John De Goes’ blog

2020 took us all by surprise; it happened so fast, we are still reacting to decisions we were forced to make as part of our “new normal”. Quarantines and lockdowns had millions of people working from home, millions of teams becoming distributed, millions of organizations facing the challenge they had been avoiding for the last decade: If your work can be done from a laptop, it is irrelevant where your laptop (and you) are located.

Now, as we enter 2021, many companies have decided it makes no sense for them to ever come back to a co-located dynamic, at least not completely; even more, we find masses of people who have discovered working from home is a better fit for their needs than working 9 to 5 in an office. But now, facing a permanent jump to a remote environment, we need to consider what are the changes we need to make to have a better chance at succeeding in a fully remote environment.

Over the past 6 years, I have worked remotely, having tasted all kinds of flavors when it comes to remote life: the fully remote company, the hybrid, the forced-to-be-remote, those who went remote for the wrong reasons, those who wanted to be remote, and those who didn’t.

Now, I belong to a fully-remote team at Sapien, a remote-first company, with a globally distributed team that has grown and developed their own tools to make remote work the best it can be. Based on my experiences with working remotely, here’s a full guide on how to optimize your situation.

The Space

One of the biggest fears most people had when they were forced to work from home was: Am I ever going to be able to focus on my work again? They were right to be afraid. If you didn’t have a plan to work from home when you were looking for a place to live, it is reasonable that your work didn’t have a space in your home.

That’s how a large number of people found themselves working on their living rooms, bedrooms, balconies, kitchens, and more. Bad lighting, background noise, distractions, and many other issues became obstacles for many new remote workers. If you aim to be fully remote, then you’ll need to procure an appropriate working space.

It is best if you are moving, or planning to, and can add a home office space to your accommodation needs; but if you are happy where you are, and just want to add the working experience to your place, here are some tips:

• Space: Be respectful of your own dimensions and your gear (we’ll go over that in a moment). You need enough space so your workstation is not in the way of any other activity. Be aware you will be there a long time, so you need to be comfortable, which means having enough space to stretch your legs and arms, move around, and walk a bit as necessary.
• Lighting: If possible, set up near a window so you have good natural light. You will always need good artificial light, pointed at you and the space around you. If you can’t use the ceiling, get a lamp. You might need extra help for your video calls, but we will talk about that in a minute.
• Sound isolation: It depends on what you do, and your tolerance to distractions, but it is always good advice to find a place where you can close a door and isolate yourself from whatever craziness may be happening around you during an important call.
• Ventilation: You will be thankful for good ventilation in your home office, it truly makes a difference when you can feel a draft on occasion. Temperature controls are also nice to have. Remember, being as comfortable as possible will help you be as productive as you can be. Sweaty folks are not the best video call hosts.
• Backgrounds: Use neutral colors around you and don’t overpopulate your walls. It will make it easier to concentrate and much more convenient for your video calls. Protect your privacy by having a neutral background.

The Furniture

Were you one of those working from a dining table? What about your bed? Do you know anyone who did? How did that go? Ensuring you have the proper furniture is key, now that you have the space, let’s fill it:

• Desktop: It will depend on what you do, your dimensions, your budget, and your gear. Take measurements, customize if necessary, but don’t buy or use anything too big nor too small, you’ll regret it. If possible, get one of those mechanical setups with adjustable heights. Your back will thank me and so will you when you get to work sitting or standing with the click of a button.
• Chair: If you have a big budget, this is where you need to spend. Get the chair that better fits your height, your weight, and your space. If your space is small, there are options with framed textiles that save space and provide good support and durability. You’ll need both lumbar and cervical support, mobility is up to you. Gaming chairs are trending, so why not treating yourself with one of those? You have a good excuse now!
• Other items: Get a carpet, even a small piece of artificial lawn, or a sandbox (if you don’t have any cats). Having an additional texture for your feet will be a huge help on those especially heavy days.

The Gear

For some, the company provides “everything” they need to be productive, others have a company budget to gear up, while most need to provide their own gear to perform their best. It doesn’t matter which group you belong to, if you made it this far, I promise you’ll find some interesting tips:

• Your workstation: This is your main work tool, and it needs to be the best it can be so you can shine. First, see how I called it a “workstation?” That’s what it is, so that’s what it needs to be; this is not your personal computer, and it is definitively not a gaming setup. If for budget reasons you are forced to use your personal computer or something that’s not a dedicated workstation, create a session for work, and install only the software you need to work. Spend as much as you need to and get help if you don’t know how to choose. I prefer laptops over desktops because they give much more mobility and have a battery that can be of help in case of a sudden power outage.
• Screens: This is a money pit you need to avoid by really knowing what you need. Choose wisely as there are too many options, with too many configurations that are created for niche markets, but bought by everyone. Unless you are a video/image editor, or a gamer (this is not a gaming setup, give it up), you won’t need the most advanced color palette, black ratio, refresh rate, or frequency. What you need is space to do your job and something that won’t kill your eyes. The amount and size of your screens will depend on your needs, but keep in mind you need to have the space and desktop to host them (See? I said we were going to talk about this).
• Input devices: Not much to say. Don’t get too distracted with keyboards and mice (It is not a gaming setup for crying out loud!). Although, this is a nice place to treat yourself; if you use your keyboard a lot, go ahead and get one of those mechanicals with the fancy keys. Why not?
• Headset: Get one. You will need a good mic if you are going to be in calls, and a good set of earphones to understand your peers. Even if you hate headsets, get one; everyone in a call with you will thank you when your voice is crystal clear thanks to a good quality microphone, and you will enjoy having a good moment with the tunes you love when you need to focus. Get a headset.
• Webcam: I know, your laptop has one, and you cover it with duct tape because you saw Zuckerberg do it. A couple things: If you use a multi-screen setup with your laptop, it is very likely your webcam is going to be to one of your sides, and you need to be looking directly at it, so having an extra one on your main screen is a good idea. Also, not all laptop webcams are very good, and, if you have lightning issues, some webcams come with a ring light that will make you look like a TikTok star, and they really know about lightning, so, think about it.
• Stands: Yes, stands. You’ll need a laptop stand and screen stands. Over the course of the last year, an almost infinite number of stand models hit the market, and for good reasons. Stands are great for your posture and help solve the issue with minimalist design desktops: Storage. Many of them come with storage space, drawers, organizers, and even USB hubs or charging stations for your phone and other gizmos. Give them a chance.

Your working space will be where you spend most of your day, so make it your own; express yourself, have a plant, a picture you love, anything to warm it up, but avoid moving parts and excessive lights. (Again with the gaming setup? Get a hold of yourself!)

I hope this guide helps you succeed working from home. If you liked it, would you make a post with a picture of your home office and share a link in the comments? I would love to see it!