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

How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

blog.davidtate.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 104 posts

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#21

Post by ed209 »

I've worked from home since 2003. I really enjoy it, especially now that I have a little girl.

Unfortunately, the added focus you get from working in an office is lost to possibility of being able to do anything anytime. And what's bad about that, is that you tell yourself on certain tasks that "you can do it anytime, and I'll just post to HN now".

An ordered todo list is the most important tool you have when working from home.

Also, a gratuitous link to an image of my home office http://bit.ly/sItzcW

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#22

Post by massarog »

I've been working from home for the past 2 years. It's always funny how friends say "you're so lucky you get to work from home while I have to go to work". Truth is, most would never be able to make it through the 'work at home' life because they would become so distracted and bored with the freedom that it gives you. The one thing that keeps me on task is this: Exercise. I usually work anywhere from 10am-530pm, then I get up and go to the gym for 1.5 hours. I'll then come home, eat dinner, shower, and relax on the couch while casually working. If you work from home, be sure to get out every once in a while or you're going to quickly hate it.

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#23

Post by jroseattle »

maximusprime wrote: post #10
jroseattle wrote: post #9

I've worked from my home office for the past few years, and I've figured out it's the ideal solution for my work pattern. I have a good work ethic, and stay very productive (better than when I'm in a client's offices.) And IM is a life-saver with the teams I'm on. The biggest challenge to transitioning to WFH was not the kids. They respect my office as a workspace and really go out of their way not to interrupt me. N…

For me it's the opposite. Home life comes first, and work is a secondary thing. If my wife needs some help, or the kids want me to play with them on the wii, I usually do. If there's an 'emergency' at work, say a server has blown up or something, then sure, I lock myself away for a bit until it's fixed. Work will still be there when they're in bed. I'm not suggesting that either way is right, but just that those are…

Yeah, finding the balance takes skill as well. When I enter my office, I'm in work mode. When I step out, I'm in home mode. Very important to keep that consistent, for everyone involved. My office may mean work, but I take pains to ensure that I don't impose on the household.

I work on different projects for various clients, so my time demands aren't always consistent but I often need to stay heads-down for extended times.

Very cool your time commitments permit you to jump in/out. My output would suffer, and I need the isolation to focus, so that environment wouldn't work well for me. But that's the key -- finding how it works for one's self and family is the correct answer, though results may vary from person to person.

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#24

Post by freemarketteddy »

Well I plan to spend a lifetime working from home....Here are my ideas.

a) First and foremost....I will make it a point to go to places where I meet people....Some such places can be gym,yoga classes,bars/clubs if I am single.

b) I will travel as much as possible....How I see it,there is actually some productivity to be gained from working on your friends couch in miami for a month.

c) Be much much more efficient.The shackles of bureaucracy are not holding me back anymore.There is no reason I should not be able to produce 10 times as much than some average kid at xyz corp.10 times is actually a pretty modest goal.

d) Music,Adderall and daily exercise to increase focus.

e) Occasional mary jane sessions with stoner friends to increase creativity.

But then maybe its easier said than done!...Any comments from people who are already working from home independently?

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#25

Post by billpatrianakos »

jroseattle wrote: post #9

I've worked from my home office for the past few years, and I've figured out it's the ideal solution for my work pattern. I have a good work ethic, and stay very productive (better than when I'm in a client's offices.) And IM is a life-saver with the teams I'm on. The biggest challenge to transitioning to WFH was not the kids. They respect my office as a workspace and really go out of their way not to interrupt me. N…

I had the same problem with my girlfriend. We used to work together then I quit to work for myself. Whenever she had a day off she thought I was just playing on the computer too and just couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that despite the fact that I worked from home, I had to get x, y, and z done before I could go out to dinner or lunch or whatever. Its almost a year now and she left me which sucks but as a twenty-something trying to make it in this economy I have to say my business comes first, at least until I've made the progress I set out to make.

These tips were very good and I've found them to be very true though it can be a challenge to implement them even if you know you should.

Those who work from home should heed my warning: it's not just wives and girlfriends who won't get you're actually working, pretty much everyone else will take a while to get that you're working, not living some awesome fantasy life where you do whatever you want, whenever you want and your bank account just fills with magic funds.

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#26

Post by countersixte »

DEinspanjer wrote: post #16
johnnyjustice wrote: post #2

Yay for the mention of the Pomodoro Method, it is quite effective and has gotten me through college. Your reasoning however for learning to be interrupted in our life, is something I am not necesarily sure about. Are humans just simply bad at long stretches of focus? I am not sure but i am and thats why I use the pomodoro.

How do you implement it? Paper+Timer or electronic?

http://tomatoes.heroku.com/ is my preferred tool

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#27

Post by ofca »

A piece of advice that works for me - when you can, change things up by changing your workplace. Once or twice a week, grab your laptop and go working somewhere outside your normal, work environment (like library or college campus) and work from there. Even if you stay as little as few hours, youll be amazed at how refreshing that is and how your creativity and productivity will increase.

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#29

Post by hugh3 »

king_magic wrote: post #3

I've personally found that I do not enjoy working from home. I think he hits the nail on the head with the "Crippling Depression" part. As a software engineer, I do my best work alone, in my head, but I need real-life interaction with my team for my work to feel meaningful.

I notice that most of the people in this thread talking about how they do successfully work from home talk about their wives and children.

Living alone and working alone sounds like a recipe for insanity. You've gotta have some time with other people, regardless of how much of an introvert you may be.

Re: How to work from home without going insane (purple monkey dishwasher)

#30

Post by cmars »

I work from home now, I could go take a walk - right now! I work from home now, I could ride a bike - right now!

Then freaking do it and return to your work with new vigor.

Stop feeling guilty about it. This always makes you more productive. If you were stuck in a cube you'd just be miserable and reading reddit anyway, or you'd walk around the campus. No different.

Post reply on HN