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.
Comments
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.