Remote: Office Not Required

by David Heinemeier Hansson

there aren’t built-in reasons to move during your day, find excuses to move—for example, instead of just eating lunch at your desk, walk to a café or sandwich shop. Take your dog for a long walk. Use a break to run on your treadmill. Now that you’ve saved time by skipping the commute, there really is no excuse for not finding the minutes to exercise or cook healthy meals.

The old adage still applies: No assholes allowed. But for remote work, you need to extend it to no asshole-y behavior allowed, no drama allowed, no bad vibes allowed.

Noah, likes to demarcate using his slippers: he has both a work set and a home set! Not everyone uses such props or even requires the mental separation they’re meant to create, but if you’re having trouble getting into work mode in the morning, try putting on some pants.

Finally, you can use the layout of your house as a switch. Make sure that real work only happens when you’re in your dedicated home office. No checking work email or just getting a little more done in the living room or your bedroom.