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38% of remote workers work from bed

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Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#241

Post by alanwreath »

metb wrote: post #156
dsign wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Being in the same space physically I think speeds up a lot of things. In small teams and esp. at early stage startups your whole day is a meeting where things are discussed and resolved spontaneously. Who's going to write the fine-detail code if they whole day is a meeting? It may change from case to case, but for some small teams the biggest challenge is to produce something so good that it out-competes the produc…

> Who's going to write the fine-detail code if they whole day is a meeting? Reminds me of the time I worked at an early stage startup. I used to take official vacation time, and disappear from company collaboration tools to get real work done.

Did not expect to find someone who does the same thing as me. I am actually kind of embarrassed I’ve taken sick days just to work without interruption or to investigate some tech I wouldn’t get company time to research (“we need you pumping out code, whats learning? You already know everything you’ll ever need!”)

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#242

Post by alanwreath »

pawelwentpawel wrote: post #161
scarecrowbob wrote: post #77

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

Bringing up an anecdotal edge case, a couple years ago I have attended a viewing in a coworking space (Bricklane, London) where members had to sit on old recycled school chairs because that was the "design". Apparently you need to get a sciatica to look like a hipster coder. Having the right setup is not only about making your brain more productive - it's about keeping your spine pain free. While my home office is se…

Yep, plus I’ve already learned that (for me) doing work or study in bed means I’ll be either asleep or uncomfortable soon.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#243

Post by goodpoint »

chronogram wrote: post #106
hippari wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree, I cook more food, learned more recipe, wash my clothes more frequently, my house is more clean and organized. Contrasting to a 9-5 job, I would rather just order takeaways after getting back home from the office.

It’s great how everyone works so differently. When I am alone, working from home, I can’t find a proper mental break anywhere and everything becomes a mess and I eat worse. Having a physical work/life split makes me cook more food, learn more recipes, and gives me a constant fresh look at my home and items to make sure it’s clean and tidy. In the WFH situation it’s suddenly 20:00 and I’m starving and just look to sna…

WFH != unscheduled and sedentary.

You can set up timers e.g. pomodoro and do quick chores frequently.

[edit: care to explain the downvotes?]

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#244

Post by alanwreath »

asd4232 wrote: post #149
chronogram wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s great how everyone works so differently. When I am alone, working from home, I can’t find a proper mental break anywhere and everything becomes a mess and I eat worse. Having a physical work/life split makes me cook more food, learn more recipes, and gives me a constant fresh look at my home and items to make sure it’s clean and tidy. In the WFH situation it’s suddenly 20:00 and I’m starving and just look to sna…

This. I like WFH as a concept, but I feel like it would require a separate office room to really work, and right now I don't have the space for that. Working from living room just mixes up work and leisure really badly.

I’m my case having a “separate office room” is just occupying the space where I might have had the family computer or my gaming station. I have always had that space, at least since the days of my ok’ packard bell and kings quest!

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#245

Post by AJ007 »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #77

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

Here is my first hand experience from roughly 15 years of working from home at this point, with a little office time mixed in.

This is the right approach from an ergonomic standpoint - cycle through how you sit/stand while working and you’ll minimize a lot of joint issues. If some position is causing you issues, it’s easy to identify and effortless to switch. At minimum it isn’t healthy to sit for hours straight. It’s also easy to mix in a few workouts or use some sort of treadmill or stationary bike.

Years ago I went from 3 27” screens down to 1 12” MacBook and had no loss in productivity. I was primarily doing design and data analysis work. DPI and OS window management matters more unless you have vision issues.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#246

Post by alanwreath »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #223
scarecrowbob wrote: post #77

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

I've done WFH for a year and a half now (and the odd day in the years before that), and I still kinda struggle; it's easy to let the distractions take hold, and it costs me energy to get started on work. Mind you, the work is not the most exciting at the moment either. That said, as other commenters have mentioned, there is value (for me) to work in a team and to have others actually depend on me and my progress; I n…

“ I'll pursue jobs where I'm both independent but also replaceable” I totally get the pressure felt when you’re not yet replaceable. At least from the responsible, not wishing to burn bridges vantage point. It can add stress because it means vacations are only half spent and makes other opportunities seem wrong to take because you know you’d be leaving the company in a bad state. And mind you this is at the same time as trying to spread as much knowledge around as possible. Small teams can make this more common.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#247

