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As a recent graduate with an overseas job offer who has been left with no choice but to work remotely until Japan re-opens its borders to foreign workers, this

As a recent graduate with an overseas job offer who has been left with no choice but to work remotely until Japan re-opens its borders to foreign workers, this really hits home. My student apartment is not equipped for this lifestyle. I do not have a home office in a sprawling estate in the suburbs on several acres of property where I can enjoy the sounds of nature. I live in a small apartment on a busy street surrounded by highways and golf courses who don't let plebs like me wander around inside. When I'm at home, I just feel this anxiety about working that just never subsides. I feel much more relaxed when I'm able to be outside, but the nearest public green space is campus, which I avoid as much as possible now that school is in session. The nearest park is a thirty minute drive, but I have to check the air traffic before leaving due to a nearby airport. At home, work seems to never end, especially with the 13-hour time difference that necessitates 10:30pm meetings twice a week. On one hand, I really enjoy this rare occasion to talk to my co-workers, but on the other hand, I can't shut off my work brain until after the meeting is over. On these days I end up going to sleep at 3 or 4am, adding to the cycle of stress and sleep deprivation. I figured this would last one, maybe two months at the most. But now it's been four months since I started remote work and six months since I accepted the initial offer. There's no word about Japan issuing new work visas any time soon. I want my life to begin.

downrightmike 6y ago
You need to track your time and limit all that you put in. I use a spreadsheet that I put the times I start, take lunch, and then it calculates when I need to stop. So if I take a 37 minute lunch, I can set a timer on my phone to go off and remind me. I've also setup a automatic timer to switch on a lamp that starts at roughly an hour before I need to log on and cuts out at lunch. After lunch I turn it back on util I'm off. I only go into work mode with that light on. Simple but effective. Then you have to make other things worth doing, like I'd rather throw a ball for my dog than keep working. Or a hobby that gets you away from the PC, knitting would work and easy to get started.
VLM 6y ago
If you're a 30 minute drive away from a park it must be extremely urban and therefore expensive. It might be cheaper to move somewhere suburban or go completely nomadic. You may not get a chance to see the Grand Canyon or other national parks anytime soon if you're moving to Japan, so now might be a very good time. Google searches for mountain view CA apartment rents as an example of hyper dense urban life far from green areas seem to indicate $2K to $6K/month is quite reasonable. Similar google searches for rural Wisconsin cabins indicate a thousand bucks per week will get a cabin on a lake in the woods with a pontoon boat, wet bar, and hot tub. You don't have to worry about your schedule if your closest neighbor is a quarter mile away. Internet might or might not be a problem. The problem with spending a couple months at some New Orleans bed and breakfasts is you'd be close enough to be reminded everything is shut down, and noise level. Might be easier to stick with rural retreats and adventures. The united states lighthouse association website lists rentable lighthouses if you really want to get away from it all. Again, internet via satellite may or may not be a problem. The entire lighthouse on Charity Island in Michigan can be rented for not too much more than a Mountain View apartment. You could do a very small house boat on a lake for $4K to $6K per month off season. There is no shortage of houseboat rentals and lakes and parks to visit. Could try the mississippi river... In all fairness I did spend yesterday in a park shelter at a county park with excellent wireless working away in 70 degree breezes, but there are many days when it rains or its 100 or 0.
- ci5er 6y ago
  You are very (very!) generous with this. Tokyo ain't CA (for example, I can't imagine he would want to drive anywhere for a good while). There are more forgiving environments (and processes!), but it sounds as if he's going to have to spend some time on the ground to figure that out. It can be a weird place for six-or-so months.
  - benrbray 6y ago
    Actually, the problem is that I'm stuck in Atlanta, unable to enter Japan due to their coronavirus travel restrictions. Whenever I do make it to Tokyo, I think the remote work experience will be a lot more pleasant due to the overall better designed city.
    - ci5er 6y ago
      Maybe! I always found Shimizu delightful, but worked in Tokyo for about 12~15 years (depending on how you count gaps), so I certainly can't criticize anyone for choosing that path! If I had it all over to do again, I would probably choose a blend of Tokyo and Shimizu and Nagoya (maybe 3~4 years each?), but I really hate to move, so I probably end up with one and just stay there and hang out with yakuza in akachochin, because I fall into ruts of behavior. EDIT: I have kind of a life-time pass, a marriage pass and a couple of kids that ended being able to be citizens, so it is surely a lot easier for me to come-and-go than it is for you - and I don't intend to be glib to the fact that you are probably trying to get a work visa (I started there!)
- MrMorden 6y ago
  An urban location won't be more then ten minutes away from a park by foot. A 30 minute drive means exurbia.
  - benrbray 6y ago
    Atlanta!
opportune 6y ago
I started feeling the same way. The only thing that made me feel better was caring less about my performance at my current job. Once I accepted getting one rating or so lower than I wanted, it was very easy for me to stop thinking about work or working after 5PM. This might be hard since you just started your first job after college and, if you’re like me and most new graduates I’ve run into, are eager to please and succeed. But it helps to take a step back from work emotionally sometimes. A typical career is 40 years and as long as you aren’t extremely lazy (which is like working 10hr/week, not just 40 or even 35) or rude you’ll do fine in your first job. Your real life isn’t waiting to start, it’s ticking along right now.
cvhashim 6y ago
Nice what are you doing out there in Japan. I’ve had interest in just packing up my life and moving off to a foreign country but I’m unsure how to find a job abroad (currently in the US). I’ve thought about starting a consulting shop and doing remote gigs.
AdrianB1 6y ago
If you want your life to begin, give it a kick start by moving out of the city to a larger place in the suburbs where the Internet is still good, but the space is cheaper and you can set up properly to work from home.
- scarface74 6y ago
  This may be a moot point post Covid, but if I were young and single, the burbs would be depressing. A lot of old married couples with kids - like me.

