I've been a productive remote developer for 5 years.

Abhinav Jha — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 14:23:15 +0000

I have worked from home as a freelance developer for 5 years. It's not easy to be productive at home if you've only ever worked at an office. So here's what I learnt.

Bottom line

The real reason for productivity drops during the initial days of working from home is the environment-activity association. When we're on the bed, we usually sleep. When we're on our computer at home, we're playing games, reading, browsing social media, Netflix or other non-work related activities. We all have such associations. We don’t associate extended periods of work with our home environment. This makes it difficult to focus on work, while at home.

To be productive, we have to create new associations with our new environment of work. It is hard but possible. In the initial days, it helps to follow some guidelines.

My Do's and Don'ts

I do not take a break in the same room where my work desk is.
If a break consists of browsing social media like WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, etc., do not open these sites on your work computer. Move to a different room and use a different device during your breaks. If you must use the work computer, use ColdTurkey or other productivity software to blacklist productivity crushing websites. You'll find yourself in lesser need for such software as you get used to working from home.
I don't have hobby related tools in the vicinity while working. Put your favourite book or your guitar in the closet for they shall go wanting during office hours.
When taking a short break, I don't check for asynchronous communication like messages or emails. This way I am self-aware to move back to my work desk to view missed emails and Slack messages.
If you're working at the same time as your team, pay attention to your Slack statuses and calendar. Keep your status in online tools aligned with your actual status.
I do not have a bed in the room in which I work. If you're comfortable sleeping on a couch or a recliner, do not have such furniture in the workroom. I have friends who have been encumbered with the urge to lie down during their first few days of working from home — solely due to the fact that they had their desk set up in the vicinity of their bed.

The following three approaches have worked successfully for me over the past few years

Have a personal task management system

Working from home is about focus. While your experience may differ, I have found it easier to focus when I have smaller tasks and when I work in bursts of a few small tasks at a time.

Split your tasks for the day into smaller tasks which should take about 30-90 minutes. This is the time frame in which you can comfortably focus on a singular task.

Set up your communication channels

Once you've broken down your tasks, you will be able to judge if and when you need help from the team to complete the tasks. Establish a prior understanding with the team regarding the communication channels.

Your team should know your status and has access to you — at any time — vice-versa.

Mirror your office

Work during, and only during, the standard office hours. Do exactly what you did at the office at your work desk. Go to lunch at the same time.

Here are a few approaches to work that can help you if you want to have more flexibility in your work day - say you want to start your day earlier or end it later than your standard working hours.

Pomodoro Technique

Work in 25-90 minute intervals. Use a timer if needed. For flexibility, one can finish a task before taking a break, or take a break before starting the next task.

Task based sprints

Keep completing the tasks, until you feel like taking a break. Never take a break in the middle of the task, unless you've hit a roadblock and have been stuck on it. In this case, take a breather to think about your approach to the problem. I've found that coming back to such roadblocks after a break helps overcome them quickly.

I've found myself needing to reset after a long meeting. I take a breather after a meeting. It makes the transition back to focused work easier.

Ending your work day

If you don't have any personal engagements towards the end of the day. You may decide to end your work day if all tasks are completed, or you feel a metal burnout coming in from tackling a tricky problem in one or more of your tasks.

Health and Work

I've found the following activities to help with my work and with my health.

Whenever I'm stuck on an issue or need to re-think my approach to a solution, I think while taking a walk around the house. Not stopping or getting distracted, until I'm back on my work desk.
Stretching and hydrating during every break. Staying hydrated helps in mitigating fatigue.
Taking a cold shower helps reduce the heart rate and increases the ability to focus. A shower always helps me refresh my energy levels, which leads me to avoid feeling stuffy or lethargic.

Being productive at home is a valuable skill that's important today even if you don't need to work remotely after the covid-19 crisis dies down.

Please leave any comments or thoughts below. This is my first blog post in years and I hope to write more on Dev.to

Forem: Abhinav Jha