Anyone else have trouble working from home?

[DanteMenethil]

I just can't concentrate. To be honest, Ive barely done any work since last wednesday. Ive shut down my gaming computer but I just end up being on my cellphone. Now Im getting anxious from not doing work and that anxiety is paralyzing me from getting over that hump. I feel like trash. Ive scheduled a meeting with my doc to get back on adderall, I hate that shit but I cant deny it works. I thought I was fine with coffee + work environment to cruise by but now working from home is making me go back to my old ways.

I just wanted to vent I guess, anyone else relate?

 

[Mendrox]

No even getting more things done. It's a blessing. But I am also disciplined to only enjoy things if I got my things done.

I would feel like trash too if I would be lazy right now and not enjoy the things I enjoy after work so get over that huddle mate. You could also do 20/20 at first, working 20 minutes, enjoying something 20 minutes repeat. Just remind yourself that most people don't work 8 hours in a work day so there is that too. It's normal.

 

[JeffGubb]

Yeah. I'm struggling. Of course, I've been doing it for most of the last decade now, so I'm expecting to get the hang of it any day now.

 

[Nugnip]

I have zero issues working from home. I am absolutely not on Era replying to random threads. No sir.

 

[Zampano]

Yah I end up on my phone or playing games.

 

[THEVOID]

Nope. I get way more done at home, when I'm not traveling to get to work. I save 3 hours a day.

 

[nicoga3000]

I worked from home for 2 weeks when my dog got diagnosed with Epilepsy. I hated it, but it could have been because I was so fixated on my pup to make sure he was OK. It was the only time in my entire life that I felt legit anxiety and REAL stress.

That said, I've done some work at the house over the weekend before...It wasn't bad, but it took me longer to get the same stuff done because I was surrounded by distractions.

 

[cvxfreak]

I've worked at home for the last 6 years and it can be tough early on. The number of distractions are there and in a normal remote working environment, you'd have the flexibility to go to a cafe for a change of pace. I think the best strategies that worked for me are:

• Don't worry about the time unless you have a specific deadline. You might find out you're most productive late at night or early in the morning.
• Keep a memo pad on your desk and write down (by hand) everything you need get done that day the night before. Then, cross it all off as you go. You don't have to do everything in order.
• Take breaks as often as you need. Go outside for a little bit (take a walk, go to the corner/convenience store; please respect social distancing), do a quick errand, etc.
• Look into dressing as if you were going to the office. This has never been an issue for me, but some people might feel more productive if they wear business casual or a suit at home. (Or you may very well be most productive in your pajamas).

 

[Drek]

I've been working from home a day or two a week for much of the past three years. My tips would be:

1. Use what would be your commute time to get centered on work. That should include outlining your daily tasks and goals and/or updating your planner but can also include carving out 10-15 minutes for mindfulness/meditation. A lot of guided meditation apps have ones for work.

2. Use a time management strategy like Pomodoro. If using something like Pomodoro that pushes for frequent small breaks use those breaks to get up and move around as well as doing things that disconnect you from the workspace. I have my home office set up where my main display and KB/M setup can switch between my gaming PC and my work laptop with just two button pushes, so instead of flipping over to your gaming PC when its your break just step away and do something non-electronic, like read a book.

On the plus side if your phone is the issue many free Pomodoro timers offer a phone lock feature, so you can only do phone junk during your breaks.

3. Give yourself some background stimulus that doesn't distract you. My strategy is generally podcasts/music in the morning until the daily tasks and whatnot are done, then if I'm being productive all morning I can often stop the Pomodoro after lunch, turn on Netflix, and just respond to emails as they come in and do light research, outlining the next day, week, month, etc. for myself.

4. Set the tone for your day similar to a regular work day. Get up and shower, get dressed, etc. if you feel like all that helps center you. At least have a different "work from home" set of sweats or something. If at all possible have a discrete work area. I hang out in my home office quite a bit because thats where my gaming PC and VR setup are, but those are similarly high engagement activities as work and they're separate from the rest of the house so I'm focused in there.

