Moving to home office (mostly)
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
When you're in the "office", you're "unavailable" unless it's business.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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When you're in the "office", you're "unavailable" unless it's business.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
I've been working from home for 3 years - the only one who doesn't abide by the 'unavailable' rule is the dog. He goes bonkers when he sees a furry creature outside and I have to mute my microphone :)
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I've been working from home for 3 years - the only one who doesn't abide by the 'unavailable' rule is the dog. He goes bonkers when he sees a furry creature outside and I have to mute my microphone :)
Craig Robbins wrote:
the only one who doesn't abide by the 'unavailable' rule is the dog. He goes bonkers when he sees a furry creature outside and I have to mute my microphone
Yep, I know this one all too well. :laugh: :sigh:
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A good point, but not because of herself (she is out working)... but the kids... I talked to them about it and explained, but probably will be problems until they totally understand and get used to it...
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
Yes what DerekTP said, do NOT allowed the kids to interrupt you, if the door is closed it must stay closed till you open it! Get a BIG do not disturb sign. I wish I had had a forest to walk in when I worked from home and decent internet connection (I was on dial up back then)
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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One thing not mentioned - make sure the background for those video calls is decent or use one of those plugins or whatever they are that fakes your background. Also - when working at an office, people tend to have the courtesy to notice you're talking with someone else or if not, ask if it's an ok time to talk about something. Working from home, besides the emails, there is often a constant barrage of Team chats, because of course nobody knows if you're busy talking to someone else -- a feature that any chat program really should have, like a "get in line" feature. Some days there are times where I'll be having 3 chats on 3 different topics going on simultaneously. Personally, that can be mentally exhausting because of the context switching, not to mention being distracted from the task I'm actually trying to work on. Consider whether management/the team is ok with designated chat times so you can focus on work during some parts of the day and be available for chats at other designated times.
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SVG Grids: Squares, Triangles, Hexagons with scrolling, sprites and simple animation examplesTeams might be integrated with outlook (yeah, I know... but it is employer decission), so your status is seen by other people in the same domain / active directory. If I am phoning it shows "speaking" or "meeting" if I am attending one If I am in a scheduled task it shows "busy" If I am idling more than 5 min it shows "AFK" And you can always set the "do not disturb" manually. Not that everyone will pay attention or respect that status, but there is some people that do comply.
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Quiet is good, a comfortable chair and a good desk. A designated work area is a good idea, rather than lying on the sofa with the lappie on your chest. If you act like it's an office, then you work like it's an office. Dress smart casual - like you would in an office. It may sound weird, but what you wear affects how you think. Slobbing out in tracky bottoms and a T is comfortable, but it's also "slobby" - and your brain knows that so the inclination is to act like a slob as well. A time lock on the fridge helps keep the weight down ... there is a lot of potential for snacking which is a problem. If you go to the kitchen for a coffee, ket a coffee and leave. Don't grab a sandwich, or biscuits - if you normally eat bickies at work, keep them in the office area. Time management is also important: have "work hours" and "off hours" - and try to stick to them. Don't goof off in work hours, don't work in off hours. And enjoy the commute! I didn't realize how much stress and wasted time was involved until I stopped doing it and started walkign ten paces to get to my desk. :D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Griff says most of it quite well. Dressing decently also means one is ready to do an unscheduled zoom/skype session without shame. I would add: take good long walks everyday "without fail". I walk 2-4 miles a day. It doesn't take much time (a comfortable 2 mile walk takes about 45-60 min). One's brain and body will be much better for it.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day" Badfinger
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
My two cents: 1) Excellent chair. Go for office chairs with lumbar support, neck support and possibly extensible leg support. 2) Good monitor, keyboard and mouse. Do not, I repeat, do not work on your laptop. 3) Check the lighting and window positions, adjust with obscurants if needed. 4) Clean and ordered desk and cable management. This is incredibly important for home office productivity.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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A locked door to keep the wife, kids, and pets out. :-D
ed
Honestly my wife in the room would be the only thing that keeps me sane. I would bring her to work if I could, too bad she works elsewhere.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Standing and typing a lot is not a good combination indeed, but I try to avoid sitting too long as it's not a healthy thing. Mostly when I have finished something I crank the desk up and do some "monitoring" just some mouse clicking here and there, checking email, builder progress, Microsoft Teams etc.
