Sanity Preserving Guide to Remote Work
A couple weeks ago, while this whole coronavirus-initiated-social-distancing madness was only starting to unravel, I wrote a short document to share some tips and tricks on how to cope with this new full-speed-ahead remote-work reality at Slido. As the internal reception was not completely negative, I was persuaded to share it a bit more broadly. This happens to be the result.
Please do let me know if it was in any way useful (or totally useless — that would be quite helpful too). Thanks!
I was lucky enough to try out working in a remote setup for a couple of years while helping out at the search engine that does not track you. Those were different times — especially because working remotely was what I signed up for, not the only real option left. That said, I did manage to pick up a few tips and tricks along the way which I believe may still be useful, even in our today’s situation.
I’d like to preface this whole “guide” with a few caveats emptor which served as my assumptions while putting it together:
- This is not a temporary condition. April got canceled. We may be in for a few months. I do not believe this experiment is sustainable long-term, but the tips below will try to help you prepare for the long(er) haul.
- The biggest issues we’ll face are mental, not physical. Not just because of the different fatality rates per age group, or the fact that only a fraction of population is likely to get affected in current conditions. It is a byproduct of social distancing: the impact is real and it is best to consciously prepare for it.
- None of this may work for you. Your mileage will almost certainly vary. The bulk of my experience comes from working in technical (that is engineering or academic) roles which may be diametrically different from the realities of say customer-facing teams, or even various creative endeavors. It only covers a very small subset of work realities out there and so please take it with a grain of salt.
Pick the stuff you like, ditch everything else and please, do let me know what you think.
And so without further ado…
1. Get serious about your networking and videoconferencing gear
Your home network would probably work just fine in normal circumstances. Now it’s not just you — it’s going to be you and all your family members sharing the same link. It may be a good time to invest into a serious router.
- See what you can do to upgrade your internet connection. It is no longer a perk but rather a work investment.
- If necessary, upgrade your computer as well. I realize this may not be an easy investment to make, especially now. Still, if it is obvious that your remote productivity may be hampered, it may be a sensible one.
Yes, do get a proper chair and monitor. But please, pretty please, get some serious headphones and/or webcam. The reason for headphones — especially those of the noise canceling kind — is not the superior sound they’d produce but a generally better sound recording experience. Webcams are an interesting topic now — they seem to be sold out in various parts of the world — so buying one may not be an option. Which brings us to the next point.
Try running your videoconferencing app on a dedicated device. An iPad, tablet, or an older laptop will do nicely — and not just because webcams became unavailable. A dedicated device frees your primary one for other tasks (such as long-running computations in my case) and also allows you greater flexibility for movement while calling. Walking around during calls gets a bit more manageable for instance.
Doing so also brings the added benefit of running your videoconferencing app in an air gaped setup which may be necessary for peace of mind when using some of them (although this can also be easily achieved with tools like freejail).
When doing video, ensure your face and upper parts of your body are in the picture, your gestures are still visible on the camera and your face is well lit. Again, this may not be doable at all times, but it works very well when paired with the next section:
2. Get a separate “office space”
Based on all we know about people who make this work, a separate space just for work improves this experience immensely.
If possible, have a space with a door. That door will serve as a gate between your work and life — Narnia style.
If that is not possible, have a ritual for converting part of your house to an “office space”. This can be simple: connecting or removing power plugs and video cables, moving devices and furniture around and so on. When you are done, do the ritual in reverse and by doing so help your brain switch from “work” to “home” context.
If even that does not sound practical (and it very well may not), try to do the switch on the software level at least — have a separate web browser window for your work stuff, which you can close at the end of the day. Along with all the other work-related applications you run throughout the day
No matter how you create it, this “office space” now becomes part of your work environment. It may sound pathetic but it needs to be said anyway: choose wisely what you make part of it.
3. Make a schedule and stick to it
Try to wake up at the same time every day. Make your bed. Do your hygiene routine. Change your sleeping clothes to some “work” ones.
If you are used to a commute, try a fake commute. Going out and walking around the block for about 15 minutes seems to be generally enough — in the worst case just walking some stairs may do the trick. Figuratively and literally: tricking your brain is the name of the game.
There is a reason why the monastic traditions of both East and West emphasize the garden as a place for recreation. Going to a park may be neither feasible nor advisable now, but see if you can supplement it somehow (just by finding some nature near to where you live and walking around should be enough). Warning: if you spend the majority of the walk staring at a screen, the positive effects tend to diminish to the point where being in a garden-like environment or walking makes very little difference on your mental state.
Have a specific time for lunch and consider it sacred. Spend it on food and the enjoyment thereof only. Do not try to catch up on Facebook, Twitter, Netflix or anything else at this time — in experience, you are done with your peak productivity for the day if you train your brain to expect that every day.
