Geeks in Boston: Working from Home: Why It Sucks
Man, if this is your style, it will suck for you wherever you're working from.
I used to work from home for pretty much 11 years. Well, yeah, there were periods of time (less then 2 years in total), that I used to stay in office in a 9am-6pm-style. These days were pretty much okay for me, but nothing I can remember about as necessity.
And I used to work at home when I had my kid. Let me tell you this, that is the hardest part of working at home, especially, in 1 bedroom spot where is no place to hide.
I had no typical day, I had no problems leaving out with my friends (and didn't forget my laptop and cell phone to get connected anywhere). I always had something to do, I always kept a track of what I am doing and, damn, I am not going to have meeting with about something "with phone muted, can watch youtube videos".
Feeling lonely? Come on. Get a life, man. ;) Your day job is definitely a good place to get new connections and start networking. But this is not the place to develop your networking. Let me make it straight, just do your job. If you're there to chat with Dan from HR, or with John from IT, you better not be wasting your employers money and your time for that.
My networking was okay without need to spend my time-for-work for it. Definitely, meeting other people is extremely important. So do this during the events that are designated for networking. (And you still have your phone while working at home. Use it.)
What is the difference of working in the big organization, where you either don't know or don't want to know anyone, sitting shoulder to shoulder (literally) to you. You still call your friends or other people who don't share the depression of working within the same company. ;)
It's all about who you are and how you get your job done. If I'm there to call it a day as soon as possible, damn, nobody needs me sitting there anyway.