5. If you need to stop and go get something take a few seconds and thing about anything else you might need. Taking a bathroom break? Use that pause to also refill the water/coffee/grab a mid-morning snack/etc.. Avoid needing to keep pausing for small trivial things and hold yourself accountable for efficiently using those pauses.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

Love working from home. Only downside really is I end up working more hours because I don't have to commute. Just easier to stay online so I do. I shouldn't though.

 

[Ravelle]

I work in IT support for my company but it has been fine so far, people aren't allowed to call anymore, only to be called and leaving digital tickets for their problems and questions.

Also helps you don't have people behind you having conversations, I can open a window for fresh air and oxygen, I can do some Ring Fit Adenture exercises every 30 minutes, have a nice walk in the park on my break. My own fridge and coffee, natural sun light in my room instead of TL lights. I can put on some music without bothering anyone or have something on on my second monitor.

I can sleep in a little longer and when the clock hits 5, I'm already home.

 

[THEVOID]

Love working from home. Only downside really is I end up working more hours because I don't have to commute. Just easier to stay online so I do. I shouldn't though.

Click to shrink...

Same. The downside for me is I'm always working. I have trouble stopping myself from working.

 

[GokouD]

Well the kids are off school now and don't have any sort of office space in my house, so it's going about as well as you might expect! And when I do get a quiet spell, I find myself playing Animal Crossing...

 

[Skade]

Yeah, my appartment is a temple dedicated to distractions. Kinda hard to concentrate when there's so much temptation around.

One would say : move to a room where there isn't has much ! Sure, but to that i respond : i'm in a studio. A rather big one (relative to studios in France that is), sure, but a studio nonetheless, unless i try to work from my bathroom, there isn't any place i can sit wth my work computer and not be around something more interesting.

 

[DanteMenethil]

Thanks everyone for the advices and tips! Yeah working from home is new to me and I need to adjust

 

[shaneo632]

Nah I've been doing it for years. I love it. So much time saved without having to commute anyway, and I can have quicker lunches. Gives me like 2 hours more free time per night than the average person.

 

[lt519]

I think under these circumstances it is a little more difficult. I occasionally worked from home before and never had a problem but now with the constant news drip feed, the market, having my wife work from home too, etc. The anxiety is higher and its harder to get work done.

 

[Temascos]

Doing what I can but it's difficult, plus there's not many tasks being handed out. My friend in Munich is in the same position and he works in events with Audi, so we're thinking of working on something, but it's in the early stages.

In a month's time my work contract will end, then I will have bugger all to do.

 

[TheJackdog]

I was fine at first but as the days go on not EVER leaving the same spot is starting to drive me up a wall

 

[Dr. Mario]

I have to homeschool the kids. Luckily my wife is working from home too, so we split the day up in two. I homeschool them in the morning while she works, and then she has the afternoon with the kids while I work, and we switch around each day.
However, the resulting half days are just completely full with endless skype meetings, so yeah my work output is effectively zero these past two weeks.

 

[kyle mechlachlan]

I have no problem working from home in general... but having problems working from him in this case because I'm finding it hard to care about a dumb job during this disaster.

 

[Kittens McMittens]

It can go either way - sometimes the problem with working from home is that you end up living at work. I'm a student right now, so pretty much all my free time is taken up by studying and assignments. It's hard to stop. I pretty much have to force myself to stop and eat / play a game or something. I still end up procrastinating a lot though.

They key is to just focus on what you need to get done. Don't stress about 9-5, just focus on your deliverables and your deadlines. When you get into the habit of working when you're most productive, you'll probably find you have the opposite problem of not knowing when to stop working. It will realistically take you a few weeks to adjust though.

 

[electricblue]

about the same distraction level as being at work except I don't have to wear headphones here.
I try to set a goal for myself everyday, once I accomplish that I don't get much else done :P

 

[RetroMG]

I've worked from home a lot and I'm usually pretty productive. Not as productive as in the office, but I think that's pretty normal.
The last few days though, it's been rough. I don't care about this work, not when there's a big scary pandemic roaming around the streets or the economy feels like it's on the brink of collapse.

