Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Only Work Remotely

shift.newco.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 222 posts

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#71

Post by mc32 »

lj3 wrote: post #40
gcp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most engineering offices I've been into being a morning person would mean you have less overlap with everyone else, since coming in late and staying late is the norm. In one company I consulted for, a morning person almost got fired when a regional manager noticed he left 2 hours earlier than everyone else. It was hilarious, in the saddest possible way.

Can confirm; I have been that morning person who left 2 hours before everyone else and, while I didn't get fired, I was punished for it.

And it's a strange thing in that it can be enforced via normal social interaction:

See you tomorrow.

Oh, is it that time already?

Leaving so soon?

Bye now.

And it may not be intentional, but it comes thru that way.

The easiest way to leave is to not say anything. Just grab your things and head out, which can come across as antisocial, but it avoids the awkwardness.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#72

Post by AckSyn »

justinlaster wrote: post #55
AckSyn wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's an awfully weak crutch to stand on to justify usage of drugs.

You can try to hyperbolically describe it as a "crutch", but if you're just going to ignore that you are in fact constantly chemically altered then I'm not sure what to tell you. The whole "be your own man" is baseless feel-good ego massaging.

It's comments like these that do an incredible disservice to actual conversation. No one is arguing eating food doesn't aid in the regulation of a standard baseline for natural chemical balances in the body.

Which is exactly what it is. A standard baseline for your typical, normal, healthy human being.

Taking your stand of "but everything is chemically altering" is being intellectually dishonest in this argument and serves no real purpose beyond derailing conversation BACK to defining the constraints to which we're using to discuss the actual implications of actual, out of the normal baseline, mind altering substances.

You're not contributing anything with the ridiculous position you take by doing so, and make yourself and the rest of the "recreational user" group look bad by such poor arguments.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#73

Post by mi100hael »

> I am a night owl. You can tell me I have to have my butt in a chair within your line of sight at 8 or 9am, but that is very wasteful.

This used to be me and I used to believe it was just the way things were. I'd naturally sleep 10+ hours until noon on the weekends, struggle to wake up for work, and then struggle to fall asleep before midnight. I had little energy for exercise and always felt stressed trying to find the time to stay on top of all of my other responsibilities.

But the truth is, it's perfectly possible for anyone to adjust their sleep schedule and become a morning person. It just takes some conscious effort and the will-power to suffer through a week or two of re-adjustment.

1. Set your alarm for the same time every day, including weekends. Wake up as soon as it goes off and don't snooze. Yes, it's hard at first. But it's not inhuman, so just deal with it. It'll get easier.

2. You can have a cup or two of coffee as soon as you wake up, but no caffeine after noon.

3. Put down screens like phone, laptop, and TV after about 8pm. The artificial, bright light throws off off your body's natural instinct to get sleepy when it gets dark. Spend some time preparing for the next day so you aren't stressed in the morning, and then read a book or something until you feel tired.

Bonus points if you get a workout in sometime during the day. It'll help you fall asleep earlier which will make waking up early easier. Also realize that alcohol reduces quality of sleep, so cutting back or avoiding it altogether will make waking up easier.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#74

Post by traviswingo »

traviswingo wrote: post #65
mbrzuzy wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is problem with flex time. Companies love to advertise flex time, but when you come in at 7am and leave at 3, you get tons of looks and even the odd comment.

The tons of looks and odd comments bug the shit out of me. Being an engineer, my job is to produce, period. Don't worry about where it happens, just know that every time you pick up the phone and promise something that doesn't exist to someone else, the fact that it suddenly, magically, exists for you to show them is because people like me are plugging away around the clock. Dev work isn't 9-5. It's 24/7 and whenever…

This isn't an angry rant - I just had a large cup of coffee so I'm in my "no bullshit" mode :)

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#75

Post by Touche »

Jaruzel wrote: post #21

One of the opening lines resonated with me: "...I cannot trust employers to provide me with an adequate work environment." This is becoming more and more the default position, especially in the contract market. A recent contract I had, had quite poor office space - small old desks, old 17" monitors, no personal storage, chairs in poor repair, and a badly working hot-desk system (I have yet to encounter 'working' hot-…

Just curious, as I'm a morning person, when do you get non-work stuff done? I start work at 8 and stop at 5. From 5 to 8/8:30 I'm doing chores like cleaning up the house, running errands, making dinner, washing dishes. I get an hour or two of relaxation in watching a movie or reading a book and then I go to bed.

