Finding the right work environment
What I learned about productivity and focus while working remotely
Like many of us, I used to commute to an office every day. For some jobs it was reasonable: 20 minutes in the morning, maybe 30 on the way home because of traffic. Others, not so much.
I haven’t been in an office since everything shut down during COVID. The job I had at the time was in the Bay Area and my 12 mile commute sometimes took over an hour each way. I’m sure there are worse commutes out there, but I still would not wish that kind of drudgery on anyone. My weekdays were whittled down to waking up early, sitting in traffic, working an entire day, sitting in traffic again, barely having enough time to make dinner, going to sleep, repeat. I don’t know how long I would have continued with that, but I don’t think I would have lasted much longer if we hadn’t all suddenly started working from home.
Fast-forward a bit and I’ve now been working remotely for 5 years. At first everything was great. No more commuting, plenty of time to cook all my meals, and more space to myself without being distracted by coworkers or office noise. However, those office distractions were soon replaced by things like laundry, cleaning, and having easy alternatives when work felt boring.
I never enjoyed that feeling of being watched or “monitored” at work. Not that I think there was anyone specifically doing that, but there was a certain amount of social pressure in a tech company environment that kept me wanting to appear constantly busy. While that was stressful and tiring, I found that once that was gone it was a lot easier to be distracted by other things.
I’ve gone through times where I’ve felt very productive and others where I struggled to make meaningful progress. It’s likely different for everyone, but over time, I think I’ve found what works well for me.
Setting a timer and allowing for breaks
You may have heard of pomodoro timers before. It’s a timed interval of focus, followed by a break. At some point, I tried doing this and was surprised at how much it helped me. I usually set a timer for 30 minutes, sometimes 45. During that time, I force myself to ignore any distractions and give all my attention to what I’m trying to accomplish. When the timer goes off, I set another timer for 5 or 10 minutes to have a break and let my mind wander again or maybe get up to walk around the house.
The break serves as a reward for focusing, and for me, it works quite well.
Changing locations
I’ll often start a workday early in the morning at a coffee shop. Sure, I could make coffee or tea at home, but that’s not the point. Getting up and out of the house forces me to get started with my day instead of sleeping longer or only doing a minimal amount of movement to get to my desk. There’s also not really anything else to do at the coffee shop, so I find it easier to get started on something.
Throughout the rest of the day, I’ll generally move between my desk, the kitchen table, and maybe also outside if the weather is nice. Changing scenery reduces that feeling of monotony that can occur, especially if I’m doing something less engaging.
Lots of light
Natural light is one of the most impactful things for my productivity. I’ve found that on clear sunny days, sitting near some big windows or working outside makes me happier and allows me to be more creative.
I now live in an area with long winters where the sun rarely peeks through the clouds (the trade-off of enjoying skiing). When spring comes around and there are actually full days of sun, the difference is remarkable. When I can, I like to take trips during the winter to get out of the constant gray and go somewhere sunny. This is usually a working trip visiting family, but the occasional vacation is nice, too.
When that isn’t possible, I’ve found a “happy light” can also work. This is just a light that sits on a desk and attempts to mimic the light from the sun. They’re easily found on Amazon or elsewhere online. It’s not a replacement for a sunny day, but it does give me a little boost when I need it.
Choosing the types of work based on how I feel
I have certain times of day where my brain can handle complex thinking and problem solving, and other times where it can’t. Instead of trying to push through that fatigue, I try to save certain tasks for when I’m not feeling that level of mental clarity and focus.
Mornings are my prime time for programming, learning new things, or general problem solving. Once I get to early afternoon, my brain tends to get a little foggy. When I worked in an office and felt the need to keep going, I would sometimes have afternoon caffeine to try to push through the rest of the day. Predictably, that only worked for a little while before I started sleeping poorly and made it even more difficult.
With having my own work and my own schedule, I like to save things like emails, checking metrics, thinking about new features, etc. for those afternoon lulls. While I don’t think it’s necessary to work exactly the same amount of hours every day and every week, this has allowed me to continue making progress throughout the day by aligning the brain power required for a task with what I feel like I have available at the time.
The freedom that comes with working remotely is huge and I would find it difficult to go back to full-time office work. While there were some positives, I much prefer being able to fit my work into the rest of my daily life instead of having my entire life be constrained by my work.
It took awhile to find the right flow that works for me, but now I feel happier and more productive than I ever did working in a sea of desks at an office.
If you’ve had similar experiences, or completely different ones, I’d be curious to hear what kind of work environment is best for you and your productivity. Leave a comment and let me know. 🙂