
Quote:
Originally Posted by sware2cod View Post
Did you "prove your worth" while coming into the office in the beginning? Often when you are a negotiating a new gig, they only have your resume and references to go by, plus anything that was discussed in the interview. They really don't know that you are a 'star performer' until you begin working.
Oh, I'm actually an independent contractor; I don't go to my clients' offices. It has been set up that way from the very beginning. Being an actual employee would necessitate a different approach, but if you're a star performer (and your industry/position allows it), you might be able to negotiate time spent telecommuting, either part-time or full-time. (You being general, not you specifically.)
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Old 08-12-2013, 02:38 PM
 
7,380 posts, read 15,648,207 times
Reputation: 4975
Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar View Post
Call in sick one day and actually do your work from home. Try to be as productive as possible - make it seem you get more done at home. Then fess up to your boss that you were actually working from home despite feeling "sick" and show him/her the results. Propose working at home once a week as a test then make those days very productive and ask for more.
interesting idea, but there are legal implications that might make things sticky. you have to be paid for your time worked, you can't use your pto when you are actually working. you don't have a choice in the matter - your employer will get in trouble if they let you do it. it might not be a big deal to just switch your time to a day worked, but it could be, if you use time clocks and/or have policies in place that make it hard to change your time after the fact.
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