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Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

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Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#11

Post by zepolen »

protonimitate wrote: post #10

I am not full time remote, but work 2-3 days a week from home (yay flexible schedule). Having a separate space is key for me. It makes a huge different to have a 'work zone' where I can eliminate distractions as much as possible and be focused when working. The biggest issue for me personally, is setting boundaries with my SO when I am work from home. She works in-office full time, and when I work from home the 'hone…

Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up because you're working. If she doesn't respect that and guilt trips you. Find a new SO.

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#12

Post by zepolen »

muzani wrote: post #8
akulbe wrote: post #4

For me, one of the most crucial ways is to have a separate room where I do work. When I'm in my office, the door is closed. Our daughter is instructed not to interrupt me unless she's been told to do so. She leaves me alone to work while she's home. When I come out the door gets closed again and it's family time. I realize not everyone has this option, but for us, it's been amazing.

Agreed with this. If you don't have a room, it's worth it to rent out a small office somewhere. Or find a co-working space.

At this point what's the point of remote working if you're going to commute to an office and put your butt in a chair.

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#13

Post by emilburzo »

I have been working remotely for the past 8 years, here's what worked for me:

- separate space that is work only (ideally even a co-working space, but there's no decent one available where I live)

- establishing with SO that when I'm in that space, I'm "not home"

- have fixed working hours as consistently as possible (besides making your availability more predictable to others, this also helps on other fronts, like:)

- work slack and gmail notifications set to on only during work hours, _automatically_ off after

- set working hours in google calendar (others get a warning if they schedule outside those hours)

- mark lunch in google calendar

- when "at work", focus only on work, but when work is done, close everything asap -- even if in the middle of something (it might feel like a waste if you're in the zone, but you pay it the next day if you stay late) -- this was hard to get into, especially the guilt part, but going outside immediately e.g. for a walk/cycling, or something that needs some focus from your part, helped with that

- although my workstation runs 24/7, I open/close all work related programs (IDE, slack, etc) when "arriving" and "leaving" work, it seems to help the mind cope better with the lack of a physical commute

And as a side-note, choosing a company that is 100% remote makes all that at least an order of magnitude easier because people can relate to what you're going through (bonus points if they also have a life outside work)

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#14

Post by yesenadam »

zepolen wrote: post #11
protonimitate wrote: post #10

I am not full time remote, but work 2-3 days a week from home (yay flexible schedule). Having a separate space is key for me. It makes a huge different to have a 'work zone' where I can eliminate distractions as much as possible and be focused when working. The biggest issue for me personally, is setting boundaries with my SO when I am work from home. She works in-office full time, and when I work from home the 'hone…

Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up because you're working. If she doesn't respect that and guilt trips you. Find a new SO.

>Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up

What do you know about respect? What a horrifying comment.

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#15

Post by yitchelle »

zepolen wrote: post #11
protonimitate wrote: post #10

I am not full time remote, but work 2-3 days a week from home (yay flexible schedule). Having a separate space is key for me. It makes a huge different to have a 'work zone' where I can eliminate distractions as much as possible and be focused when working. The biggest issue for me personally, is setting boundaries with my SO when I am work from home. She works in-office full time, and when I work from home the 'hone…

Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up because you're working. If she doesn't respect that and guilt trips you. Find a new SO.

Even if this was a joke, it is lame and fucking disgusting. No wonder the tech world has such a bad reputation.

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#16

Post by sctb »

zepolen wrote: post #11
protonimitate wrote: post #10

I am not full time remote, but work 2-3 days a week from home (yay flexible schedule). Having a separate space is key for me. It makes a huge different to have a 'work zone' where I can eliminate distractions as much as possible and be focused when working. The biggest issue for me personally, is setting boundaries with my SO when I am work from home. She works in-office full time, and when I work from home the 'hone…

Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up because you're working. If she doesn't respect that and guilt trips you. Find a new SO.

It should be clear that this comment does not pass the bar for civility on this site. Please don't post like it again.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#17

Post by zepolen »

sctb wrote: post #16
zepolen wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell your SO politely once. If she does it again, tell her to shut the fuck up because you're working. If she doesn't respect that and guilt trips you. Find a new SO.

It should be clear that this comment does not pass the bar for civility on this site. Please don't post like it again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I stand behind my comment and would 100% say it to anyone face to face. Being civil is the correct step one. Being civil when someone shits on you is being an idiot.

Re: Ask HN: How do remote workers separate work and personal life contexts at home?

#18

Post by muzani »

zepolen wrote: post #12
muzani wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed with this. If you don't have a room, it's worth it to rent out a small office somewhere. Or find a co-working space.

At this point what's the point of remote working if you're going to commute to an office and put your butt in a chair.

You get to control which office to go to. The HQs where I live are about 3-5 hours daily drive, or moving to a slummy place with insane rent.

Coworking spaces have very nice environments and public transport access. Small offices are usually away from other coworkers, but you can find something near a nice restaurant or next to your kid's school.

Also I'm not sure what you mean by putting your butt in a chair. Would you be working lying in a bed at home?

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