Re: Isolation and the technical communicator

[Sharon Burton <sharonburton -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM>]

When I first started working mostly out of my home office, I had an idea
that I would get nuts. It turned out to be the opposite. I hate going to a
client's site. I get no work done. People want to talk and socialize. I want
to get work done.

I also discovered that my friends are now not my co-workers at a client's
site. They can be, but I do not depend on the common workplace to be the tie
that binds. I do wind up generally making new friends at a client but I
don't depend on my social life revolving around work. I have other friends
that I depend on for a social life and for hanging out with. But not
everyone can work like this. If you need to have people around to reinforce
the work process, this is not going to work for you.

I strongly prefer to work out of my home office. I have always enjoyed my
own company, though. I have lots of professional meetings and other human
contact but I do like, and sometimes crave, the solitude. And the flex
hours. I can get in the pool for several hours (if it ever gets warm in So
Cal) and generally hang out if I want.

I do remember in graduate school, I worked long hours by myself and enjoyed
it. I wasn't that surprised to discover that this works really well for me.
The down side is that it is 6:30 in the morning and I have been answering
email and getting things ready to be done for over an hour! I will shower at
some point this morning but I bet the day will end about 6pm tonight. And
most all of it will be work. But there is no commute! The office is the next
door down from the bedroom!

sharon

Sharon Burton
Anthrobytes Consulting
Home of RoboNEWS, the award-winning unofficial RoboHELP Newsletter
www.anthrobytes.com
anthrobytes -at- anthrobytes -dot- com


-----Original Message-----
From: Melonie Holliman <mrh -at- ABMDATA -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Tuesday, 09 June, 1998 6:05 AM
Subject: Re: Isolation and the technical communicator


>Howdy,
>
>I am very glad this topic came up. I wil be working at home again
>soon. I find isolation almost necessary when I am into a project.
>Yet I do get that "I have got to have human interaction NOW!"
>I take a break, which usually ends up bugging another employee
>into a conversation. They are really very patient and sympathetic
>with me but it does bother my supervisors a bit. In fact, that may
>be part of the reason they are going to let me work at home.
>
>I worked at home before and the isolation did get to me a bit. My poor
>husband would come home after talking all day to find me dying for
>someone to talk to. This time I have a plan: I am going to make sure I
>get human  interaction regularly so I do not feel isolated. STC meets
>once a month, that's a start. I have friends and colleagues I can meet
>for lunch. If I get totatlly nuts, I can call someone. I am involved in
>a support group which meets regularly--I can make those meetings.
>In other words, I can find my human interaction outside of my work.
>
>I like the isolation when I work, yet I do need interaction regularly. I
>used to think I needed interaction with the people I work with. This
>is not true. I just need interaction.
>
>Melonie Holliman
>The Tech Writer
>ABM Data Systems, Inc.
>Austin, TX
>mrh -at- abmdata -dot- com
>
>
>