3 ms·

Working remotely has had a major positive impact for me in this respect. I can sleep until it's time for breakfast and then go right "to work" (the couch) and

Working remotely has had a major positive impact for me in this respect. I can sleep until it's time for breakfast and then go right "to work" (the couch) and get there on time. Otherwise I would be setting the alarm for 6 AM so that I could make the train. I'm not a morning person, and this is painful enough for me that it becomes a serious consideration in my dedication to the job. Once in a while going into the office is okay, I even enjoy the time on the train to get some things done, but if things go back to normal and I have to go every day, I will seriously consider quitting for remote-only work. I am not trying to sound lazy: the positive impact of proper sleep on my mental health has been that important. Another factor is not having to leave and arrive in the dark. I get to experience sunlight now.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
It's saved me about five hours a week of commuting in my current job, and ten or more at my previous one. I mean I don't actually do anything useful with the extra time, not even sleeping in since we still have to get up at seven, but still.
- ryandrake 6y ago
  My commute is roughly 2.5 hours each way, so it's saved me 25 hours a week. In order to make it to my first (8:30AM) meeting of the day, I needed to wake up at 5:30AM, leave my home at 6:00AM, and white knuckle it down three interstate highways dealing with Bay Area Rush Hour traffic every day. Now, I can usually roll out of bed around 7:30AM and putz around the house a bit, eat a real breakfast, make sure my kid's school/day is squared away, maybe do some exercise, then unhurriedly sit down at the videoconference for my first meeting. Night and day lifestyle change.
k__ 6y ago
Working remotely alone didn't help me there, because I worked in a bunch of toxic companies. People would call me at 8am because something was broken etc. Things that helped more were: - Self-employment, because people have to ask for my time at least one day in advance. - Working international, because people in other timezones know you aren't awake. - Doing technical writing instead of software development, because it's less time critical and texts don't tend to break suddendly.
ghaff 6y ago
I was working remotely pre-pandemic although I traveled a fair bit. I don't set an alarm most days. Usually is I have a meeting at 9am or earlier I will "just in case." (I'm usually up earlier.) And if I have something critical--like an early plane when I was traveling (which they mostly were)--I'd even set two alarms.
Taylor_OD 6y ago
Yup. Not factoring in 1.5 hours a day for my commute and honestly another 30 minutes for dressing myself for commuting and office life has been so incredible. At least half of that time is now sleep time. The other is book reading time. Both help my mental health a lot.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

It's saved me about five hours a week of commuting in my current job, and ten or more at my previous one. I mean I don't actually do anything useful with the extra time, not even sleeping in since we still have to get up at seven, but still.

ryandrake 6y ago
My commute is roughly 2.5 hours each way, so it's saved me 25 hours a week. In order to make it to my first (8:30AM) meeting of the day, I needed to wake up at 5:30AM, leave my home at 6:00AM, and white knuckle it down three interstate highways dealing with Bay Area Rush Hour traffic every day. Now, I can usually roll out of bed around 7:30AM and putz around the house a bit, eat a real breakfast, make sure my kid's school/day is squared away, maybe do some exercise, then unhurriedly sit down at the videoconference for my first meeting. Night and day lifestyle change.

k__ 6y ago

Working remotely alone didn't help me there, because I worked in a bunch of toxic companies. People would call me at 8am because something was broken etc. Things that helped more were: - Self-employment, because people have to ask for my time at least one day in advance. - Working international, because people in other timezones know you aren't awake. - Doing technical writing instead of software development, because it's less time critical and texts don't tend to break suddendly.

ghaff 6y ago

I was working remotely pre-pandemic although I traveled a fair bit. I don't set an alarm most days. Usually is I have a meeting at 9am or earlier I will "just in case." (I'm usually up earlier.) And if I have something critical--like an early plane when I was traveling (which they mostly were)--I'd even set two alarms.

Taylor_OD 6y ago

Yup. Not factoring in 1.5 hours a day for my commute and honestly another 30 minutes for dressing myself for commuting and office life has been so incredible. At least half of that time is now sleep time. The other is book reading time. Both help my mental health a lot.