Things I’ve learned by working from home

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I’ve been working from home full-time for most of the past 4.5 years. I haven’t reached any special milestone, but nevertheless I’m going to compile a list of some of the things I’ve learned, some bits of advice, and general observations. In no particular order, numbered for reference:

1. Not commuting is awesome
2. Sometimes your car battery will die if you don’t drive for a while
3. I’m possibly too comfortable not leaving my house for days on end
4. Getting a dog is probably healthy
5. Playing fetch is a good way to get out of the house when you don’t really want to do anything
6. I don’t worry about someone stealing my packages
7. I’m pretty sure the UPS man thinks I’m unemployed, and possibly a recluse
8. It’s easy to forget you’re still wearing pajamas at 2pm
9. Comfy slippers are worth it
10. Roosters are loud
11. If you leave a window open, people on your video call are likely to hear some crowing, or even mooing
12. Pets have no concept of work hours
13. Pets have no concept of personal space
14. A cat is likely to send at least one Slack message
15. Check for nearby cats before entering any commands in a production terminal
16. If you can’t be work productive, be personally productive
17. A decluttered desk can mend a cluttered mind
18. If you’re in the zone, don’t worry about the 4 coffee cups you’ve acquired next to your keyboard
19. Someone in your life will believe you’re unemployed no matter how many times you tell them you work, just at home
20. It’s easy to use “sorry I’m working” as an excuse to avoid social events, even on evenings and weekends
21. Don’t do that. At least not too often
22. It’s hard to take a sick day unless you’re at a high risk of literally vomiting on your keyboard
23. Hardly anyone steals my lunch
24. Sometimes I don’t eat lunch as much as snack between breakfast and dinner
25. Taking an actual lunch break is hard
26. Don’t forget to wash that hoodie
27. Regular video meetings, even if sometimes unproductive work-wise, are good for recalibrating your teammates’ sarcasm levels
28. Sarcasm is likely to backfire once in a while in text based communication
29. Emoticons and emoji can actually be helpful in setting tone
30. Imposter syndrome is very real
31. People you look up to are also asking so-called stupid questions, they’re just in one of the other 2839416 Slack channels you haven’t stumbled into
32. Don’t forget to stretch
33. Sometimes the scenery gets boring
34. Working from a coffee shop is tricky
35. Working from the couch is cozy
36. Mind your posture
37. A second laptop charger is worth it
38. No rules against sitting outside
39. Working from a hammock is logistically challenging
40. It’s hard to ignore work stuff during off-hours
41. I’ve saved so much money by not commuting past fast food and coffee stands everyday. Oh, and the gas…
42. Drink more water
43. It’s hard to take “unnecessary” days off, but they are necessary
44. I bet real office chairs are nicer than hard plastic, I should consider this
45. The less you drive, the more handy a key hook is
46. You’ll forget how tall/short your coworkers are
47. Document everything
48. I will never be able to convert UTC to PST in my head
49. Yes, I know it’s just add 8 hours
50. Video chat will never remember the proper audio/video settings