After 15 years of home-based self-employment, writing, consulting and providing management services to a professional association, I'm "semi-retiring" at 69, surrendering (and it's time) association management, but keeping several dozen small-change clients for whom I provide an arcane niche service.

Travel, business and personal, belonging to an informal "Spit'n Whittle" group at an antique & used gun dealer, "Pitch" on Thursday afternoons, and a couple of boards get me out of the house. My office, a former playroom, atop our house, has a half bath, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, window seats wide and long enough for a nap, and best of all a view from the ridgeline over the lake.

FT helps with boredom, and I'll miss the demands for self-discipline needed for my regular routine. I never wore PJs, always shower (but miss too many dates with the razor), and my office wear remains desperately informal.

Working at home has prolonged my career, seems to have raised my income (or at least increased my business-related expenses with a net positive result), and now provides me with a way to walk away at my own pace, no gold watch or parachute, but still clients who need me (or my services, too long priced too low).

Housewives have been working from home for decades. There are ways to work from home and have company. Internet forums, for instance And making acquaintance with nearby people doing similar work.

Not that I'm saying it's the same as regular company... but working from home isn't the same as resigning to a life of complete loneliness.

I work from home when I'm not travelling, maybe a week or so per month, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The idea of commuting to the same office day in and day out and seeing the same people on a daily basis makes me want to hang myself. I like the peace and quiet and the ability to set my own schedule. I don't think that I could ever go back to being an office monkey.

Unfortunately, my streak of not going to the office will end at 2 years and 3 months on Wednesday, when I have to go in for a 2 day meeting. I'll have to deal with all of the annoying folks in person that I usually can just deal with on the phone. Yech...

I must be one of those humans that aren't social...

I could WFH, but prefer to drive the 10 miles into the office every day.

My wife has a home office and wouldn't have it any other way.

My opinion is that those who work at home and are on a company payroll are usually slacking off without the requisite adult supervision they would normally get at a proper work place.

OTOH, those who work at home and are self-employed can do as they like, since they are self-employed.

M8

I've been doing it for almost 20 years.

When I got married which involved moving, I made a proposal to continue to do my job (which involves a lot of travel anyway) and do it from a home office. Agree with the other posters that it involves discipline. It also is difficult to put the work away because it's always there. I enjoy the flexibility and it worked out very well when I became a mother because I can take breaks to spend some time with her (I have a full time nanny) and balance things out with my travel.

I have a dedicated office in my house but do work early mornings and late at night elsewhere. As I deal with Asia, it works well with my schedule. My productivity has skyrocketed being out of the office because I'm not in so many internal meetings and my time is limited to conference calls and emails. I would have a tough time going back to an office setting and I do have a tough time when I have to go back for a few days every few weeks.

after reading all the people who work from home it has opened my eyes a lot as i did not know so many people work from home, I commute an hour each way to work every day and am thinking that hour could be saved if i work from home and maybe i could get more work done as well....

I am looking to find a company that will allow me to work form hme doing a similar job to what i do now but as of yet i have found that companies in the UK will not let you work form home util you have worked with them for a while...

but im glad to see that i am not alone in wanting to work from the comfort of my own home

I do only one WFH day per week. One to two days a week seems to be a good balance.

Very enlightened.

There are numerous work at home jobs where employees are objectively evaluated such that "slacking off" would not result in successful performance.

It depends what work you do. I started my career WFH, and continued for 10 years until I ended up managing office based people. I am happy either way, but given the choice I would WFH. In fact i'm just looking at the possibilities now.

I work in the travel industry, I have done sales previously but im flexible to do a lot of other things given the oppurtunity

Gee thanks. I didn't realise that as an adult myself that I needed "adult supervision"

If I didn't do my job to the highest standards and meet/exceed all goals, I would quickly be out of a job.

Jealous? Maybe a little envious of those of us who have the luxury of working from home and getting paid well while doing it...

Adult supervision? I'm a professional who is judged on accomplishments, not on how much time I'm appearing to be working.

My perspective is different. I've been in both positions.

Huge timewasters in the office. Too much socializing and too many meetings scheduled for the sake of having meetings. I work from home and can get more done in 4 hours than I could ever get done in a full day in the office. And I certainly don't have to take my morning paper to the stall in the men's room or always "look like I'm working" or any of the other office-bound workplace hells.