Ask HN: Work from home (WFH) setup
I&#x27;ve done full remote work from home, and one day a week.<p>Starting with the one day a week:  I dedicated a day a week to studying, reading, learning, growing.  Anything that required a book.  I had a hard time concentrating on the job so I was grateful they let me leave whenever I needed to.  Also, the building was walking distance to a joint library cafe.  Score!<p>Full work from home &#x2F; remote:<p>I did 1 and a half years working remote for a startup where I was the only software engineer.  Communication was rarely needed, sometimes giving me 5 weeks at a time on my own.  I was also local to the company, so if it was ideal to come in to talk with my boss, it was easy to do.  I think I came in roughly 8 days in a year and a half.<p>During this time I shared a room with my girl friend.  Her desk was next to mine with plenty of space in between us, enough where I couldn&#x27;t see her monitor without leaning over.  She was quiet during work hours, but not like headphone quiet.  I&#x27;m slightly ADHD so having some background music out of my speakers and&#x2F;or her having background noise out of her speakers aided my concentration.  Also, we kept volumes reasonable so no clashing noise&#x2F;music or anything like that.  Also, if I needed it for any reason, I could ask her to put headphones on.<p>I had room mates who pretty much lived in the living room.  They had desks setup behind the couch and had background tv going on seemingly 24&#x2F;7.  It was pretty great, because for lunch or if I needed a break, I could go sit out with them and watch some tv or a movie and just hang out.  Likewise, they were pretty chill, so if I was in a thinking on a problem kind of la la land state they never distracted or took away from that, so I&#x27;d still get the environment without the distraction.<p>I lived two blocks from a cafe, three from a 7-11, 4 from a trail that would go out to a lake.  And it&#x27;s the SF&#x2F;Bay Area, so weather is pretty nice all year around, so I could go for a walk any time I wanted.<p>Being at home I did have an exercise routine and a kind of neurological depression slowly kicked in.  It wasn&#x27;t a typical pessimistic kind of depression with a lot of woe, but more like a zombie like state where I wasn&#x27;t quite aware of what was going on with slowed reflexes.  It left me somewhat antisocial.  I&#x27;d stare blankly at people on the street that would say hi.  I ended up taking the dog out for a walk and 30 minutes of walking would clear it right up.  It was weird, like walking out of a fog I wasn&#x27;t aware was there until it was gone.<p>Was it hard or challenging?  No.  I excel in a work from home kind of environment.  The more spacial reasoning a problem requires the harder it is for me to concentrate on it unless I&#x27;m in a place comfortable enough for me to close my eyes and feel safe.  A cube doesn&#x27;t do that for me.  Anyone can come up and touch my shoulder or look at me or whatever.  At home I can jump on my bed, close my eyes and just visualize what I need to, then jot it down.  Of course, these kinds of problems are not the only kind of problems, but they&#x27;re the ones I benefit from the most from being at home.  I benefit from studying as well.  It&#x27;s easier to read a text book and concentrate on it.  Also, it&#x27;s way easier to unwind and fall into a diffuse mode of thinking while pondering on a problem at home or walking.  I often do this while youtube is playing or while I&#x27;m surfing Reddit.  The fear of looking like I&#x27;m not working keeps me from utilizing this helpful part of the mind in the work place.<p>Working from home does require some skills, but the bar isn&#x27;t high.  It comes down to organizing activities.  Every day creating a new schedule is massively helpful.  Also, ordering tasks that take the most concentration first in the day is super helpful, because concentration goes down as the day goes by.  Organizing space is very important.  Having an office helps a lot.  If you do not, a clean desk and a separate login for work is a must.  This compartmentalizes habits, so impulsive habits usually tied to social networks are minimized if not extinguished.  You can even go as far as to block social sites on the work account, then switch over to the recreational account when it is ideal to do so.<p>I like it, and recommend it.  Though, the bit about the kids is killer.  If you can work and babysit at the same time, you&#x27;ve got a skill.