1/28 Homework
I have friends that claim to hate me because I work from home. And on a nice day, yeah I might take to the porch to do some drawing. But it's true, it's not all it's cracked up to be all the time. Especially when Time Warner Cable doesn't like to provide reliable internet, but that's neither here nor there. Gavin sent this link out the other day, and I suppose it got me thinking a little.
I did start coworking at Conjunctured a couple months back while I didn't have an office, but I ended up spending a lot of that time busy with buying a house, going to Orlando to work with Gavin and Celly, and all that good shit so I really haven't used the space as much as I could. It always ends up being easier, when you've taken up any part of your day not working, to just hop right in instead of commute. That said, the variety was great, and yes - the mere presence of other humans can be a boost. The dog just doesn't do it for me conversationally. I'll probably move to the occasional daily rate now that I have an office in the house again.
But it really depends on the situation, overall. Getting in the "zone" is a lot easier when there are no distractions (although onscreen distractions can be even worse than people, so various IM status messages, some of which disable Growl, can be useful), so a lot of designers find it beneficial to work alone.
Yes, interaction can be a little tougher, but you need to realize that you have it unrealistically freaking sweet to be able to work from home, and enjoy the value in that. I suspect the Geeks in Boston article's second part will probably address that sentiment. Anyway... point is, that's a good read, check it out, but don't take it 100% to heart. It takes effort to make the home office work - you're not forced to do anything so you better force yourself.
The first thing to go is probably motivation. For this you can blame a massive cut in feedback. In an office you get feedback constantly.The point on lack of feedback and interaction is a valid one, but if you've been working with a team as long as we've been doing this, you start to realize how some of those things work. And the fact is, you just have to be active in pursuing feedback, just as you are with pursuing the answers to your questions, and anything else that you need from other people who you can't just stare down until they comply.
I did start coworking at Conjunctured a couple months back while I didn't have an office, but I ended up spending a lot of that time busy with buying a house, going to Orlando to work with Gavin and Celly, and all that good shit so I really haven't used the space as much as I could. It always ends up being easier, when you've taken up any part of your day not working, to just hop right in instead of commute. That said, the variety was great, and yes - the mere presence of other humans can be a boost. The dog just doesn't do it for me conversationally. I'll probably move to the occasional daily rate now that I have an office in the house again.
But it really depends on the situation, overall. Getting in the "zone" is a lot easier when there are no distractions (although onscreen distractions can be even worse than people, so various IM status messages, some of which disable Growl, can be useful), so a lot of designers find it beneficial to work alone.
Yes, interaction can be a little tougher, but you need to realize that you have it unrealistically freaking sweet to be able to work from home, and enjoy the value in that. I suspect the Geeks in Boston article's second part will probably address that sentiment. Anyway... point is, that's a good read, check it out, but don't take it 100% to heart. It takes effort to make the home office work - you're not forced to do anything so you better force yourself.