Working Remotely And Feeling Good About It
Christopher Groskopf works remotely as a developer for NPR, and he wrote a post on OpenNews about what he’s learned about working from home:
Make yourself a very comfortable space to work in. My recommendations: big speakers, high-quality headphones, a comfortable desk (and an Aeron or Leap chair if you don’t stand), some nice pictures, and maybe even windows. Embrace the fact that you get to work at home. Sometimes my stereo competes with the helicopters that land at the hospital down the street. My coworkers don’t know the difference.
Force yourself to work reasonable hours. This is an easy one to screw up. If you’re comfortable and you like your job it’s pretty easy to just keep working until it’s time for bed. Don’t do it — unless you’re on deadline and then only if you can’t cut features instead of working into the night. Take breaks, walk outside, drink coffee, etc. You wouldn’t spend four solid hours at your desk if you worked in the office. You would talk to your coworkers or go for a walk once in a while. Try to maintain that normalcy and it will help the rest to feel normal.
I am working from home today because of the snowstorm and I have some good music going, a plate of gouda out, and just went out for a cup of coffee. Let’s see if I can get some reasonable hours in! (Also, the window thing is kinda important.)
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