 

[Snake Eater]

Working at home usually meant someone taking their laptop to different locations to work remotely

but 24/7 in one location is maddening

 

[Team_Feisar]

No Problem when there´s a specific task at hand that has to be done. Big problem when there is "nothing" to do and i have to actively define what work i have to do.
Right now, the pressing stuff that has to be done for work is finished and i could focus on my Thesis but i just cant concentrate on that now and get easily distracted.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Works perfect for me. I actually feel more productive and more relaxed while doing the work from home. Not having to commute by car is also a big time-, money-, CO2- and stress-saver. I hope one of the positive takeaways of this crisis is more home-office in general.

 

[nitewulf]

I just wanted to vent I guess, anyone else relate?

Click to shrink...

It depends. If the setup/connection is good, and I have tasks that are challenging and fun, I feel a lot more relaxed WFH. I can put on my music, or the Tv in the background. Keep making coffee, even take a 10 minute nap here and there. It all makes for a very relaxed environment. But I do also enjoy the social environment of the office, so typically I do like a ratio of 3 days on site, 2 days off site etc. But current situation is unprecedented, let's face it. Its not just WFH...I have not seen my friends in two weeks, and visit my parents every few days.

 

[crimzonflame]

At the office: I average about two hours of actual work
At home: less than an hour

 

[Plasma]

Nope I find it more distracting being at work because anyone can just come up to you and tap you on the shoulder and start talking to you, I get more done at home.

 

[Ventilaator]

Being at home is so much better, the part I'm going to have trouble with is having to go back to the office at some point.

 

[shnurgleton]

Work from home sucks

 

[CortexVortex]

Sometimes I am very productive, sometimes I just wanna start drinking at 2pm. Really depends on the day and if there is actually something to do.

 

[Bedameister]

Yeah, I haven't written anything in days. I just can't motivate myself at all

 

[BassForever]

Am I as efficient working from home? Of course not, but I get enough work done that any reduction in efficiency is generally not a problem. I'll usually offset my inefficiencies by taking a shorter lunch and working a bit later in the evening so it nets out. The positive of my cpa projects is I already have an idea of how long any kind of project should take, so as long as I charge 8 hours and show what looks like 8 hours of work nobody says a word.

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

You can tell who has noisy neighbors and who doesn't.

 

[Ac30]

I'm the exact same. I miss going to the office, working from home is just not for me.

 

[Skulldead]

Same, i have 2 and 4 year old kid. This is impossible for me to make any subtential progress. And yesterday they announce that they still close school for like another month and half (until may 1). I'm totally demolish, my moral never been that low since a long time....

 

[More_Badass]

The main issue is bandwidth; my mother and brother are also working/schooling from home, so the wi-fi will just cut out at various intervals throughout the day

But I also miss socializing with my team and the whole atmosphere at my job. Work isn't as enjoyable when there's no separation between home life and work life.

 

[Midas]

No issues. I probably need to get a better chair if this will continue.

 

[MrMysterio]

 

[Heart of Poumn]

I wish I had enough room in my place to have a work station instead of on the couch or having to keep rearranging my desk to swap between work and home computers.

 

[shenden]

I have fairly little do to at the moment, so it's not an issue. I definitely am more productive in office though, no contest.

Doesn't help having dates sexting/sending pictures to me during the time of crisis. SO MANY DISTRACTIONS.

 

[Modest Mauser]

I'm more productive on good days by virtue of saving so much time on commuting. But it's kind of a wash on my off days when it's hard to focus at home. If this ends up lasting longer than a few months I'll have to carve out a more discrete "office" space in my home somehow.

 

[texhnolyze]

Is there no reporting and coordination whatsoever with your co-workers and/or higher ups?

You can't simply not doing anything and get away with it. You get to get the job one at some point.

 

[Yoshimitsu126]

I finished all my tasks so idk what to do and its too early. But i logged in early so i can also leave early lol

 

[aett]

My job is mostly dependent on other people - without them giving me things to process, edit, track, etc., I don't have a lot to do. Since my whole office is WFH temporarily, everyone else's work has slowed down and so mine has dramatically. My bosses did have the office's main phone line forwarded to my personal cell, so I occasionally get calls, but since I can't actually forward them to anyone I just give the callers email addresses.

If this was permanent, I can see how it would be really easy to get lazy and forget to do the tasks I do get because it's been so infrequent. If I had my normal workload at home, and if my kids were back in school, then I think this would be pretty amazing.