I love working from home. Being in CA, my day starts around 6AM and I'm done at the latest by 1PM. Social interaction aspect is even better than before because I have much more time! I don't have to work 10-12 hours a day and don't have to travel every freaking week. (I was a management consultant in my past life, and it was draining after a few years.) There are so many ways to meet new people and keep/enhance your social life. Join local activity groups, take evening classes, join a gym. When I work, I work. Who needs co-workers!
CA for sure. Work day over at 1pm, hop on the bicycle and take off for the restaurant, hiking, whatever.
Yep, I really miss those 5 hour meetings where you throw your great ideas into the corporate grinder with no hope of ever seeing them again...at least with your name attached to them. And I really miss standing in a windowless kitchen singing happy birthday to some lame ass team member for the 10th time that month, and having to force down some tastless cardboard cake. And I particularly miss being strapped to a Blackberry where every vibration required my instant attention day and night. And I especially miss the political environment where every conversation was carefully edited to be certain that nobody was offended and everything was perfectly PC. Yes, I miss all those things. NOT.
If you wonder about the social aspect and effect of trading at home alone on people, just read the various topics and replies on this forum. Half of the folks in here wouldn't last 10 days in a corporate job before getting terminated. Hell, many of them can't even spell or use proper grammar.
Good replies. I'm really more focused on the during-the-day social interactions like idle chit chat or on a stressful day, I can just walk over to someone's office and say, "hey let's go to starbucks and grab a coffee". After hours or weekend aren't much of a problem since I meet up with old friends and I live with my girlfriend. It's during the 9am - 5pm that got me thinking about how lonely trading could be. I even thought about prop shops just to be able to interact with other traders but then, I don't need one since I trade futures and got plenty of leverage with my measly account. I do like the freedom that it offers. Sometimes when I hit a certain amount for the day, I call it quits and go to the mall or something.
You need to hook up with some other traders in a chat room. I am online with 6-10 guys during the day and it's great. Sometimes we discuss trading, sometimes South Park, sometimes boobs. It's a great environment. In fact I refer to them as 'the guys at work' when talking to my wife. I met them all through ET btw.
When you're at home, reminiscing (remembering only the good stuff) about the good ol' corporate days, be sure not to forget what Erma Bombeck said: "The grass is always greener over the septic tank."