I'm sick of being stuck in my tiny condo with the noise from neighbors and zero work/life balance. The constant streams of asks on Slack that wake me up in the morning and keep me up at night.
I'm making more in the stock market than my job.
Back on topic - I've been on both sides of this. I started working from home ~7 years ago when I took a job on the west coast, but opted to stay in Chicago.
Prior to this role, I had worked almost exclusively IN the office for ~10 years, with the very occasional WFH day (literally about 1-2 days/year, usually during the holidays, so definitely not a habitual thing).
When I started WFH, I loved it...for about 3 months. I relished the lack of commute. I enjoyed the additional focus / reduced distractions. But then I started to feel the downsides. The lack of connection with people, the higher effort required to collaborate on some kinds of things, etc.
Over the years though, I found a balance. I found new outlets. New habits. And about ~25% travel helped break things up a bit.
And then COVID hit.
And now I'm back to fully hating WFH. My new habits, outlets, and most importantly the work travel, were no longer viable.
On top of that, while I may have been comfortable with WFH by the time this all started, most of the people with work with were not. So they're going through the learning curve, and I'm empathizing every step of the way. Which is in turn reminding me about the things I dislike.
Anyway, this is a super long winded comment that I'll bring to a close by saying: WFH is not a cure-all. It's not a solution to every problem. Like everything in life, it needs to be applied prudently, and a balance must be found.
My advice to you and people struggling with similar challenges is this: quickly learn to set boundaries.
- Set "Do not Disturb" windows on all work apps/notifications.
- Set clear expectations with your management about when you'll start/stop your day
- Don't succumb to the temptation to just keep working...working...working at the end of the day
- If possible (this is hard or impossible for some), set up a dedicated work space
- Only check Slack once/hour if you can. Encourage your team to do the same.
- Invest in good noise cancelling headphones
- Oh, and read Deep Work :)
This is the real killer IMO. It's impossible to focus in a studio apartment. It's where I cook, eat, drink, sleep, Netflix, and now work.
Have a desk to work and a table to have food, possibly facing different walls.
Sit on a couch to play videogames and on a (office) chair to work.
Don't play games or watch Netflix on the computer you use to work. Uninstall them.
Assuming you’re talking about trading - enjoy it while it lasts, but don’t quit your job to do it full time. Unless you have an actual edge of information, you’re just gambling and will eventually get steam-rolled by the event you’re not expecting.