When do night people fit in the time for that sort of stuff? I would imagine that you could do that sort of thing in the morning when I'm working but my perception (perhaps false) is that night people sleep in later.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#76

Post by swerner »

ianai wrote: post #64
swerner wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that is a sure 'no' from my side. I have moved for a job once, I will not make that mistake again.

What was your experience?

It is a sad life when you end up in a town where the only social connection you have is your work. When all your friends and family are hours away, odds are you'll end up spending your evenings and weekends on the couch, either working too much or watching movies.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#77

Post by intoverflow2 »

Jaruzel wrote: post #21

One of the opening lines resonated with me: "...I cannot trust employers to provide me with an adequate work environment." This is becoming more and more the default position, especially in the contract market. A recent contract I had, had quite poor office space - small old desks, old 17" monitors, no personal storage, chairs in poor repair, and a badly working hot-desk system (I have yet to encounter 'working' hot-…

> Like the author of the article, I too am not a morning person - people may scoff at this, but it's a real thing. Before noon I am almost useless, the proverbial bear with a sore head.

Barely done an ounce of work before 11:00 in my entire working life. At home at least I can ease into it and work later comfortably. While I'm working in an office there is always someone super focused on how many bums are on seats at 9:30 every morning (even in places with flexible hours this always seems to inevitably happen at some point). So I'm forced to under sleep and just procrastinate for the first few hours of the day to keep them happy.

Not to mention get stressed while trying to fall asleep because I'm scared of oversleeping.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#78

Post by jjeaff »

bitwize wrote: post #47
battlebot wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get what you're selling, and I agree to a point, especially about the "being dependable" part, which is why I have been that. On the other hand, my experience with my own creativity is that it peaks around midnight. I wrote my doctoral dissertation over many, many nights . I was never creative in the morning, and I think many people are just like me and don't even realize it. Thus, if you really want the best I hav…

Thought HN was full of health nuts for whom the effects of blue light on circadian rhythms, endocrine function, and brain function are second only perhaps to gut microbiota in terms of actionable health breakthroughs? Point being, have you considered that your "night owl" tendencies are an artificial condition caused by too much electronic device exposure late at night, and that a change in lifestyle might do you goo…

I use f.lux. Cuts out most of the blue spectrum. But being a night owl is not the only reason I get more done. No one bothers me at midnight. No one calls or texts or emails. I'm left to my own thoughts. Add to that the fact that people have been describing themselves as night owls since before electric lighting was invented, I don't think that is a full explanation.

I have total blackout curtains in my rooms. My circadian rhythm has no idea if it's 12 noon or 12 midnight. I don't think anything magical happens to make it unhealthy for me to wake up at 9 am Pacific time vs 9am eastern.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#79

Post by christophilus »

olau wrote: post #67
billirvine wrote: post #36

As a founder of startups, I take a bit of exception to the tonality. Yes, lots of inexperienced founders/leaders drink deep of the open office koolaid and do it wrong. But doing it right (allowing flexibility, having private spots, etc.) yields better overall results because people are more creative in groups. The chance serendipity of investigating new ideas with your fellows will always result in a better work prod…

Do you have a citation for the "more creative in groups"? Some years ago I participated in a creativity/innovation course, and one of the things we were taught was the brainstorming in groups had been found to be ineffective (because of group think, I think). I do agree that occasional chatting/communication is important otherwise, though, although I'm not really sure open plans foster that - seems to me to foster br…

Right. Look up John Kleese's talk on creativity for a convincing explanation of why solitude is critical to the process.

Re: I Only Work Remotely

#80

Post by neogodless »

billirvine wrote: post #36

As a founder of startups, I take a bit of exception to the tonality. Yes, lots of inexperienced founders/leaders drink deep of the open office koolaid and do it wrong. But doing it right (allowing flexibility, having private spots, etc.) yields better overall results because people are more creative in groups. The chance serendipity of investigating new ideas with your fellows will always result in a better work prod…

Can you describe to me the difference between the nature of work that requires group creativity and individual focus? How much of each do the various roles of your employees spend their time on? How much control do your employees have over whether or not they are in an environment that suits their need for focus (and when that focus ends)?
Post reply on HN