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Ask HN: Has remote work made you procrastinate more?

by johndavid9991 on 4/17/22, 6:22 AM with 80 comments

• by codingdave on 4/17/22, 10:57 AM

  I feel far more productive working from home, both professionally and personally. I keep a running list of the tasks I want to accomplish. It includes my work, my hobbies, exercise, and my chores around the home. I just keep working that list, almost constantly, and get more done than I ever did while in an office. Because there is a variety of work and fun on the list, I don't get burned out. I also don't get overwhelmed because aside from updating the list, I focus on one task at a time. I do take breaks to just relax and spend time with family, of course.

  Working from home can turn into a blur of you do not manage your work and your time somehow. For some people, that just try to replicate the office and work 9-5 with some activity to replace the commute to give themselves a psychological distance from their "home" time. But I've found that the most productive remote workers are the ones who work a few hours at a time, a few times a day, and live their own life outside of those working times.

  I'd recommend playing with different schedules to find on that works for you, and be deliberate about what you are doing - work when you are working, play when you are playing, relax when you are relaxing.

• by DanHulton on 4/17/22, 9:42 AM

  Keep in mind, you're not just "working remotely" these past two years, you're "working remotely through a pandemic". These are two very different things.

  There are a lot of extra stressors that are involved in surviving through a pandemic, and honestly maybe your goal of not just surviving, but thriving, is unreasonable. Maybe just getting through it so you can kick-start your life on the other side is just fine!

  For example, if you were in an accident and had to undergo extensive physical therapy, you'd be a lot more understanding with yourself if you weren't also running marathons at the same time.

  Be kind to yourself, OP. This shit is hard and you're doing an important job just getting to the other side of it.

• by mft_ on 4/17/22, 9:54 AM

  I think there’s an effect that isn’t well-recognised, but which is something along the lines of “working-from-home-in-the-pandemic-low-level-chronic-burnout”.

  I see this a lot in many colleagues - everyone is just really tired, fed up, fighting to keep things on a level and just exist.

  It’s a weird concept, as (from a personal perspective) pre-pandemic, working from home was always a pleasanter, stress-reducing choice. So I don’t think it’s purely related to the location - but there’s definitely something happening on a large scale related to how we’ve been working and existing over the past couple of years now.

  Anyway, I wonder if this is what you’re describing? And if it is, then the ‘procrastination’ you describe maybe isn’t actually procrastination, but a natural (protective?) secondary reaction to something else going on in the background.

  And if so, the correct response is probably to recognise and accept it, not beat yourself up for not being productive, and instead figure out what you need to do to recover and heal.

• by Tepix on 4/17/22, 9:23 AM

  I think if you procrastinate at the office you have less of a bad conscience when you head home.

  OTOH when you procrastinate at home you end up working late to make up for it.

• by rjh29 on 4/17/22, 1:18 PM

  If you're not mentally in a good place, WFH combined with social isolation (lockdown) can be a pretty brutal combination. If you think you'll thrive more in an office job, go find one! The increased social opportunities and separation between work and home are beneficial for lots of people.

  You might also consider if you're in the right job. If you're not given engaging work, you don't care about the company's goals, and you're not being monitored/managed properly (due to WFH) it's easy to procrastinate. First step would be to discuss this with your supervisor, but changing job to a more interesting one, even if it pays less, might help.

• by tluyben2 on 4/17/22, 8:42 AM

  I personally spend less hours working but doing more when at home. I first thought it was procrastination until I measured my output and noticed that I was being far more effective and doing work in maybe 50% of the time so I can just take days off.

• by nvarsj on 4/17/22, 11:36 AM

  Oh yes, I struggled with this a lot. I started working full time remote about 4 years ago, then decided after a couple years it wasn't for me, and swapped to a short lived office job as the quarantine happened. It's only in the last few months I've been able to go to an office.

  The problem, for me at least, is that my brain doesn't want to swap to "work mode" when I'm at home. I can do it for the short term but over the long term I really struggle with focus at home.

  How did I cope with it? Well, sad to say, I never found anything that completely worked. Outside of lock down I'd go work in a coffee shop and that was my most productive time. Now, going into the office, it's crazy how productive I am compared to when I'm at home.

  I think all you can do is try to trick your brain into work mode. If you have space (which I didn't), a dedicated office that you only use for working is one approach. Only enter that room 9-5 when you're working. Other people have similar tricks. Prior to lock down, at least half the remote engineers I was working with had co-working offices they'd go to.

