Working from Bed • Hacker News Board

Re: Working from Bed

#111

Post by brightball » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:26 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #98

brightball wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely takes getting used to. I've been exclusively WFH for 8 years now and it's hard to imagine going back at this point, but it took a while to develop that groove. My first job out of college, my boss actually told me "Don't miss meetings, don't miss deadlines and I don't care when you're here." About 3 weeks in I was dying to go to the office and just stayed there all the time. In order to make WFH work fo…

>I keep a TV on in the background, out of sight (usually the weather channel). I don't know why, but it makes the house feel less empty all day. I think the world is split into people who really need a background soundtrack of some sort and those who hate it. Back when I sometimes had a roommate on group (non-work) trips, one of the things that drove me craziest was someone who just had to turn on the TV as soon as t…

The key for me is noise that I'm not trying to listen to. The weather channel can be on and I have no need to try to focus on it.

If I put music on, it needs to be pretty consistent tempo with no words so that it's "there" but I'm not listening to it. The original Ironman soundtrack was my goto for this for years.

Re: Working from Bed

#112

Post by andreilys » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:29 PM UTC

nickelcitymario wrote: post #35

I've wanted to work full-time from home for as long as I can remember. It took about a month in lockdown for me to realize I hated it. Turns out, my mental health is much better when I have an office to go to. 1h20 in commute (round-trip), no privacy, tons of distractions, and still I'm happier when I get to leave the house to go to work. I suspect it's mostly just a matter of getting out of the house. Those 4 walls…

WFH during a pandemic is different than WFH when everything isn’t locked down.

I’d encourage you to avoid conflating the two as the experience is vastly different.

Re: Working from Bed

#113

Post by ReaganFJones » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:31 PM UTC

Most work-from-bed setups are ergonomic disasters. The typical person who works from bed is not getting a $5,995 Zero Gravity setup or anything like that.

Ergonomic issues aside, many commenters in this thread have discussed the other drawbacks of re-purposing your bed for work.

Re: Working from Bed

#114

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:31 PM UTC

neom wrote: post #30

I'm a 35 year old who internetted/"worked" from bed all the time in my teens and 20s, I really believe doing this: - Removed the sanctity of bed. The bed is a great place to train yourself to decompress and unwind. - Absolutely destroyed my back. I'd build pillow forts around myself to compensate for increasing weak muscles. - Hindered the ability to notice shifts in my mood/difficulties in my routine. Eg: I struggle…

[deleted]

Re: Working from Bed

#115

Post by rorykoehler » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:33 PM UTC

andreilys wrote: post #112

nickelcitymario wrote: post #35

I've wanted to work full-time from home for as long as I can remember. It took about a month in lockdown for me to realize I hated it. Turns out, my mental health is much better when I have an office to go to. 1h20 in commute (round-trip), no privacy, tons of distractions, and still I'm happier when I get to leave the house to go to work. I suspect it's mostly just a matter of getting out of the house. Those 4 walls…

WFH during a pandemic is different than WFH when everything isn’t locked down. I’d encourage you to avoid conflating the two as the experience is vastly different.

I've been working from home on and off for going on 15 years now and he lockdown has been terrible for WFH. No popping out to a cafe for a couple hours. Or my local coworking space etc. The monotony of it is draining.

Re: Working from Bed

#116

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:33 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Working from Bed

#117

Post by Raphmedia » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:35 PM UTC

fastball wrote: post #103

Raphmedia wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that even working on a small desk next to your bed would be better than working directly from the bed.

I really don't think we have enough evidence to backup this assertion.

We know that having a dedicated sleeping space contributes to the quality of sleep, but there are no studies on the size and boundaries required to create that space.

Using the bed as a workspace means you're bringing your work with you to bed. You completely erase any possibility of separation between workspace and sleep space.

With only one bedroom available, your only way to assign a dedicated sleeping space is to use your bed to sleep and a desk to work.

Throwing in some anecdotal opinion, I live in a studio style open apartment and have no issue sleeping well in my bed even if I can see my workspace. I however had issues sleeping back when I lived in a smaller apartment and used the bed as my main computer space.

Is it objectively better or worst? There's no study backing either theories. However, I believe that even working on a small desk next to your bed would be better than working directly from the bed. Otherwise you'd be effectively training yourself to think about work while lying down in the comfort of your sleeping area, instead of training yourself to fall asleep and relax.

Re: Working from Bed

#118

Post by TimTheTinker » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:36 PM UTC

eric_b wrote: post #78

TimTheTinker wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but this reeks of a strange "pro COVID lockdown" narrative I've been seeing lately. Along with phrases like "the new normal" and such. There does seem to be a push to keep people from wanting and expecting to go back to the real normal anytime soon. Though who stands to gain from this alternate reality? It would seem the liberal left wants to normalize it (even post-vaccine), but I don't understand why.

Agreed - it's certainly a left-leaning narrative. I don't understand the "why" of any of it anymore. The far-left folks are pro lockdown but also want to help the underprivileged. No one is hurt worse by lockdowns. They want to defund the police, and yet by now even the hardened ideologue can admit that less police is maybe not a great plan. The left is anti-authoritarian but engages in almost textbook authoritarian…

I’ve thought some more about this, and I think their platform is coherent if you assume their goal is power.

Economic trouble and poverty help the left by making them the savior upon whom everyone is dependent. After all, it was the Great Depression that gave FDR’s New Deal a free pass in the first place — and that really was the beginning of the modern Democratic Party’s economic platform.

They want people to be poor. That’s how they get the majority of their votes.

Re: Working from Bed

#119

Post by combatentropy » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:41 PM UTC

I sit up in bed against a backrest pillow, with my laptop in my lap. I don't have a mouse. I program with vim and use keyboard shortcuts in other apps as much as possible.

I have been doing this for years. I don't have problems with my back or wrists like I did years ago in an office, even though I had an office chair, desk, and keyboard drawer.

Re: Working from Bed

#120

Post by Tycho » Mon, Jan 04, 2021, 8:43 PM UTC

Maybe someone will come up with an app that you use before you go to sleep and it trains/primes your mind to work on pieces of work (ones that require creativity or insight) while you sleep. And then corporations will adopt it and offer employees a pay rise if they sign up to use it. Eventually it will become mandatory, and people will write wistful articles about the uncolonized dream spaces of yesteryear, while accepting that no normal person would sacrifice the most productive part of the working day (night) in order to dream about fun things that they will mostly forget anyway.