Working from home: yes or no?

When I told people about our plans to work from home once we moved to Denver, I got quite a variety of reactions. Some people (us included) thought it was the Best. Thing. EVER. Other people thought we'd be ready to murder each other after a few days cooped up in the apartment together. A large segment of the people we told expressed concern that we would never get anything done. And quite a surprising number of people were mostly thrilled about the idea of getting to work in their pajamas.

Here's how working from home is turning out for us: awesome.

When we were in DC, I worked from 9 to 5, so with the two-hour time difference, my boss and I came up with a compromise: I work 8 to 4 Mountain time, which is 10 to 6 Eastern time. So, I'm working an hour earlier, but I get up at the same time because all I have to do is roll out of bed and start working.

Torsten gets up before me, which will be handy once we have a dog that needs to go out early in the morning. When I get up he comes out of his office and says good morning, and then we both go into our offices and close the doors so we don't disturb each other. Sometimes we even Skype each other from our desks. I know, we're lazy, but it's better than calling out and potentially interrupting a phone call or a very focused editing moment.

If anything, I feel more productive. I have a very nice space to work in, and there's no distraction around--no people talking, stopping by, etc. I do still have contact with my coworkers via phone and email, but the distance makes people, myself included, think a bit more before instigating contact, which means there aren't as many minor disturbances.

Plus, I don't feel like I'm just putting in my face time, you know? Because I'm not putting in my face time, so I just get things done. I'll take a break to shower and get dressed once I've checked my email and taken care of anything urgent, and then I'll have breakfast while working. I get a lot done--it feels like things just fly off my to-do list. I mean, it's still work, and there's still a lot of it. But it's not nearly as start-stop as it is in an office.

Around lunchtime, whichever one of us gets hungry first will knock on the other's door and ask about food. If we both have time, we'll eat together at the dining room table, but even if one or both of us is swamped, we spend a few minutes together in the kitchen, making our lunches.

And speaking of which, the making of the lunch? And the being at home? So healthy and money-saving! Sandwiches or leftovers every day! What a great idea! And no temptation to go out instead. Once we have a dog, add a couple short walks to the daytime routine and we are talking way totally healthy! Much more so than being cooped up in an office all day, not moving, and grabbing the first convenient thing for lunch, you know?

Plus, with the BlackBerry things are so flexible. If I want to go to the gym midday when it isn't crowded, I just go, bring along my BlackBerry in case anything comes up, and work an hour later to make up the time.

And the other thing that I LOVE? Other than finishing work at four when there is still so much daylight left? Is that when you're done with work at the end of a long day, you're exhausted, and all you want to do is go collapse on the couch with your husband? You don't even have to deal with the commute first. You just walk down the hall and there you are. BLISS.

Still, I can understand why some people wouldn't like to work from home. It's definitely unstructured, and you have to have a specific type of work, and specific type of coworker, and a specific type of attitude and self-motivation to make it work. I'm lucky to have the convergence of all three of those things.

What do you think? If you had the opportunity, would you rather work in an office or at home?