  Another trick I used was to have a dedicated pair of noise cancelling headphones just for working, and use them at home just like I did when in the office. This seemed to help quite a bit.

  I will say though that the flexibility of working from home is wonderful. But I never feel quite as productive work wise.

• by doix on 4/17/22, 11:03 AM

  When covid started, I was working for a different company that was traditionally 100% in the office. When we switched to work from home, the number of meetings doubled/tripled and I was definitely procrastinating more. It felt like there was no point starting anything because in 1 hour I'd have a meeting. And that statement was true the entire day. It was really hard to force myself to work during those 1-2 hour gaps between meetings.

  I switched to a startup that's fully remote and it feels much better now. I went and traveled east from the regular working hours and started work at 12 instead of 9. Then I spent the morning surfing/snowboarding (depending where I was). By the time I came back, I was physically exhausted but mentally prepared to work.

  I realized, for me, I procrastinate when I have too much physical energy. I wanted to get up and move around rather than sitting and coding. Maybe that could help you?

• by blenderdt on 4/17/22, 10:56 AM

  I work from home as a freelancer. As a freelancer I can decide to stop working when the job is done. This is completely different when you work for a boss. Then you start 'spreading' work over 8 hours per day. When you are in a office you don't notice this much because you have interaction with colleagues. But when you are alone at home you might start to wonder: why am I sitting behind my screen all day while I can do this job in 4 hours or less.

  And as others comment: the pandemic is also what influenced your mood. You sound a little down. And I think that is normal because most restrictions during the pandemic were very destructive for society.

  One fix for procrastination is to think about the first step for something you would like to do. Do you want to go walking outside: the first step is to put shoes on. Start doing only that and the rest will follow.

• by uuyi on 4/17/22, 9:46 AM

  If you’re overwhelmed seek comfort in the fact that if you do something then you have taken a step forward. Start with small reasonable things that take ten minutes. They give you the energy and motivation to do the big things. Eventually this builds into self control and organisation which allows you to do the huge things.

  When you get demotivated and start procrastinating look back at what you did to remind yourself what you can do.

  Oh and write lists. Lists are cool. Don’t procrastinate by spending ten hours reading HN trying to find some list software though; just use whatever you have on your phone already (I just use reminders on iOS). Don’t use some outliner software on a PC because you need that on you all day every day.

• by kewrkewm53 on 4/17/22, 11:27 AM

  It definitely has, mainly because I lack motivation for my work (very underpaid, boring tasks, temp contract). At the office there was more social pressure to do something other than reading the news, and I got some enjoyment from random discussion with co-workers. Now all that's left is endless boredom and apathy. I also struggle to separate work from my personal life due to living in a small apartment, I definitely could use a separate room to use as home office.

  I believe WFH would work great if my job was motivating and I could afford a proper house with clear physical boundaries between work and leisure. Small apartments are absolutely depressing if you have to spend nearly all of your waking hours in them.

• by kingkongjaffa on 4/17/22, 8:02 AM

  Probably less productive on an average day, but it’s also far saner for my mental health if I’m having an off day to be able to do less vs being forced to be at a desk in some office.

  As a result I have more high value deep work days where I can get difficult things done.

  The biggest thing is being able to proactively manage my own burnout without a manager physically breathing down my neck.

• by Beaver117 on 4/17/22, 4:55 PM

  Lol, I used to be a workaholic. Now for some reason I hate working. Barely work an hour a day (unless I'm oncall). Still haven't been fired.

• by psyc on 4/17/22, 8:07 AM

  No. Procrastinating is mostly a function of whether I want to do the thing.

• by dazc on 4/17/22, 8:07 AM

  A working environment where you set your own rules is an ideal breeding ground for bad habits to fester and take hold, you just have to develop new strategies to counter this.

  I have found that maintaining a daily routine is an effective way of dealing with procrastination. I still get those moments of thinking I should be wasting my time rather than doing something productive but knowing that it is only an hour until lunch, or 2 hours 'till nap time helps me push thorugh the tedium.

  I have also found that anything that requires creative thinking is best done early in the morning and simple mechanical stuff late in the afternoon.

  My easiest rule to adhere to, and my one concession to my procrastinating alter ego, is that from 12 noon until 2pm I can do what the hell I like.