Where I live I have to take a 15 minutes pause every 2 consecutive hours of work at a videoterminal by law.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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I do not know about trackball... never had one I - to be honest - do not feel like trying it... It look huge...I'm using small-size mouse... very simple... I will have a KVM (not sure what type) from the office, to enable to use both my own desktop computer and the one they will provide (I'm still not sure if I want a laptop or a small NUC)...
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
I use a KVM - it means that you only need one mouse, one keyboard, one screen, one headphone set; everything is familiar and desk space is minimised. Some folks may suggest VPN or Remote Connection as an alternative but it is best to have a clean separation; it saves risks of company secrets leaking out or home viruses leaking to your company's network. A KVM provides that separation - one click and you are at work, one click and you are at home.
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My two cents: 1) Excellent chair. Go for office chairs with lumbar support, neck support and possibly extensible leg support. 2) Good monitor, keyboard and mouse. Do not, I repeat, do not work on your laptop. 3) Check the lighting and window positions, adjust with obscurants if needed. 4) Clean and ordered desk and cable management. This is incredibly important for home office productivity.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
Yes, what he said. I would only add Time management as a major component. Hardware is the easy part. Starting at a specific time, taking an actual lunch break, and quitting at a designated time, is the hardest part for me. Act just like you are used to time wise. Start working when you normally do, stop working when you usually do. It is very easy to think of 5:00 as just a number on the clock but putting in 14 hour days can sneak up on you and will burn you out. I know this as a fact. I also know you can recover from burn out (most folks do) but it's not fun. Other than that and the suggestions above you really should enjoy the extra time you have and you will find you can have a productive day and 5 meetings without missing a beat! It only takes a couple of min. to set up a teams meeting and if you have an agenda for them they are usually very productive.
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
It depends. @OriginalGriff covered most of the high points, but the "depends" is what are your employers expectations of you working at home. I moved from full-time office to full-time at home during Covid. My hours were 7:30 to 4:30 and it was expected that I be available during that time. I basically got up the same time as I had, not taking credit for the 15min commute difference. I got dressed for the most part as if I were going to the office, though I went more for jeans and sneakers with a casual dress shirt. During that time, my productivity increased; I had less interruptions at home, and my family understood that work was work, and left me alone. The dog, not so much, but really wasn't a bother. I actually lost weight since there were no sugary office snacks and I could make better lunches. It wasn't unusual to stretch the day a bit at the end, as there was no incentive to follow the herd out the door at 4:30. Early last year, I semi-retired and began working as a consultant for my employer and another organization. I trade off hours as I want. I was able to escape this winter and work remotely with an endless summer. There are still things I need to do during working hours some days, but if I want to work at 6am or 6pm, I generally can. That really goes to the 'depends' as well. If the company just wants productivity and isn't concerned about availability, logging the 40 hours a week can be super-productive. It takes a mindset to do that. Even after retiring, it took a while to not feel guilty about mowing the lawn on Tuesday morning or using a nice day to have some fun. But that's a different world. Two quick tips I'd add. Get the best internet connection you can. If fiber is available at a higher cost, it's a tradeoff for your commuting cost. And have a data plan on your cell phone just in case. Didn't happen often, but my primary connection with Comcast had issues at times and I had to tether the phone. The second one is desk location if you need to do zoom meetings. Don't worry about the background, you can use a background image and the latest versions of those work well. But lighting can be a factor. Having a window behind you can be a challenge to get the light right and it varies depending on the time of day. Enjoy it and if you miss the office, you can always venture in a day a week or whatever.
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Standing and typing a lot is not a good combination indeed, but I try to avoid sitting too long as it's not a healthy thing. Mostly when I have finished something I crank the desk up and do some "monitoring" just some mouse clicking here and there, checking email, builder progress, Microsoft Teams etc.
