Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!agate!voder!tolerant!jane@decwrl.dec.com From: voder!tolerant!jane@decwrl.dec.com (Jane Medefesser) Newsgroups: comp.society.women Subject: Re: Working at Home Message-ID: <11304@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> Date: 23 Jun 88 16:03:37 GMT References: <11232@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: Slobbering Systems, Inc. Lines: 36 Approved: skyler@violet.berkeley.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts) Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu My $0.02 on the subject: I am allowed the flexibility to work at home as often as I need (due to my own illness, transportation problems, childcare difficulties or whatever.) I have found that for myself I am far less productive at home than when I am in the office. Why? Distractions. At home the doorbell rings.. the neighbor's kids scream.. my kid wants some apple juice. The interuptions are constant and once I tear myself away from the terminal it's difficult to come back to it before doing "just a few dishes" or "just1 load of laundry" first. Secondly, all my reference material is in my office. I don't have access to it at home. I don't have a printer at home (it's difficult for me to program without that latest hard-copy of my code. Some people can find the bugs using their crt and paging through screen by screen. Not me. *I* need the whole picture.) Thirdly, at home I have to work at 1200 baud. (Those who know me well have heard me complain of this before.) My company only offers 1200 baud Hayes modems for employee use. I can't afford to get myself a 2400. I get so frustrated working that slow that I often don't do as much. Lastly, there is the before mentioned human contact. When I am home working you can't reach me by phone (tied up on the modem). I can't run accross the building and ask the local C guru why my pointers don't point. I know women (men too) who do "publishing" type work from home. (editing, word-processing, etc.) Apparantly that kind of work is ideal for the home environment. (It works for them.) I also have a friend that started his own business (IBM communications - he's doing quite well, by the way) in his own home and now runs the business from his home. But his employees (2, I think) all work there with him. (Probably drives his wofe nuts...) So it depends on what you're doing and with whom, I think....