Comments on: Finding the Natural Rhythms and Flows of Working

By: Carol

Carol — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:53:42 +0000

Our office does not allow telecommuting on a regular basis and a lot of us wish they would. Instead they insist that we sit in cubes, men in suits and ties and women in business attire, hose, etc. On the few occasions that my boss has let me work from home, I actually put in more hours and get a lot more done because of less distractions. I wish more management would give up their desire to ‘control’ our productivity but it seems that most upper level management cannot think that way and wants to measure every little thing. The funny thing is that I am close to retiring and my manager is freaking out about it. If I had the opportunity to work from home, I would stay longer and she would not have to replace. me.

By: J. Lynne

J. Lynne — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:11:50 +0000

I find it interesting that as you are writing this,I’ve been writing about how our office is tightening the reigns and from what I’ve been reading, with the economy the way it is, that’s not only normal, but companies know they can get away with it. The age of micro-managing is back and on top of that, last week I was told that from now on, genius, skill and talent are taking a backseat to “soft skills” — ie., some people think I’m not perky enough even though there are no complaints about my technical skill and the work I do.

The weird thing is I love my work. I just want to do my work without all the focus on things that have nothing to do with productivity.

By: Question: Is Working At Home Better or Worse for You? | Create Business Growth

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:01:48 +0000

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By: Barbara

Barbara — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:27:44 +0000

Thank you for sharing such a great post. I could not agree with you more. Technology has enabled us work so effectively and creatively from remote locations. While I recognize that an independent working lifestyle is not for everyone – some need the “water cooler” experience. But the angst & drudgery that goes with knowing that you pretty much will be stuck in traffic for up to an hour in each direction to get to your office is like that little sign I have seen that says “bang head here”. And I have to ask why would you keep doing that day in and day out? btw I have done it until I sat down and calculated how many hours of my life I had wasted. That was a shocker! Working from home just leads to a better quality of life, kinder on the environment and has a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. I think even more jobs could be done remotely but bosses have control issues. I will consider an office job again when I see better leadership and gauging by the current state of things, that is going to be a while.

By: Jiovanni

Jiovanni — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 21:07:52 +0000

Thanks for this blog entry. I am only 24 years old but I am looking forward to working for myself. I don’t think it’s in my genes to work for anyone else. And I, oftentimes, find myself daydreaming about what life would be like if I just did what I love to do for a living than being cramped in my first “real corporate job”. I do like certain things about it, compared to my old retail schedule which went all over the place. However, I think if I could do what I love to do and flow with my natural working schedule (which I think would be at night) then I would be much happier and productive. I know one of these days soon, I will end up making my own schedule.

I actually think a lot of people in my generation will be doing the same thing. We are already changing jobs every 2 years cause we get bored easy and want to go to the next thing that will help us to grow. And I think a lot of us in our generation will end up owning our own business either full time or part time, just to do something that we love to do. I see a major shift happening and I’m excited to see what it’ll bring for us.

By: Judy

Judy — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:30:18 +0000

I have been working from home for almost 20 years and I have slowly learnt that everything goes better if you are in the right mood to do it, regardless of deadlines.

Sometimes I put things off for days or even weeks and then suddenly I’ll just feel like doing it, and it’s easy and enjoyable. Trust yourself and everything will get done.

By: Kev Jaques

Kev Jaques — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:42:28 +0000

I find working in short 2-3 hour bursts are really creative, then have a break, making sure you focus on doing 1 thing and getting it finished.
Then it’s time for a coffee heheh

By: BJB

BJB — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:31:52 +0000

Very interesting post!

I’ve been self employed almost all my working life (the past 40 years or so, with short break of “employment”). While it’s true that I have far more freedom than an outside worker, even those of us who work from home have constraints on our schedule.

Clients don’t care to be called at 2 am just because that’s when I choose to work. Our life partners may not like having the alarm go off at 5 am because we are early risers.

Frankly, I’ve never lived alone long enough — or been truly free of work demands like teleconferences, etc. — to really know what my natural rhythm is like!

I’ve often wondered if I would choose to get to bed early and get up at dawn if my partner was like minded.

There was an old episode of Man From Uncle in which someone asked the lead character: “Are you free?” To which he replied: “No man who works for a living is truly free; but I’m available.”

If we work for a living (which is quite different than working for the fun or hell of it!) we are seldom really free to find or follow our natural rhythm.

By: Bonnie | free biorhythm

Bonnie | free biorhythm — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:44:31 +0000

I’m just going to throw a metaphorical cat among the pigeons and say that maybe, sometimes, having a boss isn’t so bad?

A good boss will give you new motivation and inspiration, and help you focus when you need it, and can also help a team get re-focused on working together towards big picture goals. Without clear leadership to pull a team together, people can sometimes go off on their own tangents.

I guess what I’m talking about is having a good leader to provide direction & vision, rather than a “boss” to check on you and micromanage your work.

I’ve worked from home for myself and in 9-5 office structures, and I’m still not clear on which I prefer, there are pros and cons to each (and the grass is often greener!). I think I’d like a mix of both maybe :)

By: helen

helen — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:18:18 +0000

Finding your own natural rhythms working is important.

you can’t force yourself working when your body needs rest.

thank you for the good post!