Ask HN: Any tips for staying focused while working from home?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21908225

by reaperducer • 7 years ago

17 10 7 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Starting January 1, the company I work for is involuntarily remoting all of us greybeards. The plus side is that with my daily commute eliminated, I will get an entire day of my life back every two weeks. But I worry about the potential downsides of working from home, especially that I suspect I will be easily distracted by non-work things during working hours (we are required to maintain the same hours as those working in-house). Can any current remote workers suggest strategies for staying focused, or point out any lesser-known traps that come with working from home?

nwrk• 7 years ago

Lucky you. Remote is great!

Some points to share:

- headphones are must (in case you are not alone / rooms)

- good music, good coffee, good internet

- discipline

- time management / time boxing

- enjoy the benefits of free time / your own schedule

itronitron• 7 years ago

Something that has worked for me consistently is to keep a sticky note on the desktop that lists my tasks (as I see them, not necessarily as they are in any tracking system) in descending order (from top to bottom) by a combo of ease, priority, and interest.

At the end of each day I spend about 15 minutes grooming the list, moving completed tasks/items below the lowest rank todo item, and often breaking ambiguous tasks into smaller pieces that are easier to chew.

I try to combine no-brainer tasks with interesting but abstract ones so that each morning depending on my mood I can either grind through the simple ones or research the weird ones.

One of the best things about this is that it serves as a handy record for things done and at the end of each month can be referenced for reporting accomplishments as needed.

Also, if your company is hiring please let us know!

WheelsAtLarge• 7 years ago

Set a schedule and follow it. Always start at the same time, take your breaks and day's end at the same time. It's easy to lose control of your day and have a situation where you mix work and your life and there are no boundaries. Also get out of the house for lunch and breaks.

soneca• 7 years ago

It was not work, but I spent 8 months learning how to code by myself from home

You will probably find your own routine, but an essential thing for me was to have very clear when you are on a break and when you are not.

When you are not on a break, you do not allow yourself to browse aimless on HN, or Reddit, or whatever. No checking messages on the phone, no snacks, no chatting with the family.

Breaks longer than 15min should always be planned at the beginning of the day.

Unscheduled breaks should not be longer than 10min.

But when you are on a break, you are on a break. Rest, chat browse. Just honor the time you stipulated for the break.

Good luck! Let me know if your company is hiring frontend devs! :)

clintonb• 7 years ago

Give yourself a commute at the beginning and end of the day to get some exercise. I take 15-30 minutes to get breakfast and go for a walk in a nearby park. In the evening I will walk around a nearby lake.

My daily step goal is 11K. When I work from home, and don’t make the “commute,” I’m lucky to have 1K steps by lunch.

kasey_junk• 7 years ago

One thing I try to do is remember that onsite people take breaks too.

I very rarely go on a coffee run working remote, but I do go on a “do dishes” run.

It’s a little late now but keeping a log of what you are actually doing at the office is very valuable.

Bob312371• 7 years ago

I've been working from home for the last 2 years. It used to be tough since I was an avid procrastinator. What I learned is that a disconnect can form from your work and the reward you feel when you do a good job. This can especially happen on long tasks where the right solution keeps evading you.

So what I do now is this, if I'm feeling like the motivation is not there, I'll look over all the tasks I have to do and I'll work on the easiest task that will provide the largest amount of visual feedback.

For example, if I'm working on the front-end and there is a task to update the style of a generic button, if I update that button the whole app will look different since it's a generic and it's everywhere.

This provides a sense of accomplishment and usually kicks me back into gear and gets me excited to work on something harder with a potentially much larger reward in the end.

An important caveat, the task should only be associated with the project. Working on your editor config should not be part of that task list.

habib1• 7 years ago

Have a dedicated workspace. ... Stay off social media. ... Dress for success. ... Set boundaries. ... Avoid procrastination. ... Save household chores for later. ... Create a schedule. ... Take a gym break.

mudasirtumarm• 7 years ago

Work in limited time but keep focus because it's mandatory.If you can't focus then leave it.

Pete-Codes• 7 years ago

I would always start with the hardest tasks you have to get them out of the way. If you are prone to distractions then I guess just work in a room without TV etc. I work from home and cafes on my business and I am able to get work done. If anything I think remote works helps you work harder as you don't want people thinking you aren't working :)

Ask HN: Any tips for staying focused while working from home?

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