38% of remote workers work from bed • Hacker News Board

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#291

Post by joshuahedlund » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:17 PM UTC

fogihujy wrote: post #179

ImaCake wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>returning to the forest Which is basically a myth at this point. For most of the last 5000 years most people have had a much lower quality of life than people do today. It's not like things were nice before we sat infront of computers all day.

It's not that life was living hell for everyone either. Plenty of people have lived comfortable lives throughout the ages -- it's just that there are far more of them nowadays. There's also still a lot of people who have troublesome lives, not to mention people living un-comfortable lives in front of a screen.

> It's not that life was living hell for everyone either

It's not really that much of an exaggeration. Significant percentages of women died in childbirth, young children died of diseases, and men died of violence. If you didn't, multiple people close to you did. Back-breaking manual labor for subsistence was the norm. Even the small minority who lived "comfortably" could randomly die from a tooth infection.

It can be exaggerated to be sure, but I think it's even easier to discount the stunning drop in absolute poverty over the last two centuries because we've simply forgotten how terrible the old "normal" was. I highly recommend books like Enlightenment Now or Factfulness that do a great, detailed, and evidence-based job of driving this point home.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#292

Post by commandlinefan » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

jmmarco wrote: post #270

Bed is for sleep and sexy time, not work.

I was having a lot of trouble falling asleep at one time when I was in college - to the point where it was impacting my health. I brought it up with the nurse and she asked me if I was reading in bed and I said I was. She said try staying out of bed until bed time and see if you have an easier time falling to sleep. And bam - within a few days, I was sleeping normally again.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#293

Post by commandlinefan » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

sethc2 wrote: post #138

The article brings up that for most a home office is a luxury. And i thought how is that possible, just use some extra room in your house. Then I remembered having a house and an extra room might be an easy thing to attain as a software developer, but that is only true because I don’t live in the Bay Area or Seattle. Yet in those areas you might have more fun on weekends. Just to see, I looked at prices for a round t…

> just use some extra room in your house.

unless your wife called it first.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#294

Post by Ocerge » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:20 PM UTC

nayaketo wrote: post #207

ksec wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just reading this got me thinking. Something may be obvious but I have yet to see anyone written or pointing it out. Does Remote Work prevent burn out?

Not at all. It might actually cause you to burnout if you begin to feel your work has encroached on your personal life. I went through a rough phase a while back because of this.

Not sure why you got downvoted; remote work has been awful for me mental health wise since COVID. Not every dev wants to sit at home all day while they work. The separation and social interaction are important for me.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#295

Post by long_time_gone » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:21 PM UTC

robbedpeter wrote: post #151

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…

>>... play banjo or accordion Being able to noodle on a guitar while stepping away from a problem is a super power for me. If you work from home, get an instrument you can distract yourself with. The music or drills can break you out of ruts, and if you do it half seriously, you can develop real skill. The oh so serious kabuki show we all play out in offices, especially open plans, wastes a lot of mental energy on "p…

==If people are doing knowledge work, then the privacy of their home gets rid of all the unnecessary play acting. ==

Except for all the hours you spend on video calls where people are looking directly into your home. If you use some type of background to blur your home, that becomes the same type of "kabuki show" you reference about offices.

==Maybe the pandemic will demonstrate once and for all that an employee with a good work ethic can be lots more effective from home than at the office. ==

Maybe you have a bias here? I know lots of people with "good work ethics" who feel less productive at home.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#296

Post by catherinezng » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:26 PM UTC

mojuba wrote: post #125

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…

That's work from home brilliantly summarized, very true. However, I have my doubts about productivity in smaller teams and startups. 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. Sometimes it is important to have an environment where information is exchanged dynami…

The solution to this is gather.town

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#297

Post by imjared » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:26 PM UTC

MattGaiser wrote: post #7

> but a whopping 50% still say the pain and discomfort of working from home is enough to send them back to the office. I want a breakdown of remote work preference by dollar amount spent on office chair. I think this would be revealing.

I think there's something to be said for the general lack of movement that comes with WFH. It could be pure coincidence but the years I was in best shape running were the years when I had a 30 minute walk to/from work.

I now work from home and try to get out some mornings for a walk around the neighborhood but more often than not, I go straight from bed to a chair. My body gradually loosens up during the day but mostly in a seated position.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#298

Post by daenz » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:27 PM UTC

abootstrapper wrote: post #117

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…

How do you track your steps? I have treadmill desk and a Fitbit, but my Fitbit is worthless because my arms don’t swing while I’m working.

I use a pedometer app on my phone and put my phone in my pocket.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#299

Post by appleiigs » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:28 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #274

pnut wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I'm not intending to give health advice but the health benefits of walking are pretty well established and commonly accepted by doctors. I encourage you to do the research if you are skeptical or talk to your doctor.

Health detriments of sitting all day are also pretty well established and commonly accepted by doctors. Don't know where pnut was going with that lame comment.

Re: 38% of remote workers work from bed

#300

Post by ssully » Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 2:29 PM UTC

irjustin wrote: post #76

breput wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly, "gaming" chairs might be the best, most cost effective option. Ars Technica[1] reviewed a couple gaming chairs from the home office viewpoint. I bought a toned-down style version of the Secretlab Titan chair pretty early in the pandemic and it is way better than my Aeron at work. And the Aeron is way better than any other normal office chair. [1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/10/gaming-chair-shoo…

Wow that's a tall claim because Aeron and the Steelcase leap are the gotos. I was always skeptical of gaming chairs long duration sitting solutions but maybe i'll head to a local store and give it a try.

The Secretlab chairs are nice (especially for the price), but they can be a little stiff and their adjustability is more limited then a Steelcase. I have been using a Secretlab for the last 8 months or so, and it's better then what I had before, but if I had the choice of going back to the office and taking my Steelcase there I would.