Ask HN: Remote Working

#1

Post by neilh23 » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 10:00 AM UTC

I'm a senior engineer at a small company, and for family reasons I'm going to moving to a remote part of the country soon.

My company have been accommodating and want to keep me on board, but it will be a culture shock working from home full-time.

What is your experience with long-term remote working?

What strategies and technologies do you find helpful for beating the feeling of isolation and staying productive?

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#2

Post by mc_hammer » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 10:51 AM UTC

one tip i always liked was: wake up take a shower and get dressed for work before you go to your home-office. it seems to make people more focused and able to stay for 8 hours

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#3

Post by maguirre » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 11:04 AM UTC

I've been doing it for 4 years now and I absolutely love it! but please be mindful of your self. Find out what triggers you to get distracted and remove it as quickly as it happens. Personally I try to keep a work and a play computer.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#4

Post by radu_floricica » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 11:04 AM UTC

Keep office hours. Make sure you and everybody else around you understands that you are at work. Even when it's polite to interact with somebody (say a neighbor comes by or your wife needs help with a heavy bag) it still counts as an interruption and it's very very hard to know where to stop. Take a look at the concept of "bright lines".

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#5

Post by cmorgan8506 » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 11:12 AM UTC

It's very easy to get "professionally lonely". Have a plan to mitigate that with meetups or something. Keep very clear office hours to differentiate work life and home life. If possible keep your office enviornment physically separate from the rest of your house. I think you'll actually find an increase in your daily productivity, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Working remotely has been great for me. I've been able to watch my daughter grow up, see my wife more often, and gave me the flexibility to support my family when my father got ill. Be prompt with communications, stay involved with your colleagues, get your work done, and you'll have no problem.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#6

Post by jasonkester » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 11:25 AM UTC

You mention having a family, so the biggest struggle you're going to have is convincing everybody around you that you're "at work" even though you're physically around.

The best plan is to have your office be in a separate building from your house. A shed out in the yard, a room over the garage, even a rented desk in town. Whatever you can do to avoid being anywhere where anybody can walk past and casually interrupt you.

Barring that, you'll need to set your boundaries well. If it wouldn't have been important enough to call you at the office to ask about before, it shouldn't be important enough to ask about now. No, you can't watch the kids for a few minutes. No, you can't look up the dates when the in-laws are coming out. You're at work.

Sort that out up front and everything else will go smoothly.

Working remotely rocks, by the way. That was the last on-site job you'll ever have. You just won't be able to consider going back to that after tasting this.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#7

Post by q_no » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 11:45 AM UTC

I totally agree with all the other answers. I'm working home office for about 2 years now and I also love it, but sometimes it's too easy to get distracted. When you find something that distracts you, remove it. Also, it helps a lot to shower and get dressed in the morning as if you were leaving the house. Don't work in a bathing robe ;)

My gf is working in shifts and hence sometimes she's here when I'm working and I have to remind her that I'm working, although I'm around.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#8

Post by atsaloli » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 1:38 PM UTC

maguirre wrote: post #3

I've been doing it for 4 years now and I absolutely love it! but please be mindful of your self. Find out what triggers you to get distracted and remove it as quickly as it happens. Personally I try to keep a work and a play computer.

Brilliant. That would help with security as well, I bet.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#9

Post by rossj » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 2:21 PM UTC

I'd suggest you find somewhere out of the house where you can go and work from time to time. I've been lazy of late (and regretting it) but I used to rent a desk at a local Hackspace where I could go and work for a day or two each week. It made a huge difference to my feelings of isolation, and also to my productivity on those days when I was at home. I also got to make new friends, which is always good.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Working

#10

Post by velocitypsycho » Fri, Jul 31, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

jasonkester wrote: post #6

You mention having a family, so the biggest struggle you're going to have is convincing everybody around you that you're "at work" even though you're physically around. The best plan is to have your office be in a separate building from your house. A shed out in the yard, a room over the garage, even a rented desk in town. Whatever you can do to avoid being anywhere where anybody can walk past and casually interrupt…

I second the renting a desk. I rent a desk in a coworking space and it's been great. It's a mile from home, so the commute is very light.