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

Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

doist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 175 posts

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#71

Post by GordonS »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #39

This shocked me: "to encourage wellbeing: 40 days paid vacation per year: True disconnection is fundamental to help people de-stress and recharge." Is this common elsewhere in the world? In the US, it Seems like 10 or 15 days is the norm, and maybe 20 after 5 years. What do the FAANG+ companies offer? Does the 2 months of vacation also contribute to that disconnected feeling, I wonder?

UK here, I get 25 days of annual leave, plus another 4 mandatory days at Christmas and New Year, making a total of 29 days. I think 28 days is the legal minimum for a full-time employee, and it's very rare for companies to offer more than they have to.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#72

Post by draw_down »

Well, if you can just keep a part of the house that is only for work that also solves a lot of the issues.

Yes, remote work has pitfalls and is not perfect. But, when I visit HQ and go into the office every day, I am well reminded why remote is the right choice for me.

So, let’s be honest with ourselves about the pitfalls both of remote work and our wonderful open-plan offices with the fancy decor and cafeterias.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#73

Post by totalperspectiv »

WhiteSage wrote: post #20
EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

Choose some hobbies and find some local community supporting them. Engage in lessons around them, or offer lessons yourself. It doesn't matter where, but do not wait for things to happen, make them happen.

While not always considered a hobby, I think social groups are forming around group exercise more often now. It's healthy, you get a little shared suffering in, and you meet a whole cross section of your community you may not meet otherwise.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#74

Post by biztos »

b112 wrote: post #49

As others have said, in this thread, there are a lot of mixed issues in this article. Living a nomad/traveling lifestyle =! remote work. Loads of people remote-work from home, but change nothing else in their lifestyle. I've been working remotely my entire life. 30+ years now. One thing that is key, is looking at the blue sky . Being outside occasionally. You will note that the article talks about work/life balance,…

My solution to getting out of the house and into the World is to go to the gym four days a week, in the middle of the day. So I effectively work a split shift. With my team dispersed globally and me being in the "middle" time zone, it's actually a benefit to the work itself. Plus it keeps me sane and somewhat healthy and guarantees at least a tiny bit of social interaction.

(I realize this has its own logistical challenges, but ten years into my current remote-work job it's making all the difference for me.)

[Edit] Also the gym is less crowded in the middle of the day, in case that part wasn't obvious.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#75

Post by [deleted] »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #39

This shocked me: "to encourage wellbeing: 40 days paid vacation per year: True disconnection is fundamental to help people de-stress and recharge." Is this common elsewhere in the world? In the US, it Seems like 10 or 15 days is the norm, and maybe 20 after 5 years. What do the FAANG+ companies offer? Does the 2 months of vacation also contribute to that disconnected feeling, I wonder?

[deleted]

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#76

Post by adamzapasnik »

I've been working remotely for some time already. Currently, I'm the only remote worker at my client's company as I'm living in another country. Kind of nomad style, but I'm living with my wife's family.

As I'm more of a consultant than an employee, I see it a bit differently. What do I mean? Well, I'm trying to turn my side projects into something profitable and hopefully one day, into a company, where I'd be able to hire other people. I choose to work remotely to save time and to skip commute and so on to be as productive as possible not only for my client but also for the time when I'm building (with my SO) products.

I think, as far as it's your choice and you know what are the possible problems on the way, you should be fine. Treat yourself better. Go outside more (not only shopping), visit some parks. Do some hobbies and spend more time with your family.

So far I haven't known anyone to be forced into remote work. If you start working remotely, be serious about it, otherwise you're gonna face issues.

One more thing, don't listen to people that nomadlife/travelinglife/remotework is some silver bullet to whatever problems you have. It's not. It's hard and it's not pretty.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#77

Post by buboard »

elliotec wrote: post #18
buboard wrote: post #6

> traveling remote workers Whoa digital nomads by definition choose loneliness, whether they work or not. As for the rest , i think the answer is pretty obvious: coworking apartment complexes similar to those dorm rooms but for adults. We need such spaces anyway , with the rise of people living alone and aging alone. It s time for cities to adapt to our needs rather than the reverse for once, because remote working i…

I lived in one of these in Seattle for a few months. The weird part is, nobody really used the communal areas. The facilities weren't amazing in the first place but I met 1 person in the building the entire time I lived there. We even had a shared kitchen I only saw someone make some Top Ramen on the stove top once.

i wouldn't want a shared kitchen or bathroom - besides why would anyone want to live in such cramped conditions if they work remotely. But i d like it if my building had a shared coworking space a cafeteria and perhaps other commercial perks (such as gym) to use frequently - preferably with other remote workers. I know it's possible to share each of these individually, but this happens effortlessly when many people in similar situations are in physical proximity with them.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#78

Post by ahnick »

What's the consensus on co-working perks/incentives? Should employers be breaking that out as a reimbursement for expenses or should they just bake it into a salary? I feel like too many individual perks/incentives suddenly get the company deeply involved in how work is being performed. As an employer I'd much rather workers just work how best they enjoy and pay them a fair wage.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#79

Post by kayoone »

ericmcer wrote: post #69
EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

The ideal remote work situation to me would revolve around the ability to travel, want to go to Hawaii for two weeks? No big deal. People who talk about using a remote job to move to X city seem a bit detached from reality in my opinion.

Working while traveling is not for everyone though. Remote can mean many different things.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#80

Post by lawn »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #39

This shocked me: "to encourage wellbeing: 40 days paid vacation per year: True disconnection is fundamental to help people de-stress and recharge." Is this common elsewhere in the world? In the US, it Seems like 10 or 15 days is the norm, and maybe 20 after 5 years. What do the FAANG+ companies offer? Does the 2 months of vacation also contribute to that disconnected feeling, I wonder?

In Sweden we have 25 paid days off, and we get 30 days at my job (in addition to regular holiday days). On top of that we have a ridiculous number of parental leave days (if you have kids).
Post reply on HN