working remote
I have some familiarity working remote and so far I came up with some points.
The first thing I do is to avoid accessing personal stuff during working hours but when I do, I use my phone.
I do not access news websites or blogs that I know will get my attention for several minutes and not help me at all. I save interesting links for later in my Notion page so I can access them later in the day. That way I am not missing anything interesting and I am not getting in the way of the work I have to do.
Now I can do that without much trouble and what helped me, in the beginning, was using a Pomodoro clock. The important thing here is playing fair, time to focus is time to focus.
Another important thing is having it clear what I have to do. I have a hard time staying focused when the task is not clear enough. I ask a lot of questions!
At home, it is important to have an organized place to work. Cluttered space gives us a cluttered mind so I keep it clean and organized all the time.
The kids understand that I am at home but I am working, but from time to time there is the occasional “dad, can you….” and there are times when stopping and talking to them is a good thing to do.
Like writer’s block, there is developer’s block so it is important to know when to stop and clear my mind.
Also, there are times when I have to grind a little more and get things out of the way.
When I take a break, I don’t do that in front of the computer, I go outside, go downstairs and play with the dogs, talk to the kids. I don’t watch YouTube videos or anything, I turn my mind off of technology so it can reset.
Sometimes, when my mind is foggy, I like writing down what is going on in my mind, 99% of the time I write it down and delete it.
The 1% usually becomes a blog post =)