I have a motorized standing desk - smooth to raise/lower. I stand for all calls. I'm much more focused and don't rock in my chair when on video. I tested several before purchasing one - don't let price drive the decision. This is one area where you get what you pay for - sturdy is better. My screen sits on the desk and I type "aggressively" (or so I'm told). My screen doesn't shake. This was the second-best upgrade to my home office (after working remotely for 10+ years) after a 43" 4K TV to use as a monitor. Much cheaper than a large monitor, better than 4 24" screens, and since I'm not using it for video games, no worries about the lower specs. A full-screen file compare between current and history in Visual Studio with solution explorer open is still very doable - very little (if any) horizontal scrolling. Showering/getting dressed/shaving is important, especially early on, to keep your mind in the game. Having a reasonable schedule so you're starting about the same time every day is good as well. Use Teams/Slack-type chat to stay in touch with your team - we have channels for various projects, general team discussions (is VPN down for you?), and individual chats to still be part of the team.
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I have a motorized standing desk - smooth to raise/lower. I stand for all calls. I'm much more focused and don't rock in my chair when on video. I tested several before purchasing one - don't let price drive the decision. This is one area where you get what you pay for - sturdy is better. My screen sits on the desk and I type "aggressively" (or so I'm told). My screen doesn't shake. This was the second-best upgrade to my home office (after working remotely for 10+ years) after a 43" 4K TV to use as a monitor. Much cheaper than a large monitor, better than 4 24" screens, and since I'm not using it for video games, no worries about the lower specs. A full-screen file compare between current and history in Visual Studio with solution explorer open is still very doable - very little (if any) horizontal scrolling. Showering/getting dressed/shaving is important, especially early on, to keep your mind in the game. Having a reasonable schedule so you're starting about the same time every day is good as well. Use Teams/Slack-type chat to stay in touch with your team - we have channels for various projects, general team discussions (is VPN down for you?), and individual chats to still be part of the team.
The VPN discussion is a big thing over here too :-\
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
When my company did an office change that required most of the staff to begin to work from home, they sent us with our own chairs, monitors, etc, in addition to our laptops. Still, I much prefer my own monitor, keyboard and mouse to those provided, so my work space is shared with my home office space (I just move the accessories over to my personal laptop). You need a definite workspace with a good office chair and a desk expansive enough to hold everything you need. The rest is all dependent on your own discipline and practices. Log on at the same time every day and work through as you would at the office, taking only the same breaks you would there. When you are finished for the day, shut your laptop and leave the room even if, like my your home office is in the same space. Walk away from the screen for a while at least; interact with the other people in your home; go to the gym. Enjoy your extra time from no longer commuting.
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Yes, what he said. I would only add Time management as a major component. Hardware is the easy part. Starting at a specific time, taking an actual lunch break, and quitting at a designated time, is the hardest part for me. Act just like you are used to time wise. Start working when you normally do, stop working when you usually do. It is very easy to think of 5:00 as just a number on the clock but putting in 14 hour days can sneak up on you and will burn you out. I know this as a fact. I also know you can recover from burn out (most folks do) but it's not fun. Other than that and the suggestions above you really should enjoy the extra time you have and you will find you can have a productive day and 5 meetings without missing a beat! It only takes a couple of min. to set up a teams meeting and if you have an agenda for them they are usually very productive.
Personally time management is the least of my issues, it allows me to work better. I usually shift evrything by an hour, doing 10 - 18, as it's my most productive time range. And while I occasionally worked overtime it had the same frequency of when I work in the office, epsecially considering how in no company I ever worked with overtime is allowed unless preemptively authorized by the boss for each instance and a set duration, plus the law fixes maximum overtime caps daily, weekly and yearly.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Honestly my wife in the room would be the only thing that keeps me sane. I would bring her to work if I could, too bad she works elsewhere.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
You haven't been married very long then. :-D Or, you have married a quite exceptional lady.
Married 50 years and loving every second of it.
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You haven't been married very long then. :-D Or, you have married a quite exceptional lady.
Married 50 years and loving every second of it.
6 years married, 13 living together, 17 as a couple. I firmly believe she is an exceptional lady. The breaks are much better when I'm with my loved ones, it calms me at a deep level.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Our office is moving to a location, way to far to me to commute every day (an additional hour and half to the existing two hours)... So I will start to work from home most of the days, and the question is - for those doing it already - what are the important things for a productive home office?
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
I read most of the replies, especially OG and DerekT-P. I’d only add that your equipment (computer and peripherals) should be at least on par with business supplies items. And your internet connection be fast and stable. The cost is offset by reduced commute costs. Cheers,
Time is the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage of human events. - Manly P. Hall Mark Just another cog in the wheel
