Learn Hardcore Russian: Ему сегодня совсем не работается, потому что дома слишком шумно и душно. - Today he really can’t work, because it is too noisy and stuffy at home.

Ему is dative and marks the experiencer: the person who is affected by the situation — “to him”.
The verb работается is used impersonally, in 3rd person singular, but without any subject like he/it.

So the structure is literally like:

Ему не работается.
To him, it doesn’t work/it doesn’t get worked (for him).

Compare:

Он сегодня не работает. – He is not working today.
(normal personal sentence; он is the subject)
Ему сегодня не работается. – He just can’t/don’t feel like working today.
(impersonal; ему is dative experiencer, no subject)

What exactly does не работается mean, and how is it different from не работает?

Both are from работать (to work), but they are used differently:

Он не работает.
- Simple, factual: he is not working (right now / in general / he has no job).
- Neutral; it just states the action is not happening.
Ему не работается.
- Means: He finds it hard to work / He can’t get himself to work / He doesn’t feel like working / It just won’t “go”.
- It expresses:
  - lack of ability or mood,
  - some external or internal obstacle,
  - a kind of unwillingness or difficulty rather than a dry fact.

So не работается describes a state or feeling about working, not just the absence of work action.

You can see the same pattern with other verbs:

Мне сегодня не пишется. – I just can’t write today.
Ей не спится. – She can’t sleep / Sleep won’t come.
Им не верится. – They can’t believe it / It’s hard for them to believe.

What does the -ся in работается add? Could I just say работает?

The -ся here creates a special kind of impersonal, “how it goes” meaning.

работать – to work (plain verb)
работаться – literally something like to work itself, to be worked (by someone), but in practice it’s used impersonally to mean “things go (or don’t go) in terms of working”.

Compare:

Он работает. – He is working. (simple fact)
Ему хорошо работается. – He works comfortably / It goes well for him when he’s working.
Ему не работается. – He can’t get into working / Working doesn’t go well for him right now.

So работается (with -ся) is about the process “as it is experienced”, not just the action itself. You wouldn’t replace it with работает in this sentence without losing that nuance.

Is there a hidden subject like оно in не работается, or is the verb completely subjectless?

Grammatically, it is completely subjectless.

The form работается is 3rd person singular, but in Russian impersonal sentences this is just the default verb form when there is no subject.
We do not treat оно as an implied subject here.

So:

Ему не работается.
– impersonal verb работается, no subject
– ему is a dative experiencer, not a subject.

This is the same pattern as:

Мне холодно. – I am cold (literally: To me it-is-cold.)
Нам весело. – We’re having fun (literally: To us it-is-fun.)
Мне не спится. – I can’t sleep (literally: To me it doesn’t sleep.)

What nuance does совсем add in совсем не работается? Is it like “at all”?

Yes, совсем here has the sense of “completely / at all” and makes the negation stronger.

Ему сегодня не работается. – He doesn’t really feel like working today.
Ему сегодня совсем не работается. – He really can’t work today at all / It’s absolutely impossible to get himself to work.

Other similar uses:

Мне совсем не смешно. – This is not funny to me at all.
Она совсем не устала. – She isn’t tired at all.

Sometimes совсем can also soften things in a more emotional, colloquial way, but here it mainly intensifies the negation.

Why is it дома and not в доме? What’s the difference?

Дома and в доме are not the same:

дома – an adverb meaning “at home” (location as a general place).
- Я сейчас дома. – I’m at home now.
- Дома слишком шумно. – It’s too noisy at home.
в доме – literally “in the house” (inside the building), more concrete/physical.
- В доме холодно. – It’s cold in the house.
- В доме никто не живёт. – Nobody lives in the house.

In потому что дома слишком шумно и душно, we’re talking about his home environment, so дома = at home is the natural choice.
В доме here would sound more like describing the physical interior of a specific house, and would slightly change the feeling.

What kind of words are шумно and душно here? Are they adverbs or adjectives?

Formally, шумно and душно are short-form neuter adjectives used in a predicative, impersonal way. In English they behave like adverbs or predicate adjectives describing a general state:

шумно – (it is) noisy
душно – (it is) stuffy

In Russian, many adjectives have:

full forms:
- шумный дом – a noisy house
- душная комната – a stuffy room
short, predicative forms used in sentences like:
- Дома шумно. – It’s noisy at home.
- В комнате душно. – It’s stuffy in the room.

They are very common in impersonal “environment” sentences:

На улице холодно. – It’s cold outside.
Здесь тихо. – It’s quiet here.
Ему там скучно. – He is bored there.

So here, дома слишком шумно и душно = at home it is too noisy and stuffy.

Could I say дома слишком шумный и душный instead of шумно и душно?

No, that would be wrong in this context.

шумный, душный are full-form adjectives; they need a noun:
- шумный дом – a noisy house
- душная квартира – a stuffy apartment

In дома слишком шумно и душно, there is no explicit noun being modified. We’re describing the general atmosphere at home, so we use the short predicative forms шумно, душно, not the full adjectival forms.

If you wanted to use full adjectives, you’d have to name the noun:

Дом слишком шумный и душный. – The house is too noisy and stuffy.
(still sounds a bit odd; usually you’d say the air or the rooms are stuffy:
В доме шумно и душно. / В квартире душно.)

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Сегодня ему совсем не работается or Ему совсем сегодня не работается?

The word order is flexible, and all of these are possible, with slight differences in emphasis:

Ему сегодня совсем не работается…
– neutral, slight focus on ему (to him, today).
Сегодня ему совсем не работается…
– puts more emphasis on сегодня (today, as opposed to other days).
Ему совсем сегодня не работается…
– less common, sounds a bit more emotional; совсем сегодня really emphasizes
that it’s precisely today that he absolutely cannot work.

The basic information doesn’t change; Russian often uses word order to shift focus and emotional coloring, not the core meaning, especially in spoken language.

How would I say this in the past or future: Ему совсем не работается?

You can change the tense of работаться:

Present:
Ему сегодня совсем не работается.
– He really can’t work today / It just won’t go today.
Past:
Ему вчера совсем не работалось.
– Yesterday he just couldn’t work at all / Yesterday work just didn’t go for him.
Future: (less common, but possible)
Ему завтра, наверное, совсем не будет работаться.
– Tomorrow, he probably just won’t be able to work at all.

The pattern is:

не работается – present
не работалось – past
не будет работатьcя – future (with будет
- infinitive)

Are there other common verbs that work like работается in this impersonal “не хочется / не делается” pattern?

Yes, this is a very productive and common pattern in Russian: dative experiencer + verb with -ся (usually) in impersonal use. Some frequent examples:

Мне не спится. – I can’t sleep / Sleep doesn’t come.
Ей не думается. – She can’t think straight.
Нам не верится. – We can’t believe it.
Им не сидится дома. – They can’t sit at home / They don’t feel like staying in.
Мне не работается. – I can’t get myself to work.
Ему не учится. – He can’t study (now) / Studying doesn’t “go” for him.
Мне не пишется. – I can’t write (right now, inspiration won’t come).

All of them describe a state where an activity is hard to do or doesn’t happen naturally, not just a plain “I don’t do X”.