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I've been 100% remote since August 2019, and 100% remote+onsite with my customers since April 2008 Here are some pointers: - have a routine/ceremony that star
by warrenm 5y ago
I've been 100% remote since August 2019, and 100% remote+onsite with my customers since April 2008
Here are some pointers:
- have a routine/ceremony that starts your day (doesn't matter what it is, be consistent)
- have a dedicated work space ...but be flexible (eg: I work-from-car sometimes (while my wife drives))
- make sure you eat meals
- make sure you take breaks (water, coffee, bourbon, walks, whathaveyounot)
- be "available" while logged-into work (IM, chat, email, phone, etc) like you would otherwise be if you were "in the office"
- don't skimp on your home office setup - whether it's a curbside desk and $19 Walmart chair or a $15000 custom live edge and stainless steel elm slab conference table and $1500 Aeron chair, be comfortable with your workspace (my "comfortable" might be your "agony", or your "extravagance")
- have a routine/ceremony that ends your day
There is a world of variation in how you accomplish the middle items on my list, but you must have the first and last to be successful: if you don't have defined starts and stops to your day, you'll burn out
- geocrasher 5y agoThis is almost exactly the same thing I have been teaching for years. Spot on. I call the morning/afternoon work routine a "commute" because it helps your brain change gears. The only one I didn't teach was "eat meals" because the people I was teaching had scheduled break times. The only thing I'd add: Have a backup plan! Power goes out, Internet gets spotty, computers go poof etc.
- bmhin 5y agoI heard this in a podcast recently about people's perceptions of the pandemic driven work from home situation. Some folks we're saying they missed the "commute". The hosts argued that they probably didn't miss cramming into a subway, being stuck for an hour in stop-and-go traffic, or being stranded out in the rain. That feeling they were missing were just those clear points of delineation between on and off work. Also that it did involve a clear amount of time set aside that was not work or open, free time. That point and one about how a pandemic caused, mandatory work from home scenario where many other amenities around home were not available is a really weird situation stuck with me most. In particular keeping in mind that we can ameliorate many of people's least favorite parts going forward.
- warrenm 5y ago> The only thing I'd add: Have a backup plan! Power goes out, Internet gets spotty, computers go poof etc. I've had that happen about as often "at home" as I have "at work" (ie a couple few times a year)