This is not the issue that concerns me. It is the half-hour drive each way, in traffic, where I am completely unproductive. In fact, taken holistically, I am actually making others’ commutes worse and the whole world ever slightly warmer (no, I do not need to use the AC at home). Also, I can pop out to the grocery store for a list my wife makes for me, and instead of cramming that in on my drive home (or her drive home), I am leisurely do that task whenever it fits my schedule.
In short, my whole life is more productive when I work from home. My company gets the same output from me either way (more if they actually pushed), so I’m doing this until I retire.
1 Like
The commute is what keeps me working from home when I can. I do miss my audiobook time though.
1 Like
I was just listening to some Jimi nice and loud. Can’t do that at the office.
This was my point.
Who cares if you’re more or less productive at home or at work? Which makes you happier? YOU are what matters. Stop slaving away for the employer.
Not working makes me happy. So being less productive while getting paid the same is what works for me. Being more productive is not a flex for me.
I have a total commute of 3 1/4 hours a week (hoping to decrease eventually). I’m 62 hours through the amazing 73 hour long The History of Rome podcast. Will have to look for a new one soon!
Great podcast. He also did a Revolutions podcast series after that which is pretty good too, and wrote a couple books.
Lafayette has become my favorite founding father (loosely speaking) after reading his biography about him.
2 Likes
In my case, on a net basis I think I’m about as productive at home as I was when I was working in a local office.
The big differences come from work:life balance and not losing 90+ minutes a day in a car. I also take some liberties with exactly what hours I do work; it’s not uncommon for me to work 6-ish hour days, 7 days a week, scheduled as 3 hours in the morning, and 3 hours in the evening.
That last bit would likely rub some clock-watching or micromanaging bosses the wrong way…which is perhaps why some of them would prefer to see more people in office more frequently.
I do actually miss going into an office…but I do not miss the long local commute.
Me too, but only in the sense that I can’t appreciate the highs without the lows. Going into the office was painful, but it made not going into the office a joy.
Now it’s just meh everyday.
Management.
A couple of jobs ago, I got to sit in on a management discussion that was exploring the possibility of shifting from a 5×8-hour days work-week, to a 4×10-hour days work week.
The decision was to not make that change because of concerns of losing productivity – a number of employees were putting in more than 8 hours on a regular basis, so shifting to 10-hour days and giving an extra day off would (they thought) reduce productivity, requiring some additional hires (and additional expense) to make up the deficit.
One could point out a few shortcomings in the reasoning (e.g. the claims that being better rested / having better work-life balance promotes productivity)…but not all pointy-haired types buy into such thinking.
I was speaking in the context that management perception is the same, as is the case in my case. I’ve actually gotten more praise while working less (not because I’m more efficient).
Maybe I’ve gotten better at faking it. I suppose that is a level of productivity. I do what benefits my mental well being, not my company’s bottom line, and that should be everyone’s priority.
2 Likes
Perhaps your mental well being has translated into increased productivity without you realizing it.
One issue i have related to WFH that i have not really adjusted for and need to…i had a much easier time recalling details of conversions while in the office since i could visualize the situation where it happened. Now most interactions take place in the exact same environment staring at a screen, and everything blends together.
1 Like
I W’dFH yesterday afternoon. But I forgot to grab my computer to take back to work. I should just be in the office 100%. This reminds me to make sure I grab all the hardware tonight - I am traveling to Nashville tomorrow and will be a WFH at a friends the rest of the week.
My problem with this is that I have people expecting to be able to reach me during normal office hours. I can shift my hours a bit but probably not more than a few hours. I might be able to work 4 10’s.
I overgeneralize when I describe my “3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the evening” preferred work schedule. I shift between “work” and “personal” as it makes sense, and adapt as things come up…and really, I don’t focus too much on the precise number of hours I work. Stuff needs to get done, and I do it; if there’s a realistic deadline, it gets done by then.
It’s more a case of my being in a pattern of cranking through “stuff for other people” for a few hours every morning, and working on “my projects” for a few hours every evening. What happens in between, depends on what needs doing both “at work” and “at home”.
I was WFH for several years before the pandemic made it popular. It worked in part because I’ve primarily been an individual contributor, and because I worked with / supported a geographically diverse group of people.
(In my current role, I interact with a few actuaries in India. My split-day model meshes well with their traditional schedule, given the time difference.)
Pre-pandemic it worked in part because I tried to “be invisible” about working from home. I always answered my phone and accepted meeting invites if possible…even though this has led to weird experiences like explaining an exhibit while I’m standing outside a supermarket (before grocery delivery was a viable thing), reviewing pricing on a large potential new business account from a random parking lot, or fielding a few questions outside a doctor’s office or atop the riding lawnmower. It actually became a game with one of my underwriters of “where is Maphisto this time?”
It’s a little easier now that more people are used to remote-work situations and have adopted communications tools that are more remote-friendly. I’m not certain when I last received an actual phone call for work; it’s usually trading a couple of Teams messages and then switching to voice, bringing up screen sharing if that makes more sense.
I think a good point can be made that my nontraditional work schedule/pattern wouldn’t be as viable if I were in a traditional team-based actuarial role. It’s been about 20 years since I had such a job. These days, much of my work involves building big models that take a few hours or a couple of days to run. A split work day makes a lot of sense when you can set up a model in the morning, do household chores in the afternoon, and then come back in the evening to look at the model outputs.
3 Likes
If I’m not productive, then I either miss deadlines or have to bust my ass for 12-hour days to make deadlines. With my team, goals are met slower in a WFH environment then with in-person collaboration including spontaneous discussion.
I do like the work I do and the volume of work. It is challenging. I also like the people that I work with. It can be another life away from home. And I also love my life at home. I enjoy working at my company. I might feel differently at another company.
JSM - there are different strokes for different folks.
1 Like
Actually that’s a great point. I put in 8+ hours a day and sometimes a bit of time on the weekends. A 4-hour day, even at 10 hours, might encourage me to not do free overtime.
If I worked 10 hours a day on a regular basis, I would get over-tired, and do lower-quality work.
1 Like
For me, a 10-hour day feels a bit long, but if I knew it was the expectation and I had 3 days off coming up, I’d be completely fine doing it. I don’t think my work would suffer much given the current state of only 2 days off, which already encourages “eff it, it’s Friday afternoon”.
I think you mean a 4-day week 
I would just have to get someone else to cook dinner.
Hey, that’s an idea…