4 ms·
"long hours in a house alone" != remote work Remote work is work you do remotely—i.e., outside of a traditional "butts in seats" company office where employees
by jaredcwhite 5y ago
"long hours in a house alone" != remote work
Remote work is work you do remotely—i.e., outside of a traditional "butts in seats" company office where employees form an in-person collective during business hours.
Obviously the pandemic has put a damper on the various possibilities available, but by way of example, you can work at (assuming all you need is a laptop + internet connection):
a cowork space (either drop-in or rent a dedicated desk), a coffee shop, a restaurant, a mall, a train, a car, outside at a park, a hotel, a library, up on a mountain top, at a friend or family's house, on a boat, and probably one or two other options I'm forgetting. (Fun fact, I've done all of those.)
Now do I actually do the majority of work at my home office? Yeah, sure. I'll grant you that. But by intentionally making sure it's not just my all-the-time default and mixing things up as often as possible, it keeps remote work fun and engaging.
- danfo 5y agoThis is missing from the related poll that @alfiedotwtf posted[1]. WFH actually means work from heckin' anywhere! Changing environment is good for your creativity[2]. Nature is good for your health[3]. OK so I'm starting to get rained on :) [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30239441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30239441 [2] https://www.fastcompany.com/90415522/how-making-small-changes-to-your-environment-can-produce-a-big-boost-in-your-creativity https://www.fastcompany.com/90415522/how-making-small-change... [3] https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature etc
- quickthrower2 5y agoYeah any work done from cafes or boats wont work for me. I want a good desk, seat, 2 monitors, keyboard or I find it too frustrating to work.
- jstx1 5y agoI wonder how many people think that this is good advice and at the same time - complain about the office being distracting - talk about the importance of good ergonomics while working - talk about how important deep work is to them and how they don't like being interrupted
- jaredcwhite 5y ago- Offices are distracting because people there can interrupt you at any time because they're the people you work with. You don't have the buffer of email/chat/voicemail/etc. (and assuming you have healthy work habits, you rarely sense the urgency to immediately response to any of those). - Good ergonomics are important when you're working in a single location for hours every day. - Sometimes I find it _easier_ to slip into deep work when I'm not in my typical place of doing business. There I feel the weight of all the fires I might have to put out and other daily responsibilities. Off in some other locale, I can tune everything else out and it's just me and my objective.