Ask HN: How do you manage remote work breaks? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you manage remote work breaks?

2 pointsfrozencell8 comments

For those who study or work remotely, once you run out of attention, how do you manage the transition to getting back to work?

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The most likely thing to do is to open up your browser and fuzz your brain on whatever internet distraction you like.

The smarter thing to do is literally anything that gets you out of your chair. Your body needed the break long before you’re brain succumbed to whatever fatigue.

And if you’ve been working in an office (or classroom) for a while, your body has probably gotten especially good at hiding its need for movement.

Now that you have the freedom of remote work, I strongly suggest that you do not let that habit continue.

One strategy that has helped with the "getting back to work" part is if I'm mid thought or in anyway aware of what comes next, I write that down on a post it note and stick it to my monitor.

It might be like

"Deploy X and test case Foo"

"Add widgetX to list of running widgets"

"self Review code and submit PR"

I take a break every 30 minutes for about 5 minutes. I want to take better care of my eyes, so I've got an alarm that goes off every 30 minutes and I step away from the computer for a while and just walk around my home, look out the windows, and then come back to my desk and hammer out another 30 minutes.

It works for me, and I do not feel as much eye strain or headaches anymore.

This isn't specific to remote because it works in the office as well but it's a simple thing I find helpful.

When programming, just before stopping, I break the code where I'm working by deleting a few random characters.

Getting back to work later, I see the IDE showing some syntax errors and it helps me quickly switch back into the work.

I've done this too but it's more like I just raise an exception as bookmark on a particular line to help me enter back into the flow I had

I use the toilet, talk to my wife, hug my cats, refill my water bottle, and do a few sets of bodyweight squats.

What I try to do -

- Start with the easiest thing. Like opening your laptop.(That triggers the thought process).

- Start writing down your thoughts. (Helps if you don't know where to start).

- Background Task. (Just start listening to some music, yt video)

Since I’m at home, I normally set a 15 minute timer and do chores or other things I’d like done. For example today I washed one of my cars

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