> WFH. I've set up a designated space at home to work from with some proper ergonomics, and I'm interested in hearing general advice and recommendations about staying productive, striking the work/life balance, and keeping the casual/social in-person environment alive. Any specific recommendations?
Full time remote here. I don't know if this works for everyone but here's what I do and have found to work well enough:
1) I have a dedicated area for work.
2) I have a computer dedicated for work (provided by employer). Also a proper, 30" screen & adjustable desk. I don't use it for personal stuff, and also I don't use personal computer for work stuff.
3) I try to schedule my day as if I were working onsite: I get up in the morning, grab a coffee, and get to work. I'm available and at work during normal office hours, and then I log out and I'm done.
4) I allow myself longer lunch breaks if I don't feel too motivated to work; but I try to keep them under 90 minutes. Usually about 50-75 mins. Wind down with coffee, read HN, maybe put away clothes or do the dishes or something. Don't get into anything too addictive. (At one point I played games during lunch break but I found that to be too addictive and I ended up stretching my break and not feeling rested or relaxed when I finally forced myself to stop and go back to work).
4.5) Two little coffee breaks per day. A third one if I really need it, though usually that's just a coffee I quickly make and drink while working.
5) From day zero, I never gave in to the temptation to start doing non-work stuff at home during office hours. The concern is that it'd just turn into procrastination, and I'd be putting work off, and before long I'd be working late at night to make up for the hours that I put off; that'd eat away my free time and then I'd end up in the dreaded "always at work" situation. I much prefer that I'm done in the afternoon and then I don't think about work at all until next day.
6) When I'm done really am done. I'm logged out, my work computer's screen is dark and I'm not checking on it. (Also it's a different room). Ok, well, sometimes I make exceptions, like if I decide to grab a coffee and heat some food in the oven after work, well, I might just sit back at the work PC and sip away while the oven is getting warm, and chat with colleagues or read up on stuff, maybe merge some trivial pull request. But at that point I'm really not doing any heavy lifting.
Sounds boring? Yeah, that's work :P But anyway, done this way, work/life balance is pretty much exactly what it would be with an onsite job, except that there's no commute, and you can go exercise or do something else with that time. I think that is strictly a win.
Yeah I know it sounds a bit stiff. My hat is off to those who can spend their days very flexibly and work whenever they feel like it, and not feel stressed about the things they've been putting off. I can't, so I'm OK with keeping a very boring and simple schedule.
I'm hoping to improve my morning routine a bit by incorporating some light exercise before work but I haven't gotten there yet. I have to admit I haven't been able shed off all the early morning grogginess when going from bed to coffee to work takes only ten minutes.
As for the social side... well let's just say that I'm very introverted. I do miss meaningful (deep) relationships in my life, but I don't miss the physical presence of colleagues at work; that only drains my energy.