Hi guys,
I’ve recently started a role that is fully remote. Initially I thought I’d find being by myself a joy, but hasn’t been the case.
I’m wondering what you guys do to spice up the WFH life a little bit?
Such as working at communal office spaces, or how you cope with getting outside the same 4 walls during the day??
Cheers 🍻
I make sure I take a proper lunch break and use it to go on my treadmill, do my nails, cuddle my dogs, put on some washing, visit our paddock animals, walk to the mailbox, watch an episode of a show, FaceTime my parents, doom scroll instagram etc
Tbf though, I fucking love being at home so don’t have any real desire to “escape”.
I hear you, my wife works from home fulltime and I can see its getting to her.
Not recommending you get a dog, but that definitely has helped her
I already had 2 dogs and 2 cats and a new kitten has been a lovely addition to my workspace.
A routine, setup reminders on your phone/calendar to take the traditional morning tea, take a walk outside, lunch, the same, and afternoon tea break. Also take micro breaks every 30 minutes to look outside, get a few lungs full of fresh air and look to something in the far distance.
The biggest issue with WFH is that you are tempted to sit at your desk way more than you actually do in the office.
This though! Why do we sit more at a desk wfh than when in an office?
boss paranoia. Ironically when I was in the office, the manager who sat right beside me would not notice the dude next to me literally watching youtube on his phone by his keyboard 90% of the day.
It drove me fucking bananas, and made me incandescent with rage that at that time management refused to let people work from home. This was just before covid times.
After the first lockdown happened I refused to return. Management need training on how to manage staff, check workloads and staff activity, simple stuff like managing an agile sprint or shit just monitor Jira... not demand that staff need to commute to the office. Bums on seats metrics of performance.
I tend to change room every couple of hours. Early morning in bed, then in my office for meetings, then hang out in the lounge for a while, then back to the office (or bed if it's cold). At lunchtime I often take the dogs for a short walk, or eat my lunch out on the deck with a book.
I also squeeze in the 5-10 minute housework jobs (like hanging up the laundry) when I need a break from staring at the screen. When I worked in an office I used to get all my best ideas driving to and fro - now I get them at the washing line.
I've done coworking spaces a few times when I had appointments in town that I needed to fit my work around, and I found them pretty hohum. At one stage I was going to the same space once a week and got a nice friendly vibe going with two other people there, but when I'm dropping in more casually it always feels a bit awkward to me. I'm quite introverted though and I have the dogs at home so I'm pretty chuffed with not having to interact with people every day.
We have neighbours who work from home, it's nice to catch up with other workers even if in a different field. Go for a walk and see if you can find some, or anyone nearby who just is home - parental leave, elderly. Have a coffee with them
Really embrace any technology you have. Reach out to people via Teams, play the Games for Work with some randos, use Storyline to share your interests, start a movie club etc. Pretty soon you'll be saying "oh bummer, I've got another call coming through..."
Same, my neighbour is work from home and we go for a walk almost every day. Even been round for after work drinks too
I've found two things really help, both are variations on the same theme: work from home just like you would work from the office.
1) I turned my spare bedroom into a home office, I go there to go to work, I leave there when work is done. I don't work from the lazyboy while watching tv, I don't work from the kitchen table, I don't let anyone else in the household bother me when I'm at work. The home office is a workplace.
2) I keep normal business hours. I'm at work by 9, I close the laptop and leave work by 5:30. I don't work outside office hours just because other people do, nor do I work 15 hours straight just because I could. Because there is a lack of outside clues about time passing I have to block out my outlook calendar to make sure I have a lunch break and make sure I know when 5:30 is coming. It clearly helps other people understand what I'm doing when they timeslip or keep otherwise flexible hours.
I find the lack of movement the worst part. I try to go for a run or walk every morning before work to get outside. If I have time I do some yoga or stretching too. I also find I feel happier if I do some kind of exercise at lunch too like a walk or workout video. Or I end the day with exercise. Basically I try to move a lot and go outside. Having coffee out on the deck is nice!
I have been thinking about going to gym classes so I can see some people but I'm quite introverted so haven't committed yet.
Also having something to do after work like a pub quiz helps too.
Days without meetings are hard because you might not talk to anyone at work all day. There's always at least one team doing an afternoon quiz online so I join in if I'm feeling lonely.
