Comments on: Open Thread: What's Wrong with Web Work?

By: michelle goodman

michelle goodman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:23:23 +0000

I’m probably the lone freak who doesn’t mind the lack of human contact during the day (I live alone too). I’m a freelance writer who works from home, and I need/enjoy the solitude to get my books/articles/client copy done.

Every couple years I’ll take a longer-term contract (3+ months) onsite at Microsoft to mix things up, stockpile money, etc. and I’ll still hide out in my office and try to avoid people as much as I can — and this is with working in a department where I have a number of friends; this summer I even worked in the same dept as my beau. If I have to be on someone’s corporate campus, I want to get in and out of there are quickly as possible, so I don’t want to dilly-dally at the water cooler if I can help it.

Challenges to working solo from home:

1. Staying disciplined, avoiding email/the web, sticking to the same start time each morning (though I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years).

2. Seperation of work and home life, even with the office with shuttable door.

3. The guilt I feel every time my dog comes over to my desk to see if “I’m done working yet.”

By: johnk

johnk — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:05:16 +0000

Human contact, facing undercutting from newbies who don’t understand about health and dental insurance costs, accounting, drumming up sales, and keeping good communications. Those were all hard issues. You have to really offload some of that work to others. We need some kind of standard pricing book, and guidelines, like the AIGA or IBEW provide.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:55:19 +0000

Lack of sick leave. I’m feeling sick as a dog this morning but I’ve got deadlines.

(Yes I know I’m busy reading a blog instead of working)

By: almostgotit

almostgotit — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:50:03 +0000

@Jillian: LOL! How about moving to a big city highrise, working next to a window, and investing in a really great set of binoculars???

By: Jillian

Jillian — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:20:25 +0000

Optometrist’s bills. They tell me to look away from my screen every 15 minutes to give my eyes a break, but there’s nothing to look at except the laundry rack. I’m sure just the activity of other people nearby must be better for your eyes.

By: Rex Dixon

Rex Dixon — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:00:11 +0000

The one thing that I notice now is that I do force myself away from the computer. I actually have “forced” myself to take walks and exercise.

Would I trade it for the corporate life? Nope, I just started the fulltime web worker gig, and I love it!

Rex

By: Dina

Dina — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:15:12 +0000

Web work: the benefits are enormous. We are creating a new reality; we are creative; we are surrounded by smart, interesting, visionary people. A serious downside: close to 1,000 emails a day. The challenge is being proactive when you could spend your whole day being reactive.

By: GigaOM: What’s on GigaNET: Weekend Edition — recommend GigaOM « Identity Unknown

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:00:25 +0000

[...] What’s Wrong With Web Work: We spend so much time talking about the benefits of our way of work that we tend to gloss over some of the drawbacks. I’ll start with some of the obvious drawbacks of web work that we don’t always mention. Continue reading. [...]

By: GigaOM What’s on GigaNET: Weekend Edition «

GigaOM What’s on GigaNET: Weekend Edition « — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:19:24 +0000

[...] by Om Malik Sunday, June 24, 2007 at 6:19 AM PT | No comments What’s Wrong With Web Work: We spend so much time talking about the benefits of our way of work that we tend to gloss over [...]

By: Trying it on for size: permanent 9-5 expat? « How to (almost) Get the Job

Trying it on for size: permanent 9-5 expat? « How to (almost) Get the Job — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:05:21 +0000

[...] also brought me a very good column by Mike Gunderloy in yesterday’s Web Worker Daily called What’s wrong with web work? While it’s already very difficult for any working person with a family to find the right [...]