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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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Like many members of Generation Y, my first entry-level job put me in a place I didn’t want to be – a cubicle. When I left the corporate world and got involved with Brazen Careerist, everything changed.
For the past six months I’ve experienced the ups and downs of working without the traditional office. And while that has its perks, I’ve seen some drawbacks too.
Yesterday, our company moved into a real office. No more coffee shops, no more business meetings in my apartment, finally, the real deal. I couldn’t have imagined how amazing it would feel to be back.
Think I’m kidding, right? I’m not. Having an office that separates your work life and your personal life is a gift. Don’t always take it for granted.
Here are three reasons why:
It’s easier to be productive
All too many times when working at home I would find myself sitting on the couch, half working, and half zoning out. There’s no doubt that today, in my office, I’m far more focused.
Between T.V. distractions, next-door neighbors, and a dog nibbling on your toes, home is just not a place to get things done. If you want to increase productivity, the best place to do it is an environment designed for being productive.
It’s easier to communicate
Without a traditional office as a common working ground, our communication has suffered. And it’s not that we haven’t made an effort either.
Relying on technology to help you communicate is not always an effective way to get things done. If you can’t connect in person with a member of your team at regular intervals, it’s likely that your productivity—and your company–will suffer.
It’s easier to go home
Your home should be your escape, a place of relaxation. What I hated the most about having only a home office is that I couldn’t simply flip a switch and be done with the day. My laptop was always sitting there, beckoning me to do more work.
I’m much better off with my work-life and my life-life separated.
Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that working from home is going to be great, they should envision an existence where work and life no longer balance, but blend.
For some, a blend can be a wonderful thing. But for others, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Think it over before deciding if remote work is right for you.
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Good post. I do see your point. I have been telecommuting since last July. While there has also been some challenges for me, I would never want to go back to an office. I have finally integrated my life-life and my work-life. One doesn’t take over the other anymore. In some ways, it’s like being in a pre-industrial revolution setting where everyone worked from home on the farm.
I don’t think telecommuting is for everyone and I have been really surprised by how many people have told me they would never want to telecommute (because I always wanted to).
-GenerationXpert
Having done both the telecommute and the ‘real’ office, I see the pros and cons. From my experience, if your ‘home’ office isn’t a separate, somewhat secluded part of the house, you can’t ever leave work. It’s the same reason I don’t eat lunch at my desk at the office. My lunch is MY time, and the desk is COMPANY time. A small thing, but helpful, none the less.
Hey Ryan, congrats and welcome back to the office. Or, the orifice as I like to call it.
I agree with it all, it’s the space to be productive. I do some half-days at home where I’m pretty much “working” at home, but more than anything just being on the internet. It can be quite a loss to productivity. But like Penelope would say, if there’s any Gen that can be on the internet and 3 other places and be productive, its us.
But the office makes us much more so…
Cya!
Excellent points, Ryan.
My mom worked from home while I was growing up. It was great to have her around, but I also found it super frustrating at time because I felt like I lived in an office, not that she just happened to work from home.
I think if you’re going to work from home, at the very least you need a separate room to function as an office to avoid some of the issues that you mentioned above.
Interesting thoughts. Personally, I’m looking forward to moving to a new state and trying my hand at freelancing and working from home for a bit simply because I’ve always wondered how productive I’d be with a more flexible schedule and no boss looking over my shoulder. Also, I thrive in a quiet environment and being home alone while my wife is at her office and without any coworkers buzzing around would likely give me the opportunity to focus that I normally find to be missing in a traditional work environment.
Also, being able to take a break to watch The Price Is Right is just too good to miss out on.
This is a debated topic in the real estate industry as well, but I think the image of professionalism is the bigger issue. Agents very often start off as an independent and can not carry the overhead of an office. I think it is important for REALTORS to consider an office as part of their growth projections, or joining an existing office. Thanks for the great post, something to think about in the ever changing wired world.
I’ve been working from home for almost three years and I absolutely love it! Since I’m single and without pets, I don’t have problems with concentration. The first two years, I felt I worked 24/7 especially since I live on the east coast and my company is based on the west coast (work day doesn’t officially end until 8pm EST). Recently I made a decision to schedule activities outside myself to ensure I log-off the laptop and engage in a real life. I can’t imagine working in an office.
Great! as I sit here with my laptop open with a puppy nibbling at my toes distracted by reading blogs when I should be writing the Team Building proposal for my new group.
