Welcome to the Lounge

Gary R. Wheeler wrote:

Don't use the work space for non-work activities if you can avoid it.

C-P-User-3 wrote:

Can I now take the dimensions of that room; divide it, and subtract that portion of my rent from my taxes

W∴ Balboos wrote:

Main warning, however, is that it's easy to put on weight when the kitchen's at hand.

1. The commute is not working time. Stop beating yourself up if you are only as productive at home as you are at work because you use your commute time for sleeping/spouse/kids.
2. Your family has to "get it" that you are not available when working at home just like you would not be available when you were at work. You have to train your cute four-year-old that you are busy at work, and you can't read to him or play in the mud with him. Same thing with your spouse's request that you go to the grocery store or whatever. If you can't do this, or your family cannot be trained, then you can't work at home.
3. Email is not your friend. Neither is the internet. As distracting as these things are at work, they are ten times worse at home. You must resolutely close down your mailer so you don't get interrupted. Launch the mailer a couple of times a day if needed to see if you get anything important, but pick a time-of-day and even more important a duration for reading all those blog extracts, thought-provoking long articles, etc. Turn off notifications on your phone, too. You must ritually burn yourself with a lighter for even THINKING about Netflix when you are working at home.
4. Track your time. When did you sit down? When did you get up? Did you watch any Game of Thrones? Make sure it totals 8 hours or more. If you can't get in 8 hours, don't tell yourself you are more productive at home so it's ok. The deal is you spend 8 hours a day at work, so you spend 8 hours a day working at home. If you are more productive at home, your boss will be happy that you choose to work at home. However, you don't have to spend the same hours. You can work 7-3, or 8-noon and 8-midnight, or 10-3 and 8-11PM. The flexibility to schedule your 8 hours is actually one of the secrets to being a productive worker and also productive as a family member. A second secret is working your commute time so that you get in 10 hours of work instead of 8 hours of work and an hour of commuting each way. This makes you automatically 2 hours more productive when you work at home.
5. Take breaks. Get up at least once an hour, go to the bathroom. Go to the kitchen if you're hungry and nibble something crunchy. Take the 5 minutes. It's ok. You do it at work too. You just don't notice. You get up and go over to Bob's cubicle to shoot the sh*t/talk about refactoring. You go to a 10AM standup, get coffee or nuts from the break room, etc.
6. Music. The joy of music without headphones. The joy of thrash rock or Country or Broadway show tunes your colleagues would tease you about. The joy of streaming music without the corporate IT guy shouting down your neck about wasting bandwidth. But you need non-distracting music, or even ambient sound. Youtube has these 8-hour tracks of birds chirping and rain falling that will keep your ears from ringing in the silence without distracting you. There's a company called focus@will (focusatwill.com) that will stream you classical music or rain sounds (it costs bucks-a-month though).
7. Comfy chair, check. Comfy temperature in the home office, check. Get comfortable. Being uncomfortable is a distraction.
8. Oh, comfortable may mean dressed up in your work clothes to remind you you're at work. Jammies remind you that you're sleepy, so don't let this be a distraction. Office in your bedroom reminds you you're sleepy, so this is also not necessarily a good choice.

Jörgen Andersson wrote:

I wonder what he was on?

Jörgen Andersson wrote:

while a doctor fixates his leg

Jörgen Andersson wrote:

Maybe it's my translation. Perhaps 'splint' is a better translation?