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One year home office, things I have learned

Mario on January 07, 2019

To be honest it's just a little bit more than one year. Actually one year and three months. Ther first and most important rule above all: ...
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Brian Lampe

Having a dog around in the home office is so nice. She keeps me company, and she makes me take her out for walks.

I miss human interaction with other similarly employed people. I backfill that by procrastinating on the interwebs.

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Ben Halpern

I need to get a doggo 🐶

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Mario

You certainly have to. Best to keep you fit and a mood lighter if you need it

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Edwin Klesman

Good read, thanks! 🙌🏻

I bring and pick up my kids (6yo twin girl and boy) to/from school. I also pick them up during lunch. This gives me some quality time with them but also forces me to have lunch properly. So I really get you there.

It is easy to think shortcuts like skipping proper lunch help your productivity, but they'll cost you in the long haul.

Take care, keep productive.

Code Hard - Ship Harder - shipharder.com

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André

I would love to work from home, sadly no company in my country wants that...

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Mario

It's getting better. I hope you find some one day, also apply for companies not placed in your country. That might work

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André

the cost of living in my country makes this very hard :)

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lukaszkuczynski

Ask the one that is not doing that to treat you as an exception. Of course there are drawbacks of it

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Hugo Torzuoli

Same situation as you, not a lot of companies accept employees to work remotely.. Thanks for the article Mario !

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Habib ur Rehaman

before my office i use to work at home and for me 1 break worked during working hours, in 8 hours i use to sit and grind 4 hours straight and then a break of an hour or half then straight 4 hours this was my routing and i ate only in that break.
Very good point to note is getting distracted on different website, still whenever i get done with a task from pile of tasks i get distracted on social media. well you only have to train your brain not to end on such site

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Jermaine

Thanks for sharing this. I've been working at home since October 2018 and can identify with some of the challenges you mentioned. I've found that having a change in scenery like heading over to the coffee shop helps. Definitely learnt something here!

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Adam

Hey Mario!

First off, great article :)

I’ve been doing home office for like 1.5 years and I have to tell it wasn’t easy in the beginning.

The distraction part is like where I felt you. :D when my partner is home I just can’t focus properly so I’m popping the headphones but the presence still somewhat ‘bothers’ me - might not be the best description.

Anyway, what I did is that we kinda share the day so while she’s off I’m doing the major parts of my work and then when she comes home I’m just doing the easy parts or learning something.

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Roney Ngala

You've actually described my entire work life plus routine at my home-office; and I'm miles faraway in Kenya. On the distraction part, sometimes it becomes difficult especially when the person that distracts is an elderly parent and really needs your attention. I clearly make them understand my work time and break times so that whatever they need is fetched or sorted at those particular hours or in the evening prior to the next working day. Blocking the interweb is almost impossible, as most contacts come from all these chat apps and social space that have overtaken the traditional email. But I realized if you decisively avoid clicking on them, and you manage to keep off for days or weeks, you're good to go. Turning off email or text notifications from social media links is also a good filter.

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Bear Cherian

When I first starting working remotely I would work on the couch and work late into the night, like 2AM. I was productive, but barely. And it was taking a toll in my family life. I realized the importance of having my own designated workspace, and investing in the right equipment to be productive. I bought a desk and some good monitors. I also made sure to get work done at a reasonable time (9 to 5ish) and spend my family time with my family. I find getting sleep is also key to me being productive as a programmer.

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lukaszkuczynski

Very good post. As I am working from home too, I can relate. Things you wrote really matter. But I think wearing nice pants has the lowest priority.
How about your team, are they working remotely too?

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Mario

With nice pants i mean, that you should wear proper clothes to distinguish working day from rest of life. If you want to wear yoga pants it's also okish. For me i want to wear proper clothes.

One of my team is working remotely the other two are based in an office. This works quite well

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Nicholas Fazzolari • Edited

Not eating at your desk is HUGE right next to staying fit. The fuel we put in our body and how we tune our body directly affect our mental wellness. Not eating at your desk gives you a break, it releases your mind from work for the lunch hour. Great post.

Greetings from a German expat from Ulm!

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Shiraaz Moollatjie

Nice article!

While I don't work from home everyday, I find that eating at my desk to be a problem in general.

Wearing work clothes during work hours is the underrated part of this article though.

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Lars Klopstra ⚡

"troll under the bridge." Haha, relatable

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Samiullah Nazari • Edited

I'm also working from home, I have to say, I procrastinate a lot of tasks daily, just because I'm home and I can do it later!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

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🦁

Thanks for sharing. I’ve taken some tips from here :)

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Pedro Piñera Buendía • Edited

Thanks for sharing your tips. Most of them resonate with me and my experience working remotely.