Obviously, there are many reasons why that’s a good thing. But I do worry that it’ll erode the boundary between work and free time even further. The best jobs I’ve ever had, were when I had a time clock.
I arrived. I clocked in. I was working.
I clocked out. I was no longer working. I didn’t really think or worry about work that much.
With working from home, there’s a danger you keep working for longer, or are never truly mentally ‘off the clock’. The work day ends, but you’re in the kitchen and remember that thing you had to do, and quickly log back in. Or the boss, who’s used to calling you, calls you after hours to check something.
It’s important to have a hard dilineation between work and not work. For all its downsides, the commute to and from the office offered that.
If work from home is the new normal, we need to find new ways to safeguard that dilineation, and ensure work time doesn’t bleed into free time. Also, that the work space doesn’t invade our personal space too much. Like a box of work documents in the kitchen that makes you slightly stressed by its sheer presence.
It requires some self control, but it’s not that hard to create a boundary when working from home. I’d rather exercise some self control than waste so much of my time and energy on the daily commute. A boss calling you after hours for anything short of an emergency is a shitty boss. He could just as well do that if you’re not working from home, after all.
Set alarm, clock in, clock out. If you’re unable to do it at home it’s because you would have been unable to do it by going to the office, people do so much unpaid overtime no matter where they work, it’s ridiculous.
Eroding that boundary can also be in your favor… I can step away from the desk for a few minutes to start my laundry, prep something for dinner, or even just go to the grocery store during “lunch” because I can bring the food straight back home since I’m not far away from home at an office. Working remotely is giving me back time. And this isn’t time “lost” from the employer’s perspective… I’m just doing something useful with my break times rather than wandering down to the water-cooler to chat with other employees.
The trick is to allow only the erosion that you find acceptable. That’s a matter of personal organization and self-control, and each person has to set up a system that works best for them. I use a spare bedroom as my office, and I only go in there during working hours. Everything work-related stays in there.
you’re in the kitchen and remember that thing you had to do
You take your phone, mail a quick message to yourself “remember to do x” and continue cooking. It offloads the issue from your mind as you handled it for now and first thing tomorrow you will deal with it further.
Obviously, there are many reasons why that’s a good thing. But I do worry that it’ll erode the boundary between work and free time even further. The best jobs I’ve ever had, were when I had a time clock.
I’m the exact opposite. I like there being fewer boundaries between work and free time and these things blurring together more. I’m only allowed to be busy with work between 9:00 and 17:00? What if I’m stuck on something, I can’t do a chore in the house to clear my head? What if I have a good idea at 22:00, do I have to wait until the next morning to try it out?
For me this compartmentalization of my life feels unnatural. It feels much more natural to just flow between work and personal stuff. I may be struggling with how to implement something, so I’ll stop coding an empty the dishwasher, let the problem simmer in the back of my mind. Usually it’s cleared up after taking my mind off it for a while. It would be hell to have to just sit at my desk staring at my screen, trying to force my brain into doing something because now is ‘work time’ and I can only spend that time on work. In reality when I worked from the office every day that time would just have been wasted with some aimless web browsing.
I think we should move in the opposite direction: less separation of work and personal time and get rid of the whole concept of working and personal hours to begin with. Just do what needs to be done, when you want to do it.
one method I hear to enforce this mental boundary, though it’s not possible for everyone, is to sacrifice one room in the house as your office, and use it only as such
You’re thinking in the right direction. And, employers are going to increasingly insist on what I like to call repressionware, hardware and software installed in your home workspace that effectively leashes you to work, vitiating many of the advantages wfh gives today.
Employers will quickly learn that leashing a person to their laptop will not prevent wasted time, it’ll cause them to waste time in other ways, and will drive away talent. The only harm is when it impacts outcomes, which is easier and more beneficial to track.
It’s pretty obvious when someone is underperforming, you don’t need to know whether they’ve been doing the laundry between meetings.
I can’t imagine so many enjoy having work invade their personal lives. I built my home for comfort and relaxation, adding work into that destroyed my home. I bring zero work home with me, I don’t even think of it when I leave my office. Adding that into your home creates a dark place that will lead to depression.