I often use the term symphony to describe my life work balance - a balance meens that something is always losing out - a symphony means that the sound is always there with potential just waiting for the conductor to waive his magic stick and make that “GO” face!
Excellent point which is often overlooked. Studies do show that a majority of parents who work from home spend less quality time with their children when most of them decided to work from home in order to have more time available with their children.
Over on Brazen Careerist, there was a recent debate regarding work-at-home arrangements, and whether every employee can be trusted to work from home, no questions asked. My position there (and here) is that no, of course not: some people are better equipped to work at home than others. Ryan’s comments here are a testament.
I certainly agree with point #3, and there is value to that point, but #s 1 and 2 aren’t categorically true. For some people, certainly, an office environment fosters productivity and communication–that’s what your Gen X and older workmates have been telling Gen Y since they first joined the workaday world. But that doesn’t apply to everybody. Personally, I work from home 3 days every week, and I find that I’m more productive at home; plus, there are so many good collaboration tools out there (NetMeeting, etc.) that communication doesn’t suffer either. I come into the office 2 days a week for the sake of “face time” and occasional lunches out with my staff. For me, and for them, this is what works.
In my opinion, the workplace of the future is all about options. Each employee, with the help of his or her manager and team, gets to decide how to work that will create the greatest benefit to the company and the highest satisfaction to the employee. Everyone’s work style is different, and the options should accommodate that.
Hi Everyone,
Wow…I sure missed the ball on this one. I really wish I could have gotten involved in the dialogue sooner. But better late than never. Right?
So, the big takeaway from this seems to be that some people agree, some don’t and some haven’t yet had an experience. Which leads me to think that it’s an experience everyone needs to have for themselves to really know the right answer.
What I really hope people will take away here is that working from home is likely not going to be the answer to all of your prayers. If you think it’s going to make work better, it likely won’t. And that’s something to remember when you’re trying to find a solution for a job that sucks.
If you are unhappy with your job, don’t assume that working from home is the answer. It may just make things worse. Imagine what it would be like…you hate your job and you do it from home (the place you’re supposed to be able to relax), that would be a disaster.
-RP
I must say that I could not be trusted to work at home a majority of the time. On occasion perhaps, when I have to meet someone for an appointment. But not on any regular schedule. I just can’t keep focused without having my coworkers and manager there to offer the subtle pressure NOT to surf the web.
And this brings me to an interesting thought: the disadvantage of creating a web presence. You may notice that I never post with my full name. If you were to Google my full name, you would find almost nothing about me. If I used my full name on this post, I would never be able to write it. What if my boss or some future boss found this post and declined to let me work from home when I really needed to?
No thanks! I’ll stay safely anonymous!
Hi Scott,
Good insight into yourself. The fact that you know that you wouldn’t thrive while working at home means you’re a step above most people.
The idea of web presence seems to be an issue for many people. But then again, many companies are trying to incorporate social media into company culture so perhaps displaying your passion could open up doors for you.
Just a thought…
The idea of web presence seems to be an issue for many people. But then again, many companies are trying to incorporate social media into company culture so perhaps displaying your passion could open up doors for you.
I realize we’re drifting off-topic, but this is Ryan’s topic, so I guess he’s allowed. Ryan, you make a great point here and I agree with you. The most recent new hire I completed, I chose the winning candidate partly because he understood and seemed genuinely excited about social networking, which is something we’re trying to leverage in my field. But that said, I think Scott M and most of us recognize that there’s risk in signing a person’s real name to every blog rant he posts. In some ways, it’s like getting a tattoo: in 2 or 5 or 10 years time, you may find yourself utterly humiliated by how wrong you were or how badly you came off, but that post is still out there, haunting you, and coming up in every Google search for your name.
I blog with my real name too, but only if it’s something I wouldn’t mind being seen–or, honestly, actively want to be seen–by a potential employer. For everything else, I’m just untraceable Sean.
Separate and unrelated: if you Google my full name, which isn’t a common name, half the information you’ll turn up belongs to a completely different person who is an aspiring screenwriter and actor somewhere on the West Coast. He has an IMDB record and has posted reviews at Amazon.com. And somewhere, on some other blog, he’s probably saying similar things about me. The moral is that sometimes you can only do so much to protect your online persona no matter what you do; it’s the nature of the Internet.