Home office vs. office

Ermin Međedović

I wonder how many of you guys works at home/home office - the same location you live and sleep?

Jacques Le Bailly

I work at home. After bringing the kids at school, I open my laptop on the dining room table and work.

Andreas Stötzner

I used to work at home many years. Now I have a little office in the city and I’m pretty happy with that I can make a move and change place.

Nina Stössinger

I’ve done both over the years. Now that I don’t work on my own anymore I’m happy to have a nice/quiet/nearby office to work at. I often find it easier to switch fully into and out of work mode when there is a change of location.

Jason Campbell

i work at home, and in fact for the moment my office and bedroom are the same room. I wouldn't recommend this setup, but it's what i'm stuck with for the time being. 

Chris Lozos

I worked in an office for 43 years but the last 10 years at home and for myself.  Home wins!  I do have a separate room for my office, though.

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

I worked from home for about seven years.

I have only one rock-solid advice: make sure your work area is at least two rooms away from the kitchen.

Mark Simonson

I have a studio at home, in a repurposed bedroom. I fantasize about having my studio somewhere else sometimes, to make the line between work and not-work less blurry. I did that for a while back in the eighties, sharing a space with an illustrator (who unfortunately was a fan of working while listening to speed metal at maximum volume--we ended up avoiding being in the office at the same time). There are lots of interesting buildings in walking distance from my home. But in the end I can't give up the convenience (or the commute) of working at home. I've done it so long now it's hard to imagine doing otherwise. I've become accustomed to the blurriness.

Nick Shinn

I’ve worked at home since 1992. I was an art director/graphic designer then. That was before the internet; the game-changers being the telephone-answering (cassette) machine and pager—but then email and the web sealed it.

As a home-owner, it made more sense to pay “rent” into my property equity than someone else’s. And I can write off a proportion of my home expenses (mortgage, heating, etc.) as a business expense, especially for taxes.

I was able to work at home because the business is just me and Karey (spouse), with occasional e-help from other designers around the world, some of whom I have actually met at type conferences!

 

Max Phillips

I work in a repurposed back bedroom, surrounded by rampaging small boys. Not recommended.

Vassil Kateliev

I work at home four days a week and three days I spend in my office, which is two streets away from where I live (yeah I work seven days a week but in small batches). Change of place is nice and much needed.

In my opinion working at home is convenient, but it is better to have an office - it draws a solid (sane) border between rest and work - working at home in pajamas may sound a dream-come-true to some (especially my friends), but it blurs the boundaries of your life cycle - am I working now, am I resting; should I pay attention to my kids or should I concentrate on that project... you get the idea

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Chris Lozos

Ahh, color separators, strippers, engravers, airbrush artists, a different day, James! And we no-longer need a Stat machine!

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Thomas Phinney

I have been full-time in my home office setup for three years now. Although it has some minor drawbacks as well, overall it is wonderful.    I get more time with my wife and family this way.

One thing nobody has mentioned: hardware reduction. When I worked in an outside office I still had various peripherals at home. Now I don't need a second set of monitors and printer and scanner in another location. 

Max Phillips

Ahh, color separators, strippers, engravers, airbrush artists, a different day, James! And we no-longer need a Stat machine!

Nope. I loved my stat camera and still miss it.  I do not love my scanner.  It's like LPs vs. CDs. The analog product had some soul to it that the screeching digital whatsit lacks.

On the other hand, no one in history has ever missed a modem.

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

I miss modem sounds. I even miss putting my Commodore PET cassettes in a boom box.

Chris Lozos

My first modem was 400 baud.  At the time, we thought it was cool as shit ;-)  Beat the hell out of courier service or FedEx.

Thomas Phinney

400? I remember 300, 1200, 2400, 9600, 14.4K and 28.8K....

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

Don't forget 56K, which was/is the fidelity limit of copper wires.

John Hudson

 I loved my stat camera and still miss it. 

I was admiring the camera set up at the Letterform Archive, and thinking I'd like to have one of those. Then I realise it was about half the size of my whole office.

James Puckett

Sometimes I think about having a real office and working around other people. Then I remember that most coworking spaces won’t let me listen to Electric Wizard at 100db. And a wall of books is great for acoustics. 

Chris Lozos

I can only work in silence.  When I listen to music, I have to either be in total attendance to it or driving a car.

Ray Larabie

I've been working in my home office since I started making fonts about 20 years ago. I've got to have a guitar, bass, synth and drum machine close by to be productive and my hours are pretty random.

Jason Campbell

I've got to have a guitar, bass, synth and drum machine close by to be productive

Having my guitar and harps around sometimes is helpful to stay productive, and sometimes a distraction. Depends on what music is floating through my head, I suppose. 

Hanno Bennert

Most coworking spaces won’t let me listen to Electric Wizard at 100db.

You have an exquisite taste, James. I'd gladly work in that office

Dyana Weissman

I've been working exclusively from home for over a year now. For many years, I went into an office, but spent a day or two working from home each week. I found it easier to stay focused in the office, and I enjoyed the company of my coworkers. 

Weirdly, though, when I had a very tight deadline for a project, I would work exclusively from home. Commuting would take too much precious time. Once I got into work mode, it was easy to stay in it. 

After years of experience, I am able to stay focused while working at home. But it can be too isolating, especially in the winter. 

I generally prefer listening to conversations when I work, instead of music. I put on a TV show or movie that I've already seen, so I'm not distracted by what is happening.

After years of wearing headphones in the office, I have a Pavlovian response to putting them on that makes me ready to work. 

James Puckett

Dyana Weissman said:

I generally prefer listening to conversations when I work, instead of music. I put on a TV show or movie that I've already seen, so I'm not distracted by what is happening.

I do this to keep my mind occupied when I have to do a big batch of tedious work like adjusting obliques. Trashy horror movies are great because 90% of those films is just dumb teenagers walking around cheap sets and having forgettable conversations.

Chris Lozos

Sounds like some of you just need to work in a cheap apartment building ;-)

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

I have trouble in total silence, so whenever I can I put TV shows in languages I don't know in the background. The music I listen to is almost always in languages I don't know.

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

FWIW: http://nautil.us/issue/46/balance/noise-is-a-drug-and-new-york-is-full-of-addicts-rp
"The optimal level for creative thinking, Mehta found, is 70 db — about the level of a crowded café."