Ask HN: How have you fared working remotely this past year?

1) Fully remote

2) no change in distance from usual (I live in the same big city I work in, commute is about an hour).

3) it's been awesome

4) pros: two hours more of life daily (no commute). Being able to stop 5 min totake a shower, switch were I sit, etc. Basically not having to look productive on top of actually being so.

Cons: a bit more difficult to integrate new people on the team at first.

5) nothing in particular.

6) I absolutely would recommend it. The only caveat is that your experience might vary if you don't have an adequate work environment at home due to lack of space, presence of children or similar. Some people who have been using work To fill their need for social interactions can feel a bit isolated, but I'd say that's only uncovering an existing issue and that having a social life outside work should be a priority for everyone (otherwise what would happen if you're fired, for example?).

1) Fully remote

2) About 30 minutes away by public transport or bike.

3) Not too bad, I enjoy it. But it's nice knowing it'll someday end, otherwise I'd seek out some middle-ground (e.g. co-working space). I can't see myself ever enjoying full-remote or full-office permanently. I'd love to work at the office 2 or 3 days a week. Without the commute, the mandatory grooming to be presentable, and the eating and such I do at home during reading / passive meetings etc, I feel there's a bit more time left and I have more energy to be extraverted with my people of choice after work. Rather than be forced 5 days a week to socially interact with people I happen to work with, and be drained after I get home. I like office friends, just not 5 days a week.

4) Listed main pros above. Cons are that I feel I was part of a company more, spoke to way more people than I worked with directly, at the office. Those relationships continue WFH, but not for long. If I'd started at a new job from home, I'd miss out on a lot of contacts, both social and professional. Another pro is that I find myself exercising more and destressing more at home. Few of us can be productive for 8 hours. So we're often productive 5 hours. Then spend 3 hours talking, getting coffee, browsing the news, sending a friend a quick meme on our phone. At the office however a lot of that time is kind of wasted, it's 'fast food' content. Whereas at home, sometimes I take a 45 minute lunch break, grab some food from the fridge and watch a nice episode of a detective. Then get back to work. My unproductive time is more valuable and purposeful, less aimless.

5) No, in hindsight it was easy to see Covid-19 lasting all year. We kind of all said it. But there were also various signals that said otherwise. Some countries got a hold on it and opened up after. Other countries had successive lockdown/open-up waves, the situation kept normalising to some extent. But if I knew what I know now (western-europe would begin the pandemic in lockdown and end the year in lockdown), and my manager did too, I could've made the case to move to another country and WFH. I'd rather have been stuck in say Taiwan or China as of the summer, than Europe. Way cheaper, way more fun, way safer, and just generally a nice adventure. Time zones would've been a challenge. But no, I stayed home (western-europe). I'd have way more energy working from home, knowing at 5-6PM I could head out to a nice restaurant, get some drinks, go to a comedy club, visit the museum next evening... than just being stuck at home all evening and working the next day.

6) Yes I recommend it, but we still have a long way to go culture-wise. I'd hate to WFH in a company that doesn't actively facilitate it. Most companies got a big cultural headstart this year, but we're not there yet.

1) fully remote

2) 50 miles away from physical workplace.

3) Great. Life is easier with less commuting.

4) Pro: no commutes. Helping the environment by not driving, and conserving precious fossil fuels for future generations. Con: physical distance does increase the time to copy files here and there, but overall not a big deal.

5-A) I wonder if this blessing may be a curse in disguise. Will high salaries in job centers start to drop off when physical location is no longer a factor? I choose to live far away and commute specifically to get the best of both, low cost of living and high salary. Could international competition bring down salaries? Could any laws preventing this be changed? New laws written?

5-B) I think having a big monitor and a good keyboard are key. Working on the laptop directly sucks and is uncomfortable. Basically have a real desk/workplace. I notice some of my coworkers sitting on the couch with the laptop in their lap. They don't seem to mind.

6) Yes for myself. Yes for most programmers. I do wonder if there could be issues with new fresh programmers being thrown into the world with a monitor as their only view port to the team. But that's how the open source world works, and many people have learned much with that remote style of interaction.

1) Fully Remote

2) I am remote for 4 years now. I moved to Houston but no one noticed just one time I used my cowboy Hat ;)

3) Same as usual work, focus, focus and gym

4) Pro: I work best as remote, Con: wife did not handle well

5) Each 2h do give a walk and get some air/sun if possible;

6) I do recommend but people must be aware it is not "working with pajamas" It is Harder than going to Office.

I track my productivity with Rescuetime[1] -> https://www.rescuetime.com/ref/183867

[1] - https://www.rescuetime.com/ref/183867

If you don't mind me asking, is the small office at the company's expense or yours?