downrightmike 6y ago

You need to track your time and limit all that you put in. I use a spreadsheet that I put the times I start, take lunch, and then it calculates when I need to stop. So if I take a 37 minute lunch, I can set a timer on my phone to go off and remind me. I've also setup a automatic timer to switch on a lamp that starts at roughly an hour before I need to log on and cuts out at lunch. After lunch I turn it back on util I'm off. I only go into work mode with that light on. Simple but effective. Then you have to make other things worth doing, like I'd rather throw a ball for my dog than keep working. Or a hobby that gets you away from the PC, knitting would work and easy to get started.

VLM 6y ago

If you're a 30 minute drive away from a park it must be extremely urban and therefore expensive. It might be cheaper to move somewhere suburban or go completely nomadic. You may not get a chance to see the Grand Canyon or other national parks anytime soon if you're moving to Japan, so now might be a very good time. Google searches for mountain view CA apartment rents as an example of hyper dense urban life far from green areas seem to indicate $2K to $6K/month is quite reasonable. Similar google searches for rural Wisconsin cabins indicate a thousand bucks per week will get a cabin on a lake in the woods with a pontoon boat, wet bar, and hot tub. You don't have to worry about your schedule if your closest neighbor is a quarter mile away. Internet might or might not be a problem. The problem with spending a couple months at some New Orleans bed and breakfasts is you'd be close enough to be reminded everything is shut down, and noise level. Might be easier to stick with rural retreats and adventures. The united states lighthouse association website lists rentable lighthouses if you really want to get away from it all. Again, internet via satellite may or may not be a problem. The entire lighthouse on Charity Island in Michigan can be rented for not too much more than a Mountain View apartment. You could do a very small house boat on a lake for $4K to $6K per month off season. There is no shortage of houseboat rentals and lakes and parks to visit. Could try the mississippi river... In all fairness I did spend yesterday in a park shelter at a county park with excellent wireless working away in 70 degree breezes, but there are many days when it rains or its 100 or 0.

ci5er 6y ago
You are very (very!) generous with this. Tokyo ain't CA (for example, I can't imagine he would want to drive anywhere for a good while). There are more forgiving environments (and processes!), but it sounds as if he's going to have to spend some time on the ground to figure that out. It can be a weird place for six-or-so months.
- benrbray 6y ago
  Actually, the problem is that I'm stuck in Atlanta, unable to enter Japan due to their coronavirus travel restrictions. Whenever I do make it to Tokyo, I think the remote work experience will be a lot more pleasant due to the overall better designed city.
  - ci5er 6y ago
    Maybe! I always found Shimizu delightful, but worked in Tokyo for about 12~15 years (depending on how you count gaps), so I certainly can't criticize anyone for choosing that path! If I had it all over to do again, I would probably choose a blend of Tokyo and Shimizu and Nagoya (maybe 3~4 years each?), but I really hate to move, so I probably end up with one and just stay there and hang out with yakuza in akachochin, because I fall into ruts of behavior. EDIT: I have kind of a life-time pass, a marriage pass and a couple of kids that ended being able to be citizens, so it is surely a lot easier for me to come-and-go than it is for you - and I don't intend to be glib to the fact that you are probably trying to get a work visa (I started there!)
MrMorden 6y ago
An urban location won't be more then ten minutes away from a park by foot. A 30 minute drive means exurbia.
- benrbray 6y ago
  Atlanta!

opportune 6y ago

I started feeling the same way. The only thing that made me feel better was caring less about my performance at my current job. Once I accepted getting one rating or so lower than I wanted, it was very easy for me to stop thinking about work or working after 5PM. This might be hard since you just started your first job after college and, if you’re like me and most new graduates I’ve run into, are eager to please and succeed. But it helps to take a step back from work emotionally sometimes. A typical career is 40 years and as long as you aren’t extremely lazy (which is like working 10hr/week, not just 40 or even 35) or rude you’ll do fine in your first job. Your real life isn’t waiting to start, it’s ticking along right now.

cvhashim 6y ago

Nice what are you doing out there in Japan. I’ve had interest in just packing up my life and moving off to a foreign country but I’m unsure how to find a job abroad (currently in the US). I’ve thought about starting a consulting shop and doing remote gigs.

AdrianB1 6y ago

If you want your life to begin, give it a kick start by moving out of the city to a larger place in the suburbs where the Internet is still good, but the space is cheaper and you can set up properly to work from home.

scarface74 6y ago
This may be a moot point post Covid, but if I were young and single, the burbs would be depressing. A lot of old married couples with kids - like me.