Post by wccrawford »

pawelwentpawel wrote: post #161
scarecrowbob wrote: post #77

I've been working remote for about 10 years. I've had "real" offices. I've worked in open-plan offices. I've had a home office. I've worked from bed. There are tons of good ways to do it. Lately I swap between a kitchen table and a chair on my porch. I no longer use multiple screens, I've just gotten really fast at swapping windows on my 15" laptop; I've gotten good at figuring out how wide my terminal window breaks…

Bringing up an anecdotal edge case, a couple years ago I have attended a viewing in a coworking space (Bricklane, London) where members had to sit on old recycled school chairs because that was the "design". Apparently you need to get a sciatica to look like a hipster coder. Having the right setup is not only about making your brain more productive - it's about keeping your spine pain free. While my home office is se…

The chair thing is always amazing to me. I worked at a company that had crappy chairs (because they claimed they couldn't afford better).

One of my team decided that they needed a good chair for medical reasons and asked for it. They got a really nice chair.

I don't know if anyone complained, but it wasn't long before the whole team had really nice chairs. The cost was negligible compared to the morale boost, IMO. I don't think I ever looked at that chair without thinking, "Man, that's a good chair!"

When I got a new job that had crappy chairs, I bought myself a new chair right away without even asking. Whenever I upgraded, I'd give my old one to anyone on my team that wanted it. I don't know if they cared much, but it sure made me feel better.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#248

Post by jt2190 »

pnut wrote: post #148
daenz wrote: post #40

For the past 2 weeks, I've been working from a treadmill. It has been incredible. I got a small under-the-desk treadmill for my standing desk and I walk at about 2.5km/hour and get around 20,000 steps in per day. It has improved my mood, my clarity, and also has improved my sleep (because I'm tired of walking). I also find it easier to focus on tasks for some reason. If you can make a setup like this work for you, I…

After 2 whole weeks, I don't think you should be offering "in the long run" advice about things.

I’ve had a walking treadmill desk for over ten years.

Whether it’s for you is quite personal: See if you can find somewhere to try it out for a few minutes, in particular try typing and using the mouse/trackpad while walking. My treadmill tops out at 4 mph (6.4 km/h), which is really too fast to do anything but walk. I can watch videos at 3mph, code routine easy stuff at ~2mph, code hard stuff at ~1mph, and to read hairy code I have to stop completely. I don’t walk all day, I also stand and sit.

Some things that will help you have a good experience:

• Get a purpose-built walking treadmill: They’re smaller and more importantly go much slower. • Get a very solid, stable desk and put it on a stable floor. Any little monitor shake will make things miserable. • The treadmill is not silent, so you’ll probably need to stop when speaking on video. It’s awesome to be in watch/listen-only meetings and put in a mile or two. • A nice option I’ll upgrade to someday is a stand-alone walking treadmill with a wireless control, plus a nice sit/stand desk.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#249

Post by KronisLV »

csomar wrote: post #196
KronisLV wrote: post #146

I'm still amazed at how we lack both ergonomic and comfortable ways to use computers, it's usually just either one or the other, never both. Imagine a large pillow that's shaped vaguely like human back should be when resting, which you could put on your bed to support your entire back, neck and head, at a slight incline. Then, add a keyboard support that can be moved around, alongside with one for mouse (or just a tr…

Is $7k really expensive even for non-programming jobs? Assuming a 5-year lifespan, that comes at around $120/month which should be affordable to most of the developed world. I have another theory: The reason we didn't adopt such ergonomic setups is because they look "weird". We are quite used to sitting in chairs and it's not quite far from sitting on a rock. A customized ergonomic setup will pay itself in quite a sh…

Yes, it is. For that same amount of money, in my country, i could purchase 2 used cars, or just buy food for about 3 years (without eating out), or pay rent for almost 2 years.

Alternatively, such a setup would cost me almost 5 month's worth of net salaries (as a software developer in one of the countries that people outsource to) and that is before any additional shipping costs.

Such setups might make sense for people in the 1st world countries with decent salaries, but for me and may others who live in Eastern Europe or other countries that aren't as financially advanced, that is still a considerable sum of money.

As for your point in regards to looks - i somewhat agree, however i definitely wouldn't mind such a setup in a full remote working position.

Especially when eventually coupled with some high quality VR headset that would provide a passable resolution for programming (essentially at least an effective resolution of 1280x720 per virtual screen). It might be a while until that becomes feasible, if ever, though.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#250

Post by warglebargle »

iso1631 wrote: post #201
visarga wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be OK but what about your kids? They need to attend good schools and have good healthcare support where they grow up.

A good reason not to live in a city

there are upsides and downsides of both, don’t do this
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