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People Working From Home, What Makes You Most Productive?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
Recently started working from home.

I tried playing LoFi hip hop music to study to while working on the computer but am not really feeling it.

I tried playing a movie on Amazon Prime and ended up watching most of it.

Total silence is deadening and I find myself distracted on Instagram and TikTok.

Not to mention the frequent trips to the fridge to waste time.
 
Local Talk show radio works great for me and keeps me up to date on local news

Also I have many Spotify classical music playlists - working with Vivaldi is a favorite

working with vivaldi.png
 
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I find a schedule helps - work 9-10:30, have a 15 min break to guiltlessly scroll through instagram, then another 45 mins, make a cuppa, work 2hours hours, lunch and tv, work 1.5hrs, tea break etc - it means that I don't feel guilty and have something to look forward to!
 
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To the OP. Never watch a film or youtube while working. Music can pass depending. Talk radio if you are doing something mechanical and boring.
 
What my team and I struggle with is the notion of working 8 hours a day. Not that we're not working 8 hours of the day but what 8 hours. We provide support for a number of enterprise applications and when we were in the office that support was during core hours. Now people are paging us, at 12:30am stating they're having issues filling out a form, or cannot finalize a requisition.

It seems many people are putting their time in, but not completely during "normal hours" and expect us to be at their beck and call when they have a need.

Overall, the transition to working from home, had its bumps and headaches, but we all seem to manage our time and get our tasks done - with the exception of people paging us at ungodly hours for non-emergencies.
 
Been doing it for years... My system developed over a while here's a few things I find help but YMMV...

If possible always work separate office/room/shed (even if it's tiny) you can shut the door on.

Stick rigidly to a a schedule - mines 9 > 6 with half hour lunch at 12.30. Make sure the rest of the family know that's what you do, impress no interruptions etc if required keep the door shut (see above). Try and avoid work outside that - treat it as overtime.

If you work on a computers - have two, try and keep them both up to date with the same software etc. One can be slower (cheaper) than the other, but when one blows up (note when not if) you can just switch, sort the problem at your leisure - and no-one else will ever know you had a problem. And get the best/fastest internet connection you can afford.

You can use the spare computer as the entertainment centre / radio / youtube / Tv etc while you work

Have the kettle / coffee machine somewhere else - preferably involving stairs. If you drink as much tea as me it means moving around a lot etc which is good

Take some exercise first thing (gym, run, swim or cycle if you can) and finish before you start at say 9. Do it religiously. (I do 4 days then have Fridays off).
 
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Deadlines! Sometimes these are deadlines set by a client and sometimes they're deadlines I set for myself.

I know what I have to produce and when it's required.

I adjust my schedule as needed. I work for myself so I'm not burdened by having to work a set number of hours a day
 
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Spotify playlists, and taking a break every couple of hours seems to work best for me. When I first started working from home in March 2020, I hated it. I couldnt focus on work, I wanted to do home things. After about a month I got in to a rhythm, found out what worked best for me, and its been smooth ever since. Now, I go in to the office maybe once a week for a few hours, just to break the monotony, but I hate being in an office environment now.
 
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I tried listening to classical music as requested above but ended up falling alseep.

I have a smart tv from Samsung that has these 24/7 channels that play the same tv show. I tried playing Americas Test Kitcheb program but ended up being distracted with what they were cooking and following the recipe. On the other hand, I just changed the channel to This Old House and there’s something about that show that allows me to focus on me and my work while those guys on the screen are fixing a window, wall, or door.


I have deadlines but deadlines to me Have always been bendable. If something is due at 5pm, I’ll just call a client and tell them it’ll be done at 7pm.
 
I work in the office, or at home. Motivation is the same. To get the work done and to look for ways to improve the efficiency of my department.
Distractions aren't really a problem for me.
 
HappyDude20 said:
I tried listening to classical music as requested above but ended up falling alseep.

I have a smart tv from Samsung that has these 24/7 channels that play the same tv show. I tried playing Americas Test Kitcheb program but ended up being distracted with what they were cooking and following the recipe. On the other hand, I just changed the channel to This Old House and there’s something about that show that allows me to focus on me and my work while those guys on the screen are fixing a window, wall, or door.


I have deadlines but deadlines to me Have always been bendable. If something is due at 5pm, I’ll just call a client and tell them it’ll be done at 7pm.
Click to expand...

perhaps you need an overseer......somebody to stand there and constantly tell you to stop watching movies, listening to music, playing with the cat......and get to work!

lol
 
I am of the Latchkey generation (Gen-X). So, the TV has always been on for company, for distraction, etc. The key, at least for me, is finding something that distracts just enough from any drudgery, but not enough it cannot be ignored.

My work hours are 8-4 (or 5, depending on if I take my lunch hour or not). From 8-10, it's local news and from 10 until I'm done it's either MeTV or Antenna TV. Both channels air different episodes of the same shows every day so it's easy to know where I'm at in my workday by what show is on. But the programming is real easy to ignore if I need to be productive. At the same time, it's also easy enough to follow along just by hearing.