Take a power nap. Yes, this will sound like taken directly from the kindergarten. When done regularly, however, it’s a very powerful tool to improve your memory, raise your alertness levels and generally improve your cognitive abilities. It worked for Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill and many others throughout history so who knows, it may work for you too. About 20 to 30 minutes is enough to give you a mental recharge without leaving you groggy.
When your day’s worth of work is done, you are done for the day.
When your day’s worth of work is not done and you are outside of your “work time”, you are still done. It is in no one’s interest for you to work more. On the contrary, it’s a sure fire way of getting burned out — something that seems to be much more likely in a remote setup.
If possible, go out of that “office space” and do not come back until next (work) day.
Have a strict time after which you won’t do or check anything work related. For me (and not just me) it’s about 6PM. Slack claims that “the average paid user spends more than nine hours each workday connected to Slack”. In my view, that’s way, way more than necessary. See if you can be below average this time around.
No matter what sort of a schedule you create, treat is as an experiment. It is very improbable that the first version you come up with be optimal. Stick with it for a week or two, keep the parts that work, update those than don’t. After two or three cycles, you should be able to observe increase in productivity (as measured by the amount of deep work done during your work time).
4. Now is the time to get serious about Deep Work and Turning Pro
Could this new state of the affairs be used to your advantage?
Well, the one thing it brings to many of us is a bit more time on our hands. That’s a very good raw material you can transform into a Deep Work routine — the “skill that will never be obsolete”, as its marketing would have us believe. Doing so, however, will require you to disconnect.
Sure, totally ignoring what’s going on around you may be stretching it too far. But doing whatever you can to actively avoid stressing about it seems to be necessary for retaining sanity. If it means not following the news on daily basis, I’d say it’s worth it.
Sounds crazy? Try reading the last month’s edition and see for yourself.
Do not read the newspapers, or follow the news in any way or form. To be convinced, try reading last years’ newspaper. It doesn’t mean ignore the news; it means that you go from the events to the news, not the other way around.
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Commencement Address, American University in Beirut
Coronavirus may have done a Grand Gesture for every one of us. You can almost certainly observe a pretty significant change to your normal environment — a very helpful trigger for Deep Work regiment. And what’s more, contrary to the “standard” grad gestures (such as spending two weeks in a cottage alone), the whole world accepts it! There is so much novelty going on that, you may easily end up getting done much more than you’d normally do.
The ability to do Deep Work is finite though. That’s why you are on a schedule and when you are done, you are done.
If you’ve never done Pomodoros, now is the time to seriously try them out.
Pomodoros in 10 seconds
Do your work and nothing else for 25 minutes, rest for another 5. This constitutes one Pomodoro. After 4 Pomodoros, have a longer rest (15 minutes).
That’s it.
Experience shows that one can generally do about 4 hours of real deep work per day. That’s about 8 Pomodoros in their standard setup, and it’s doable even if you haven’t done any before.
It is absolutely crucial to fight any distractions during the Pomodoro. Even those that come from the work itself. The idea really is to be focused on one thing and one thing only — attention residue will get you otherwise.
Further, do not to let your mind wander down the rabbit holes (social media, streaming, endless stream of funny videos…) during the rest periods. A better option is to get physically active: move around, refill your cup or bottle, do a few burpees.
This advice will not be of any value unless you experience it for yourself. So get some Pomodoro app, try it out at least for a few days and see how (and if) it works.
The larger reason why Pomodors work and may help your productivity is that they give you a bit of an edge in your fight against what Steven Pressfield calls the Resistance in his book War of Art. Do your work, fight the good fight, do not succumb to the temptations of the Resistance and you may not be far from Turning Pro. We’ll discuss similar concepts in the next section but if you’d like to get them introduced by an actual accomplished author, give those two books a read. They are both quite short and worth your time.
5. The real fight is with distractions and loneliness
The State of the Remote 2020 by Buffer suggests that loneliness and not being able to unplug is the top problem 38% of people face when they work remotely. You need to actively fight against both, it really does not work any other way.
There are distractions you have control over and those you do not. We’ll mostly discuss the former kind, as dealing with the latter generally means having a separate room with a door that can be closed (and potentially locked).
The idea is quite simple: train your brain to only expect any dopamine-releasing stimulus in the evening. That generally means no news, no social networks and no streaming services before your work day is over.
If you can find dopamine-releasing stimuli by just browsing online, see if trying some of the following can help:
- Disable specific websites for some parts of the day
- Aim for “inbox zero” browser tab-wise
- Be mindful about the all the rabbit holes out there — identify them early and have an “internal contract with oneself” that allows you to check them out after the day’s work is done
Loneliness is a different beast altogether. But it can be tamed too, at least to some extend.
The reality is that you may feel bad, strange, frustrated in this kind of setup without being able to say why. All of it is OK. The feeling generally goes away with time but not to acknowledge it makes no sense.
The standard advice in these cases is to ponder the immensity or reconnect with the world. That would normally mean going to places where you can meet other people which is sadly not really an option now.