I hit the local gym at lunch. It's an easy 10min walk from home, crank out an hour of praise to Brodin and walk home.
Not only is it great for mental/physical health but I've dropped 23kg and built some decent muscle too boot.
You'll probably be in some boring long meetings where you won't need your laptop. Switch to your phone for those ones, put on Bluetooth earbuds and go out for a walk. Time flies when you're doing two things at once.
I feel ya, I have the option of working from home 1-2 days, but usually don't as I prefer the social aspect. If I take the odd day at home no issue. But during the lockdown days I would take long lunch breaks, walk, workout session in the garage. Luckily my wife was also at home so that made it easier as we still had the shared social aspect, but funnily enough only saw each other while grabbing a quick coffe in the kitxheny or at lunch, then we would scurry away to our offices/space.
I've been WFH for a few years, I love it!
I like the idea of going to a coworking space but have never gotten round to it.
Midday naps are sometimes good too.
Have you considered virtual commutes? The most common variant is to go for a walk for 30-60 mins after you finish work for the day; that allows you time to unpack the day, and when you get home you arrive at your haven instead of turning away from your workstation and immediately being faced with cooking or household maintenance.
Ultimately I couldn't do it.
Gigs 1 & 2 were great, outcome based not hours, great products at the end.
Gig 3 and an absent and lazy team everything was a battle to get done
Gig 4 was a pretty good gig, high paying, low hours, heaps of corpo nonsense but it just got plain boring after like 6 months
Gig 5 was also quite good, cool people, got extended
But Constant change got hard, burnout in each job hit earlier, profitable but ultimately lonely and unfulfilling.
Going back into the office fulltime never works again though.
The best I've found now is a hybrid, something to get you up and dressed and out in the world just enough to be healthy and socialised while being left to live your life and do the heavy lifting when you're in the zone for it.
Did take a financial hit at a bad time to take a financial hit for it though. But much happier for it overall.
All the best, I guess the moral of this story is, it's great for a while but for most it's not a good forever thing to do. I liked to garden in between tasks.
WFH for the past 5 years.
Take regular breaks. 45min on, 15 min break. In the breaks I play with the cat, chill on the balcony, tinker with the guitars or go for a stroll round the garden with a cup of coffee.
Learn to run. Seriously, crack out a couple Km during lunch time and then have a refreshing shower. Clears the mind and gives you a boost for the second half of the day.
Make lunch. I mean actual meals. WFH gives the opportunity to control your diet way better.
Make lunch. I mean actual meals.
This is such a huge benefit of WFH. More so if you're into low'n'slow BBQ :D
Our company rents desks at a coworking space and we all meet there 2-3 days a week but still avoiding the peak hour traffic, good compromise. There are just 3 of us so doesn’t make sense having our own full time office with its overheads.
I put documentaries on while I work. The background noise helps me focus, and it comes in handy if your team does the Stuff quiz regularly. You'd be surprised how many nature questions you can answer because Attenborough's narration is now lodged in your brain.
I also get a lot of housework done in short bursts while waiting for someone to get something back to me.
mid-day tug is always nice
Just the one time.. or... (asking for a mate btw)
I hated fully remote. Didn't have any flatmates so it was super isolating.
Going for walks and meeting people for lunch and after work helped
I go into the office one day a week. Walk the dog at lunch. Video game on lunch break. Workout. Run around after kids.
Definitely make sure you make an effort to get out of the house on the weekends.
Once a week I meet team mates for coffee. Always walk at lunchtime too
Generator as a communal office space is great!
if you live in chch go for a walk outside does me well
Go out for lunch
Go to the gym / go for a walk / have lunch out every now and then
Tell your employer your mental health and well being is suffering and you want to work back at the office.
That you are not a solitary creature.
I walk my dogs around our paddock at lunch time, takes around 20mins but it’s good to get outside. Once a week I drive my car up to the local shops and buy my lunch.
Are there any drop in communal workspaces near where you live? Or perhaps a cafe?
Walk the dog at lunch time. Otherwise, Netflix on my phone as background noise if I don't feel like tunes.
I'm a introverted hermit by nature, so WFH life really suits me well.
Go for a lunchtime walk, buy a sit-stand desk and use the stand function for atleast a couple of hours a day, have a cheeky wank, do some home cooking/baking when you have a spare moment in the day.
These are all things I do / have done in my time being fully remote for the past 2-ish years.