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I've been working remote for 13 years now and I really wish I had rented an office outside of my house much earlier than I did. At 23 your threshold for pain an

I've been working remote for 13 years now and I really wish I had rented an office outside of my house much earlier than I did. At 23 your threshold for pain and discomfort is I think much higher in many ways, but I definitely burnt myself out by having my workspace also be my living space (small apartment in NYC). Once I started sharing a loft space with some friends to co-work out of things got a lot more enjoyable. My space was a 20 minute walk from my apartment, I could keep a more robust setup there, had space for an electronics/soldering station, kept a library of CS and math books there, etc. And if I needed to just do some work on my laptop and stay at home, that was always an option too. Highly recommend having a situation like that if it's at all possible. I gave up my space in Brooklyn mid-way through the pandemic and definitely am going to go find a new one soon. (If anyone has got a hacker space in north brooklyn let me know!).

syshum 5y ago
Key there is a dedicated space for an office. This may be renting an office space outside your living space, or if you live anywhere that is not a large city chances are you can afford a larger place that would include a dedicated space for an office for much less than renting an office would be. Around here a 1 Bed room apartment + small office rental would be FAR FAR FAR more costly than simply renting a 2 bedroom apartment. 1 year ago, before home prices skyrocketed, it would have been very economical to buy a 2 or 3 bedroom home in order to have a dedicated office space. Granted that only applies if you do not live in one of the top 50 Metro's, and if your job is not really fully remote why would you want to stay in a high cost of living location?
- Mehdi2277 5y ago
  Friends and family are my largest reason for wanting to live in a location. A lot of my friends live in very high cost of living areas. So I will aim to be comfortable living in those same places. It definitely is a lot more expensive than state I grew up in, Oklahoma, but it’s cost I accept. I still like full remote for flexibility it gives especially with a trip for a couple weeks/months but long term location I’d probably end up in the Bay Area independent of my work just from friends.
anyfoo 5y ago
Counterpoint: I have a small room that is now my home office, and I really enjoy that it is essentially "zero commute", and think that even just a small 10 minutes walk would make that worse. Because a 10 minutes commute is not actually a 10 minutes commute, for me at least. In the morning, I have to shower even if I still feel clean (my hair otherwise would need hours to look like I didn't just wake up), I have to dress for outside, I have to take my breakfast with this constant mental reminder that "you should get out to work soon". With my little office room, I just declare "over!" at some point in the evening and am happily at home instantly. But everyone's different, and I had generally observed that the lack of physical separation that some lament seems to affect me less. On the weekends, I still use my "office room" as a recreational room, and I sometimes also work from my living room couch and am happy to just declare "over!" by closing the laptop, without the impression that this has somehow "spoilt" my living room.

syshum 5y ago

Key there is a dedicated space for an office. This may be renting an office space outside your living space, or if you live anywhere that is not a large city chances are you can afford a larger place that would include a dedicated space for an office for much less than renting an office would be. Around here a 1 Bed room apartment + small office rental would be FAR FAR FAR more costly than simply renting a 2 bedroom apartment. 1 year ago, before home prices skyrocketed, it would have been very economical to buy a 2 or 3 bedroom home in order to have a dedicated office space. Granted that only applies if you do not live in one of the top 50 Metro's, and if your job is not really fully remote why would you want to stay in a high cost of living location?

Mehdi2277 5y ago
Friends and family are my largest reason for wanting to live in a location. A lot of my friends live in very high cost of living areas. So I will aim to be comfortable living in those same places. It definitely is a lot more expensive than state I grew up in, Oklahoma, but it’s cost I accept. I still like full remote for flexibility it gives especially with a trip for a couple weeks/months but long term location I’d probably end up in the Bay Area independent of my work just from friends.

anyfoo 5y ago

Counterpoint: I have a small room that is now my home office, and I really enjoy that it is essentially "zero commute", and think that even just a small 10 minutes walk would make that worse. Because a 10 minutes commute is not actually a 10 minutes commute, for me at least. In the morning, I have to shower even if I still feel clean (my hair otherwise would need hours to look like I didn't just wake up), I have to dress for outside, I have to take my breakfast with this constant mental reminder that "you should get out to work soon". With my little office room, I just declare "over!" at some point in the evening and am happily at home instantly. But everyone's different, and I had generally observed that the lack of physical separation that some lament seems to affect me less. On the weekends, I still use my "office room" as a recreational room, and I sometimes also work from my living room couch and am happy to just declare "over!" by closing the laptop, without the impression that this has somehow "spoilt" my living room.