• by forinti on 4/17/22, 1:13 PM

  WFH actually helps with healthy procrastination. Sometimes I just need to think a bit while washing the dishes or even take a short nap.

  There's no secondary task at work to help me rest my mind a little, nor a comfy sofa to get some rest.

• by cardanome on 4/17/22, 9:56 AM

  As my procrastination is mostly anxiety fueled, I have more ways to cope at home than in the office.

  In the office I would end up browsing social media to distract myself while at home there is lots of things to do from listening to loud music to just walking around, doing the dishes, stretching, going for a brisk walk and so on. It is way better.

  This also helps with my creativity as sometimes the best ideas come when I do house work. The best way to solve a problem is sometimes not found starring at a screen but when you allow yourself to relax.

• by hdjjhhvvhga on 4/17/22, 10:33 AM

  No! On the opposite: I try to do the work quickly so I have more time for my hobbies. It's fantastic!

  On the other hand, when I'm in the office, I'm a bit depressed and feel like a powerless slave, just can't wait to be free. Fortunately my companies has an elastic WFH policy but I'm not sure how long it will hold.

• by farhaven on 4/17/22, 5:04 PM

  I've been working mostly remotely for the last 10 years, I think if I remember correctly the only jobs I had an office at that I had to be physically present at were my very first job that I got immediately when I started attending university (held it for two years), and then half a year as a research assistant at the same university to bridge the gap between my 2nd job (that was already fully remote, as a research assistant) and my 4th job when I got my bachelor's degree.

  All others have been remote (with a few days/year spent at the office at most). I like to think that I'm more productive at home because there the way I show my work is to actually produce visible results instead of being at a certain place for a certain amount of time. It's IMHO way easier to goof off at the office.

• by bluishgreen on 4/17/22, 10:51 AM

  Just a datapoint. No, I procrastinate less now. My tip is to schedule remote co working, even if you are not working together, just talking to someone- planning your work and help them plan their work and end of day check etc has helped add structure better than onsite.

• by jacobmischka on 4/17/22, 10:42 AM

  Sometimes, but that was primarily because the job was very dull and didn't actually require much work. I would some days do absolutely nothing and it wouldn't matter at all (and I stopped feeling guilty before too long because I was being paid so little). When I was working from the office I would usually be motivated by people being around and fill those gaps of boredom with extra work, but when working remotely I realized how pointless that busywork was.

  I got a new job around 6 months ago, and now I feel more productive than ever because it's interesting and fulfilling.

• by ranguna on 4/17/22, 8:36 AM

  I procrastinated more at the office. There was always a time to go and play some ping pong with the mates, now not so much. It's non stop work except for lunch and maybe 10 mins during the afternoon.

• by Aeolun on 4/17/22, 10:52 AM

  I really only have to go to the office once every month to regain my apprecciation/motivation for working at home.

  And that is at like 5% occupation. Can’t imagine how horrible it’d be when everyone moves back to the office.

  I apparently had someone hotdesk in my spot (fair, it’s a kind of nice one, with a ultrawide screen near a window with a view), but when I saw someone had rearranged the stuff that had been in the same place for the previous 2 years, I found out how much I absolutely loathe the idea of anyone doing that.

• by difosfor on 4/17/22, 10:29 AM

  I struggle with procrastination in general, but yeah, working from home started out great for me for lack of noisy colleagues and diversions, but ended up making me feel lonely and unmotivated and messing up my daily rhythm. So I decided to go back to the office with the other people that feel likewise or have some obligations there and I really like it. Thankfully the office is still pretty quiet, so it's kind of the best of both worlds for me.

• by dandare on 4/17/22, 10:03 AM

  In my case not at all. While it is true that I may do laundry between meetings, even have a power nap, in the end I have more energy for the demanding marathon of work.

  One more important thing: I thrive in the environment were important things are written down. In my world it eliminates the power of "popular" people and cliques who work via "charming" and "politics".

• by projektfu on 4/17/22, 10:50 AM

  Yeah, I haven't been remote working but I tried working from home before with that result. Now I know I have ADHD.

• by brailsafe on 4/17/22, 9:48 AM

  Absolutely. April 2020. Lost the job because I couldn't do anything but go from my bed to work, no gym, no social, no stimulation from life. Somehow writing React components that render react components didn't suffice. Also I didn't respect my manager. But now it's better because I can do those things.

