Working from home: tips on setting up your environment

altdevblogaday.org

16 points·jimsteinhart··6 comments

Perhaps I'm being needlessly grumpy, but I find it difficult to take advice about doing X from someone who is about to do X.

Do X for 3 years, then give advice to others on how to do it.

I've done it for more than three years. The advice is good, but it's not specific to working at home - it applies to any work area, including corporate offices. IMHO the most important tip about working from home is to have a dedicated room with a door that closes, and educate members of the family to respect your work time and space.

I switched from using dual monitors to using a single one. I found my productivity sky rocketed. With two monitors, my concentration was constantly being interrupted by switching between each monitor. With a single one (using Ubuntu, so multiple desktops) I'm able to use my keyboard entirely to navigate and work.

It really helps my concentration and productivity.

I know it doesn't fit the article's focus on workstation setup, but I find that I also need regular, live interaction with other people.

A trip to the office for a couple hours a week or meeting up for lunch with a coworker has the effect of keeping me focused and interested in the work at hand.

Since I don't have a local office to go to, I try to attend a tech meetup once a week or so. Of course, that depends on your location.

I also feel like chatting in IRC with my coworkers helps a lot.

What is this doing on the homepage of hacker news? Seriously, this post is nothing more than common sense. From someone who doesn't even follow his own advice.

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