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
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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....