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Body Doubling

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Re: Body Doubling

#81

Post by nec4b »

marshmallowmad wrote: post #71
2devnull wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a pretty coarse level of analysis asking if “in-person” is better. What’s more productive for a manager will be different, maybe the exact opposite of what’s productive for a programmer. Some people get paid to talk, but many of us do not. The talking is paid for by our sacrifice of personal time, time spent with kids, or exercising or whatever. Managers, being decision makers, will push us back to offices…

I agree with you that productivity for managers versus programmers is different, but my view is that the majority of workers do more work in person and people actually really enjoy being productive! The “body doubling” that goes on in offices is IMHO an underestimated phenomenon, especially for new employees coming into the workforce. For remote work to be a permanent choice, I think we need to be a bit more honest a…

In my view majority of workers are as productive at home as they are in the office or more. The “body doubling” also happens at home, when more family members work from home. There is also much less interruptions and noise polution at home. We should also not pretend office work is without serious down sides compared to work from home. E.g. so much time wasted in traffic.

Re: Body Doubling

#82

Post by vorpalhex »

411111111111111 wrote: post #75
vorpalhex wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a reminder, you can still do those things. Have a weekly hangout day with friends with no firm plans. Spend time at hobbyist shops on the regular. Play board games with strangers.

It's theoretically possible, but not really if you're honest. People have gotten used to the isolation, so they're not gonna enjoy it if you randomly invite yourself literally every day of the week. You'll need like-minded friends and that's not something you can really "just decided" to change.

I didn't pick random examples, I just used my regular practices.

Re: Body Doubling

#83

Post by kingkawn »

411111111111111 wrote: post #75
vorpalhex wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a reminder, you can still do those things. Have a weekly hangout day with friends with no firm plans. Spend time at hobbyist shops on the regular. Play board games with strangers.

It's theoretically possible, but not really if you're honest. People have gotten used to the isolation, so they're not gonna enjoy it if you randomly invite yourself literally every day of the week. You'll need like-minded friends and that's not something you can really "just decided" to change.

you’ll make new friends if you stick to it

Re: Body Doubling

#84

Post by vjk800 »

munificent wrote: post #61

There was a thread on Reddit recently asking what leisure time was like for people before radio, TV, and the Internet. Someone mentioned a memoir they'd read from the early 1900s and the part that stuck with them was how social everyone was. After work, people would go to friends houses, putter around town and catch up with neighbors, visit shops where they knew everyone, etc. I can't but think that so many of the ma…

This is also how I remember my childhood and even early teenage years. My friends would just pop over unannounced and ask me out to play or play sports or something. Also relatives and grandparents would do this occasionally since basically my whole extended family lived in the same village. I also feel like things would have continued the same way if it wasn't for everyone (including me) moving away to study, work, etc. As an adult, it's very difficult to reconstruct the same kind of social network once it has been broken.

I think it helps to think of our social environment as some kind of ecosystem that has evolved to fulfill various needs and shouldn't be messed with. The results will be similar to if you take a few species from biological ecosystems and just randomly put them together - the result is not going to look very pretty.

Re: Body Doubling

#86

Post by JoeAltmaier »

Mordisquitos wrote: post #29
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #16

I'm pretty sure ADHD people have known about this all their lives.

What makes you think people with ADHD already know about it? I can't see any reason why they could be expected to, let alone for all their lives.

My family is nearly 100% ADHD. We all know it. And we're not special.

Re: Body Doubling

#88

Post by mjcohen »

celtain wrote: post #78
squokko wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not even just the neighbors and friends - people used to live in large family units with 10+ people per household. This meant a much broader support network if, for example, you got ill and couldn't take care of your kid for awhile.

3 more family members are about to move into my house. No matter how much I tell myself that having a larger household and more social time will be "good for me", and of course having help with childcare will be hugely convenient, I'm really starting to dread the loss of privacy.

Put a lock on your door.

Re: Body Doubling

#89

Post by marshmallowmad »

nec4b wrote: post #81
marshmallowmad wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you that productivity for managers versus programmers is different, but my view is that the majority of workers do more work in person and people actually really enjoy being productive! The “body doubling” that goes on in offices is IMHO an underestimated phenomenon, especially for new employees coming into the workforce. For remote work to be a permanent choice, I think we need to be a bit more honest a…

In my view majority of workers are as productive at home as they are in the office or more. The “body doubling” also happens at home, when more family members work from home. There is also much less interruptions and noise polution at home. We should also not pretend office work is without serious down sides compared to work from home. E.g. so much time wasted in traffic.

And I respect your view that generally workers are more productive at home. We can agree to disagree there. Also, work commutes in traffic are indeed silly.

This post is about body doubling, which happens far more in offices. That is a fact. Your reply makes it seem like that’s not the case. But, I agree with your gripes about in office work, which is why I work from home :)

Edit: my point is that what’s best for you, me, and other individuals may not be best for organizations. Do I care about organizations more than myself? No, but it’s at least something to recognize because I still care for some of them.

Re: Body Doubling

#90

Post by elcritch »

vjk800 wrote: post #84
munificent wrote: post #61

There was a thread on Reddit recently asking what leisure time was like for people before radio, TV, and the Internet. Someone mentioned a memoir they'd read from the early 1900s and the part that stuck with them was how social everyone was. After work, people would go to friends houses, putter around town and catch up with neighbors, visit shops where they knew everyone, etc. I can't but think that so many of the ma…

This is also how I remember my childhood and even early teenage years. My friends would just pop over unannounced and ask me out to play or play sports or something. Also relatives and grandparents would do this occasionally since basically my whole extended family lived in the same village. I also feel like things would have continued the same way if it wasn't for everyone (including me) moving away to study, work,…

My teenage years were similar. Cells phones were a thing but relatively rare and texting was limited. Friends in HS would often enough just drop by. Nowadays, if you just stop by a friends house, it feels borderline rude or intruding.

My hypothesis is that given the rise of everyone having always connected cell phones, texting, etc, that subconsciously we've all shifted to viewing our physical homes as our form of privacy. Essentially dropping in takes away the last place we feel we can control our interactions with others.

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