FeetUp

August 22, 2006

One of the side-benefits of working with Greg and Airbag is that I’m not required to report to an office. This unravels a whole new work environment and one that presents both positives and negatives.

The negative aspects are isolation from others and, well, OK, that’s about the only one. For some people, I’m sure the ability to be self-accountable for getting your work done could be a problem, but after graduate school and three years at a job where my boss worked in another timezone, I’m very comfortable managing my own day-to-day tasks. So, really, isolation is probably the biggest hurdle. But with some effort (Meetups, lunch with friends and maybe an occasional game of golf (I suck, by the way)), you can offset any sense of feeling alone and out-of-touch.

As first glance I’m sure most people would think that the main benefit of working from home full-time is that you have a commute of just a few paces, saving on gas, parking fees ($75/month in my case) and eating out. And, believe me, those are excellent things.

While I certainly do enjoy having my cat sleep on the office sofa or floor beside me while I work, or catching up on TiVo’d episodes of The Daily Show and Colbert Report or mowing the lawn during lunch, there’s something even better.

Maybe I’m a simpleton, an odd product of a suburban New Jersey childhood, but for me the absolute enjoyment of working from home has come from one thing: being sockless.  I’ve worn socks just a handful of times since starting at Airbag. Most of those times were to mow the lawn.

A sockless lifestyle is something I had been missing out on over the last several years. The opportunities just weren’t there. But this is awesome, freeing and probably very healthy for my size 13s.

Comments

1. James Duncan Davidson — August 22, 2006 at 5:09:21

   

   Sock-less work is good work. It’s something I like about working from home a lot. Even when I go to my cafe across the street, often it’s without socks. Just sandals. Because I can.
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2. steve — August 24, 2006 at 7:10:45

   

   You are so right—I kicked off my shoes and socks after spring’s final faculty meeting, and aside from lawn mowing and hiking I haven’t seen them since.

3. Rick Johnson — August 27, 2006 at 12:06:58

   

   I must agree.  After 14 years of working at home, the ‘sock-less’, shorts & t-shirt, sandals, and general ‘not combing your hair’ lifestyle is great!

Orange you glad you have an opinion?