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Ask HN: What's the biggest problem you got during work from home?

13 points by TeamCode ↗ HN
I'm recently developing a shopping site with my co-workers, we both work from home. But we just found it harder to collaborate efficiently than we work together at the workplace. Especially when we found errors in the code after debug and test. Also it's more difficult to measure the work progress of everyone in the team. What do you think about woking remotely at home?

21 comments

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jstx1
Having people around me makes me more likely to get my work done.
ungamed
I'm expected to go to 1:30 AM meetings.
hogrider
That's fucked up. I hope the job is worth it.
wolfgang000
Lack of social interaction, and this is coming from an introverted person, It's difficult to quantify how valuable a mundane water cooler chat with a coworker can be but when you remove them entirely you really start to see how important these things were to maintain your sanity, I know there are slack's channels to these types of things but it's just not the same
terrib1e
Totally agree with you, but I absolutely refuse to go back to the office. I want to socialize OUTSIDE of work even if it's work related. I love my freedom at home and when my company decides developers need to be in the office again I will definitely be moving on.
swah
Me too - even joined a Crossfit class but there's not much interaction. Maybe I should try BJJ or a running group...
Cr0s
Don't know how it's in your area but i would recommend a gym. I had a surprising amount of pleasant conversations between and during sets. Stuff from casual conversations to philosophical debates.
gnulinux
Having a very intense hardship to focus. I've always been a very hardworking, studious person my whole life, at school, at work. Somehow since pandemic my overall productivity got a huge a hit with no sign of normalization so far. I'm very impressed by and jealous of people who increased their productivity during this period, it's been nothing short of a disaster for me.
kody
I've gotten some of the best feedback on our software from coworkers over lunch or "water cooler" conversations. People rarely take the time to Slack over their ideas.
lopis
Slack conversations are rarely spontaneous. You might text some of your "work friends", but other than that we typically text people purposefully. I never get to chat we people from other totally separate teams about anything, and forcing that to happen digitaly feels... Well, forced. It's really awkward and I crave that the most.
onemoresoop
Spending too much time in my house. Especially during cold months I realized there were days where I probably did less than 1000 steps around the house. The forced movement to and from work was adding to something and in my case it's the weak will to simply schedule a walk or do some exercise. Back to the office and I waste 2 hours on commute daily but I'm in a better physical shape.
sdoering
Same here. 5 weeks ago I started to go to the pool 2 - 3daxs a week to do some 25 meter lanes before I start my work day.

I already lost weight (nice side effect) and am more productive on these days. And I have the feeling I may have found a way to move more that I like (I tried a lot but nothing stuck more than 2 or 3 weeks).

Also I tend to sit at the screen too long. And be it watching YouTube videos in the evening.

onemoresoop
Same here for the period was working from home as they got us to come back to the office some months ago. I actually got myself a rebounder and made sure to at least put 10 minutes on it every day. It did make a nice difference and the fact that it's always available I could stick to it for months. Swimming is far better, I wish I had a pool nearby but I don't. I wish you good luck and motivation in sticking to it for the long term.
joshcanhelp
My main issue is boundaries and when to stop working, though I think I would still have that if I worked in an office and took a computer home.

I will say that not seeing my team at all for the last two years has been a struggle. Getting together in person at least a couple of times a years is really good for team building. I have a family and a social circle outside of work so coworkers are not my source of social interactions but seeing them IRL makes you remember that you care about them as people, not just means to a shared end.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Have been WFH for almost 13 years now and would find it very hard to spend more than occasional time in an office.

8note
My house is too small
mathverse
Living in an apartment. Noise from renovation and neighbors just sucks so much. Wish i could move to a house.
clay-dreidels
I've had that same problem before. I would recommend a good pair of soundproof headphones. It can do wonders for concentration, depending on what you listen to.
mathverse
I do have them but as soon as I take them off I start focusing too much on every little noise and cant take a break in my own home.
mrvenkman
Motivation for me is a big problem when working from home. I feel like I’m in a school class without a teacher to tell me off!
arduinomancer
IMO zoom team socials just don't work

You can't have a normal conversation with 15 people in a meeting where only one person can talk at a time

Lots of awkward silence