As one who frequently works from home, I believe Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer has seriously erred in removing that option for her staff. I’ve kept a diary of my productivity, and I’m forwarding this rundown of a typical day to Ms. Mayer, urging her to reconsider.   
5:45 a.m. -- Our dog Dorothy, who also works at home, insists we begin our day. I feed and walk her. Make coffee.  
6:15 -- Retrieve the six daily newspapers from our driveway and place them on a pile in the kitchen that at times reaches three feet.  
7:00 -- Monitor the “Today” show, flipping to “CBS This Morning” during commercials. As I’ve explained to my wife Amy numerous times, amateurs “watch” TV; media professionals “monitor” content.
7:10 -- Begin the tedious process of deleting emails that arrived overnight. These include various insurance offers, at least seven different summaries from Politico, plus dozens of other alerts and blogs I have signed up for over the years and can’t seem to stop.   
7:30 -- Wake Amy and warn that I’ve got a busy day and can’t be interrupted.  
7:45 -- Eat breakfast while using my iPad to check replays of what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert offered the night before.  
8:30 -- Compose detailed emails to friends on the East Coast about pressing matters of the day, such as the NCAA basketball rankings, media layoffs, weather patterns across the West and various other things over which I have no control and won’t likely recall at this time tomorrow.  
9:10 -- Send out links to the best Stewart and Colbert bits.  
9:30 -- Phone my mother to assure her that I’m fine, but too busy to talk.  
9:32 -- Create lists of things I must do today, plus ideas for columns.  
10:05 -- Check refrigerator for morning snack. Shower, shave, get dressed.  
11:19 -- Drop everything. MSNBC has Breaking News about a private jet with eight people aboard that is approaching St. Louis with landing gear trouble.   
11:37 -- After 18 minutes of uninterrupted coverage, MSNBC’s Tamron Hall says the plane has landed safely. An “aviation expert” named Jim tells her it was a “non-story.”  
11:38 -- Check mailbox. Place bills on a pile in the kitchen that currently reaches five inches in height.  
11:55 -- Check six Internet sites. Break for lunch.  
1:35 -- Running behind because I apparently dozed off after lunch.   
2:00 -- Text son Danny with news that Xavier Nady had two hits in Royals’ spring training game. Text daughter Stephanie that her law school tuition payment was delayed because I couldn’t remember newest password for online bank account.  
2:15 -- Begin writing column about how modern camera shots on TV news and talk programs make viewers dizzy because the camera keeps swinging in, out and around, sometimes making a full 360-degree turn. Seems like a solid start, but I’m stumped on what to do for the next 450 words.  
2:45 -- Email fellow writers for thoughts about how to finish column.   
2:50 -- Take afternoon break for jog at local high school track.  
3:20 -- Check refrigerator.   
3:30 -- Step out to fill car with gas, and pick up Blistex at pharmacy.
3:50 -- Remove Blistex from to-do list and shift other items to tomorrow’s list.  
4:00 -- Monitor “Hardball,” followed by “Seinfeld” reruns.  
5:01 -- Email editor that column about TV camera shots is “coming along well.”  
5:05 -- Knock off for the day. However, thanks to the flexibility of working at home, I’ll be able to remain on duty until bedtime.  
Peter Funt is a writer and speaker and can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com.