You can still, however, look out from the window, see the nature/environment outside and just try to observe it. See what the thought of I am here in this room of mine, while also being part of the bigger world out there does to you mentally. Spend a few seconds reflecting on it. (That’s actually what all these generals seem to do before making those big decisions.)
I also found that the trivial and time tested practice of writing a daily journal can be immensely helpful. The most difficult part of it seems to be actually starting to do so on a daily basis. So don’t stress about finding the right app for it, just find a little bit of time and write. If you’d like a prompt, how about you start by describing the three things you are grateful for today?
But it’s not just solitary activities that can help— your team at work can be of great help too! Having water cooler channels where you can just chat and goof off helps a lot. Having specific time slots with your team for a free chat is much better. Having some fun in common is possibly the best (we for instance quite like this drawing game but there is a ton of other possibilities). Don’t overdo it though — those 40 minutes of a free Zoom call are just about enough.
That said, spending too much time with work colleagues may easily lead to cabin fever and so not overdoing it should probably sometimes take a more literal than figurative sense. There are a ton of other things that you can do with your friends and family as well — check out the list of resources at Homenauts.com
When loneliness becomes anxiety and results in elevated stress levels, however, prioritizing your mental health needs to become your top priority. Helpful resources do exist, but if getting professional help is an option, I’d encourage you to at least consider it. You don’t go to the dentist just when you suspect you have a cavity — when what you do can be described as knowledge work, mental hygiene is possibly just as important as taking care of your teeth.
6. The fight may be simple and routine, but it does not need to be dull
Whether it was part of a plan or not, chances are your life has become much simpler. It may look like a “pick your poison” kind of a situation, but it does not necessarily need to end up like one. Here are a few ideas on how to do that.
Invest into quality downtime. Sure, binge watching Netflix is certainly an option (and a pretty normal one — I’ve done that too). But with pretty much everything from the world’s top philharmonic orchestras, opera houses to museums moving online, there are many more and potentially better options.
Learn new skills. Yes, now is the time to learn SQL, easily one of the most valuable technical skills you can acquire. Or if you are up for a larger time investment, it may be a good time to try learning to code — automating the boring stuff with Python is a good choice. And if you already have some programming experience and would be up for some technological archaeology, I hear that demand for COBOL programmers is skyrocketing.
Yes, now would be a cool time to pick up that Udemy, Udacity or Coursera course you have had on your someday/maybe list. Personally, I’d encourage you to to meta and check out Learning How to Learn and Model Thinking which are the two I am currently taking.
Learn a new language. Yes, now is the time to start learning Spanish, Swahili or Esperanto, which you wanted to do a long long time ago — there are a ton of native speakers out there who will appreciate being able to hold a conversation with someone else in their native language.
Try out a musical instrument. If you have a spare piano, xylophone, bagpipes, even just recorder or any sort of a musical instrument at home, now is the time. And if you do not happen to have any, just pick a Ukulele. As the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain likes to say, “a dinner or a new Uke, it’s the same money”.
Pick it up, see what you can do with it and try to do it consistently for at least a week or two. No one is going to judge you. (Unless of course you happen to live with professional musicians — I’d give it a bit more thought in that case…)
Exercise. Although you’re going to miss the camaraderie that comes with the gym, this may also be the time to pick up weight lifting or general body building. Again, do it for a few weeks and who knows, it may even stick!
Cook. I do not know if you can cook, but I surely could use some training. Or inspiration. Yes, these may not be the ideal circumstances to pick up a hobby like cooking, but still. It’s not just practical and useful, it is also something that can stick with you for a long long time.
Whatever you decide you pick up, make working on it / with it / studying it part of your normal routine, alter your environment a bit to accommodate for it and do not break the chain.
7. This is not for everyone and that’s OK
Yes, Sir Isaac Newton did come up with what we now call calculus while in quarantine. Yes, it is possible that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine. But it is also quite unlikely that they had to attend remote meetings throughout the day, or deal with little children in small apartments. Trying to be socially distant does not necessarily translate to peace and quiet in our day and age.
Let’s face it. No matter how you look at it, there are negatives to this state of affairs.
There are people who (rightly) do not like to spend the whole 24 hours in the same cage. Even if you don’t mind it too much, I do not see how one could work from home long-term without having a proper, separate “office space”.
People who make this work usually have some kind of a schedule. That may not be feasible for you and that really is OK (although having a schedule is almost always a plus).
This is a new situation for everyone. Even for those who’ve been working remotely for quite some time. No matter how crazy this may sound, they tend to have a social life. Which now had to move online.
A tough time, that’s what this is. Questions are plentiful. Answers are scarce. It is totally OK not to like it. Forgive yourself for not being ready for it— astronauts and submariners do that too.
Because when you do, you protect your sanity. And that’s the one weapon that will give us all a fighting chance to figure this out.
