I live in Eugene, Oregon, and from 1996 to 2001, telecommuted to my job at at Bell Labs in Naperville, Illinois. A remote working arrangement like this had its advantages and disadvantages, but in general was a net positive experience for me and my employer. For my type of work (software research and development), I could be more productive and achieve a much higher level of concentration in this environment. Work patterns and interruptions were much more controllable, and there was virtually no barrier to "going to work" when it just required walking across the house instead of getting in a car and driving to an office. A well defined home office was a necessity as well as my family's respect of my being "at work". Of course, the down side of the easy accessibility was knowing when to stop work since a personality type like my own worries about doing enough. I found it helpful to maintain a spreadsheet time schedule to record my activities. The other main trade off was the lack of face to face social interaction. However, since I had established working relationships with other members of the department before moving, email, voice calls, and fax served most communication needs, along with periodic visits back to Naperville.
Last updated 2001/10/07
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