Obviously, there are many reasons why that’s a good thing. But I do worry that it’ll erode the boundary between work and free time even further. The best jobs I’ve ever had, were when I had a time clock.
I arrived. I clocked in. I was working.
I clocked out. I was no longer working. I didn’t really think or worry about work that much.
With working from home, there’s a danger you keep working for longer, or are never truly mentally ‘off the clock’. The work day ends, but you’re in the kitchen and remember that thing you had to do, and quickly log back in. Or the boss, who’s used to calling you, calls you after hours to check something.
It’s important to have a hard dilineation between work and not work. For all its downsides, the commute to and from the office offered that.
If work from home is the new normal, we need to find new ways to safeguard that dilineation, and ensure work time doesn’t bleed into free time. Also, that the work space doesn’t invade our personal space too much. Like a box of work documents in the kitchen that makes you slightly stressed by its sheer presence.
It requires some self control, but it’s not that hard to create a boundary when working from home. I’d rather exercise some self control than waste so much of my time and energy on the daily commute. A boss calling you after hours for anything short of an emergency is a shitty boss. He could just as well do that if you’re not working from home, after all.
Set alarm, clock in, clock out. If you’re unable to do it at home it’s because you would have been unable to do it by going to the office, people do so much unpaid overtime no matter where they work, it’s ridiculous.
Eroding that boundary can also be in your favor… I can step away from the desk for a few minutes to start my laundry, prep something for dinner, or even just go to the grocery store during “lunch” because I can bring the food straight back home since I’m not far away from home at an office. Working remotely is giving me back time. And this isn’t time “lost” from the employer’s perspective… I’m just doing something useful with my break times rather than wandering down to the water-cooler to chat with other employees.
The trick is to allow only the erosion that you find acceptable. That’s a matter of personal organization and self-control, and each person has to set up a system that works best for them. I use a spare bedroom as my office, and I only go in there during working hours. Everything work-related stays in there.
You take your phone, mail a quick message to yourself “remember to do x” and continue cooking. It offloads the issue from your mind as you handled it for now and first thing tomorrow you will deal with it further.
…exactly the way you used to do it when you went to work at the office every day.
Yes, that’s the point to keep the same separation. I don’t sit on my work chair in private time either.
I’m the exact opposite. I like there being fewer boundaries between work and free time and these things blurring together more. I’m only allowed to be busy with work between 9:00 and 17:00? What if I’m stuck on something, I can’t do a chore in the house to clear my head? What if I have a good idea at 22:00, do I have to wait until the next morning to try it out?
For me this compartmentalization of my life feels unnatural. It feels much more natural to just flow between work and personal stuff. I may be struggling with how to implement something, so I’ll stop coding an empty the dishwasher, let the problem simmer in the back of my mind. Usually it’s cleared up after taking my mind off it for a while. It would be hell to have to just sit at my desk staring at my screen, trying to force my brain into doing something because now is ‘work time’ and I can only spend that time on work. In reality when I worked from the office every day that time would just have been wasted with some aimless web browsing.
I think we should move in the opposite direction: less separation of work and personal time and get rid of the whole concept of working and personal hours to begin with. Just do what needs to be done, when you want to do it.
When I have to work in an office and that happens, I am instead up half the night worrying about the consequences. I’d rather get sleep.
one method I hear to enforce this mental boundary, though it’s not possible for everyone, is to sacrifice one room in the house as your office, and use it only as such
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You’re thinking in the right direction. And, employers are going to increasingly insist on what I like to call repressionware, hardware and software installed in your home workspace that effectively leashes you to work, vitiating many of the advantages wfh gives today.
Employers will quickly learn that leashing a person to their laptop will not prevent wasted time, it’ll cause them to waste time in other ways, and will drive away talent. The only harm is when it impacts outcomes, which is easier and more beneficial to track.
It’s pretty obvious when someone is underperforming, you don’t need to know whether they’ve been doing the laundry between meetings.
I can’t imagine so many enjoy having work invade their personal lives. I built my home for comfort and relaxation, adding work into that destroyed my home. I bring zero work home with me, I don’t even think of it when I leave my office. Adding that into your home creates a dark place that will lead to depression.