• by dt3ft on 4/17/22, 6:32 PM

  Absolutely not. I am definitely more productive working from home, at least 40% more. Whenever I go to the office, I spend at least half of the day in random off-topic conversations (where people talk to me while I’m trying to focus and write some code). Getting into the flow is almost impossible in the office.

• by mbrodersen on 4/18/22, 3:43 AM

  Not my experience at all. I am way more productive working from home. My home office is setup the way I like it, no interruptions from nice but noisy coworkers, the ability to cook healthy meals instead of buying expensive crap etc. I will not accept working for a company without a flexible WFH policy.

• by k__ on 4/17/22, 9:48 AM

  Not really.

  But I transitioned into it from a one year sabbatical in 2014.

  The job I had before was full-time employment in an open office. I never procrastinated more in my life.

  Currently, I'm self-employed and work from home. Now, I simply work explicitly less and take time off more often, so the procrastination turned to something more enjoyable.

• by Claude_Shannon on 4/17/22, 9:44 AM

  Not work, but university. I had nearly failed my first year at it, it was fully remote. I could not focus at all on the lectures or my homework, I've spend the whole year on my phone.

  Now that we get some stationary lessons, it's going better, and I've got some contact with my peers.

• by hbogert on 4/17/22, 9:35 AM

  Wouldn't call it procrastinate. but I do play a game of dota2 every now and then. Then again, I still put in more hours than the contract says, so...

• by sys_64738 on 4/17/22, 11:42 AM

  No, it makes me more productive. I only go in for whiteboard design sessions and that forces decisions. I also get to avoid busy work and time wasters.

• by burntoutfire on 4/17/22, 7:51 AM

  > I always feel overwhelmed, and basically, I don't have the energy and excitement to do the things I should do in life.

  Who says you should do them?

• by darthrupert on 4/17/22, 10:39 AM

  No, even though it feels like it would. At home, I need to pretend working much less, which feels less like working.

• by glmeece on 4/17/22, 1:46 PM

  I began WFH in October, 2018. At first it was a bit disorienting, and I found myself struggling with anxiety about my performance. Instead of "enjoying" and 8-hour day (minus a commute), I began working 10-12 hour days so I would feel productive. Even that wasn't enough - I kept slogging through, working on weekends, etc.

  Eventually, I began to understand "remote culture" and that just because I was seeing others doing stuff, asking questions, committing to repos, etc. at all hours didn't mean I was expected to be "up and working at all times".

  Once I made my peace with things, I began to see what advantages WFH brought. Once I understood what I really needed to be working on, I found that the quiet of my home office made me much more productive. I bought a standing desk (and, yes, YMMV) and it's been a great way for me to focus, especially early in the day.

  There are still some advantages to going into an office. Two that stand out to me are: • Early planning meetings where it's much more productive to brainstorm/whiteboard together. • Water cooler conversations. Yes, you can still connect with your co-workers remotely, but it's a lot less organic.

  TL;DR - Yes, there are times I find myself justifying running personal errands or other stuff that ends up deferring (procrastination of) the things I need to accomplish for my team/employer. However, I've learned that I'll feel much better about myself and work product if I'm "diligent enough" to do just that.

• by NicoJuicy on 4/17/22, 3:52 PM

  My collegue comes to work sometimes, remote work is mostly still allowed.

  Everytime we pass by, he has to tab his screen of Lychess/Reddit away. And he's more productive at work than at home..

  Another collegue comes online before the Kanban, interrupts us at 12:05 ( when we eat) or at 17:35 on Friday or at 18:10. Just to show that's she's working "more". ( Hard to reach during normal hours fyi )

  Ugh

• by Sean1991 on 4/17/22, 2:45 PM

  I have been working remotely for years, at first it was hard, until I found a routine and stuck to it.

• by nso95 on 4/17/22, 4:59 PM

  My issue is that I can't seem to ever stop thinking about work

• by pgt on 4/17/22, 10:46 AM

  @johndavid9991, do you work from home alone?

• by kidgorgeous on 4/17/22, 7:51 AM

  quit. If I'm not mentally engaged I bounce. just left a 6 figure position 2 weeks ago.

• by vvf1 on 4/17/22, 9:39 PM

  Yep, pomodoro technique rules.

• by vvf1 on 4/17/22, 9:39 PM

  Yes.