I worked alone from a home office for 20 years in my consulting practice until, in the last year, as my company has grown, I've moved to commercial office space for the first time. I found working at home a delight, and enjoyed many years of jokes about my short commute (18 feet.) However, in the end, I found the repeated advice of friends to be correct: I'm more productive with an outside office. The extra focus more than offsets the cost of rent. Being in commercial office space has also made it easier to meet with clients. It's also more social as there are other people at the office that I can talk to (or ignore) as needed.
My commute is still short (I often do it on a Segway), and our company is still virtual (with both staff and contractors working from their own spaces -- which we don't plan to change), but don't underestimate the value of a separate, outside, workspace.
If you can commute on a Segway then we're not talking what other people are experiencing with "commute".
Try spending two hours a day standing on a train.
Commuting simply means travelling between your home and your workplace. The fact that many people impose a painful commute on themselves does not make a less painful commute any less a commute.
I think if you look at the origin of the word commute you will find that it did actually emerge from the trip between suburbs and the city and hence a walk to work in the morning is not in the 'traditional' sense.
Do you by any chance have details on that? I'm genuinely curious but with a brief search all I could find was a reference to Latin commuto which implies a "to change, to transform" meaning, I'm guessing applied to a change of environment or mindset from home to work.
Actually, you're reiterating what the author said about having a designated work space. You're saying it has to be outside, but I would like to hear some evidence or rationale behind the advice. Both you and the author realize that if you mix workspace with home life, you're going to have a tough time.
I'll gladly agree that working from a home office vs. an "office office" can be good or bad depending on the person. I'll also point out the chance for the Hawthorne effect to make changing from one to the other seem more (or less) productive than it really is.
My commute is still short (I often do it on a Segway), and our company is still virtual (with both staff and contractors working from their own spaces -- which we don't plan to change), but don't underestimate the value of a separate, outside, workspace.