I mean, who really cares that Jeannie is marrying Tony, or that Dennis is being a menace again?

At least that's how it works for me anyway.

Also…I don't really take breaks. In between certain short (very short) term goals I drop in to MR and Reddit to see what (may be) new. Usually there isn't so I go right back to work.

It also helps that I want to keep my job. I have to produce.
 
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scubachap said:
Been doing it for years... My system developed over a while here's a few things I find help but YMMV...

If possible always work separate office/room/shed (even if it's tiny) you can shut the door on.

Stick rigidly to a a schedule - mines 9 > 6 with half hour lunch at 12.30. Make sure the rest of the family know that's what you do, impress no interruptions etc if required keep the door shut (see above). Try and avoid work outside that - treat it as overtime.

If you work on a computers - have two, try and keep them both up to date with the same software etc. One can be slower (cheaper) than the other, but when one blows up (note when not if) you can just switch, sort the problem at your leisure - and no-one else will ever know you had a problem. And get the best/fastest internet connection you can afford.

You can use the spare computer as the entertainment centre / radio / youtube / Tv etc while you work

Have the kettle / coffee machine somewhere else - preferably involving stairs. If you drink as much tea as me it means moving around a lot etc which is good

Take some exercise first thing (gym, run, swim or cycle if you can) and finish before you start at say 9. Do it religiously. (I do 4 days then have Fridays off).
Click to expand...
I work on computers as well, although it wasn't until my current job that I was ever in a position to work from home. I work for a small company (less than 20 employees) but my work Mac is provided and so are the apps. A VPN was put in place last year as well so I'm able to work directly off the server (as if I was there in the office).

While my own Mac did serve as a backup for a while, I prefer to stick with my employer provided equipment. That said, I do pay for my own internet. My ISP's highest tier is Gigabit and based on my own wants/needs and my work requirements that is what I pay for. Additionally, I pay extra for unlimited data. The summer is our heaviest part of the year and last year I pulled down a couple of terrabytes.

I agree about having your own place, but we have a small house and two teenagers so my 'office' is in the living room. Fortunately, through a combination of a flexible employer and family who is OUT of the house when I am IN the house for work makes interruptions infrequent. Except for maybe the last two hours or so of my work day no one is here except me so it works out.
 
HappyDude20 said:
I tried listening to classical music as requested above but ended up falling asleep.
Click to expand...

LOL - maybe it can help when you go to bed?

And Well, that was kind of the point - it should be background stuff - not intriguing / or take your interest away kind of stuff? - LOL

I also use myTuner Radio App - iPad app - for Talk Radio - another great way to fill-in the background - great App - see this link - myTuner Radio
 
I don’t work from home anymore, but I did at one point. (I actually travel now 3 days a week and love the different geographic scenery.)

All I have to say regarding working at home, is there’s a fine line of a balance of you have to create a separation of your work life and personal life. And that’s very difficult to do for people who cannot ‘turn off the switch’ per se who work at home and also live in the same environment, which long-term, could cause frustrations in marriage and families.

I know others personally who worked from home remotely, and then quickly transitioned back to the office, because they found out that it was tampering with their personal life with families/hobbies and didn’t know how to create that separation. I would never want to turn my home life into a workstation, where the lines are blurred. That seems to be a trend working from home for those who maybe have a jobs where the stresses are higher and the payout just isn’t worth the cause as time progresses. It’s just one of those situations you really have to sit down and think about and involve your family in your decision-making, as just as much (If not more) as it is about them, as it is you.
 
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Relentless Power said:
I don’t work from home anymore, but I did at one point. (I actually travel now 3 days a week and love the different geographic scenery.)

All I have to say regarding working at home, is there’s a fine line of a balance of you have to create a separation of your work life and personal life. And that’s very difficult to do for people who cannot ‘turn off the switch’ per se who work at home and also live in the same environment, which long-term, could cause frustrations in marriage and families.

I know others personally who worked from home remotely, and then quickly transitioned back to the office, because they found out that it was tampering with their personal life with families/hobbies and didn’t know how to create that separation. I would never want to turn my home life into a workstation, where the lines are blurred. That seems to be a trend working from home for those who maybe have a jobs where the stresses are higher and the payout just isn’t worth the cause as time progresses. It’s just one of those situations you really have to sit down and think about and involve your family in your decision-making, as just as much (If not more) as it is about them, as it is you.
Click to expand...
^^^ @Relentless Power
Same here - during the lockdowns, I was forced to work from home using multiple VPNs, taking calls from the public and answering my work phone from the company computer and headset.

Drove me crazy!

I could not separate work from home and ended up asking to work from my office.

Had the whole building to myself and loved it!
 
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For me it has to be music without lyrics - And the genre depends on my mood and what I am working with. Mostly it will be classical or movie/game scores, but sometimes I listen to jazz, hard trance, Goa, or acid trance, if I need something with a higher tempo.

You can use https://selfcontrolapp.com to remove distractions for you.
 
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