[HN Gopher] What if remote work didn't mean working from home?
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What if remote work didn't mean working from home?
Author : haakonhr
Score : 54 points
Date : 2021-05-25 11:00 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.newyorker.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.newyorker.com)
| mtalantikite wrote:
| I've been working remote for 13 years now and I really wish I had
| rented an office outside of my house much earlier than I did. At
| 23 your threshold for pain and discomfort is I think much higher
| in many ways, but I definitely burnt myself out by having my
| workspace also be my living space (small apartment in NYC).
|
| Once I started sharing a loft space with some friends to co-work
| out of things got a lot more enjoyable. My space was a 20 minute
| walk from my apartment, I could keep a more robust setup there,
| had space for an electronics/soldering station, kept a library of
| CS and math books there, etc. And if I needed to just do some
| work on my laptop and stay at home, that was always an option
| too.
|
| Highly recommend having a situation like that if it's at all
| possible. I gave up my space in Brooklyn mid-way through the
| pandemic and definitely am going to go find a new one soon. (If
| anyone has got a hacker space in north brooklyn let me know!).
| hprotagonist wrote:
| At least in spirit, I feel like this idea was WeWork's business
| model.
| cedricd wrote:
| Exactly. I wonder if this trend will create a meaningful
| turnaround for them. What a wild world.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| They're problem was that the land owners can do what they can
| do pretty easily and cut out the middleman.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| Yup. I ran an office out of a wework for a while and it was a
| mess. But the folks who used their office as a secondary part
| time space to do focused work seemed to really enjoy it. They
| were also the only people who were there during our entire
| lease.
| spaetzleesser wrote:
| If you can afford it that's a great setup. I had this for a while
| in Munich with my office a five minute bike ride away from home.
| But it costs a lot so it's probably not a good choice for a lot
| of people.
| rado wrote:
| Yes, please.
| jenkstom wrote:
| This doesn't help those who have to work from home because of a
| disability. Finding excuses to discriminate against the disabled
| is toxic behavior. So I'm going to go ahead and label this
| article as "toxic" since it recommends a "solution" without
| mentioning that it's completely inappropriate for some people.
| YetAnotherNick wrote:
| By the same logic almost all of the companies pre covid are
| toxic?
| loco5niner wrote:
| > Finding excuses to discriminate against the disabled is toxic
| behavior.
|
| I see no attempt to do that in the article. You are not helping
| your cause.
| CodeGlitch wrote:
| You're right in that it ignores the disabled, but is that
| toxic? Surely it would have to be outright hostile to the
| disabled for it to be "toxic".
|
| What I think has happened is that the author just hasn't
| considered the less abled, which is a common mistake. Far from
| toxic though.
| eruci wrote:
| This was my life even before the pandemic (Since 2005 I've worked
| in coffeshops, parks, in my car and in beaches nearby) with the
| only difference that coffeshops are closed at the moment and I'll
| have to make do with what is left. Leaving home while working
| from home is very important.
| swader999 wrote:
| My shed that I can easily convert to an office is not home but
| close to home so...
| beforeolives wrote:
| Works out best if "near home" = "the actual office of my
| company".
| throwaway3699 wrote:
| An underlying issues nobody is talking about is real estate
| prices need to crash then. The quality of life outside a city
| is just so unbelievably better that I'm not going back to live
| in a box for hundreds of dollars a month, on a filthy street
| with no sense of community.
| riskneutral wrote:
| Quality of life outside the big city is better? Do you mean
| in the suburbs? Or in a small town? Or in a village? Or in
| the wilderness in a cabin?
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| Yes, all of those things are better than living in cities.
|
| Less noise, less crowding, less violence and crime, more
| space, more peace, and more friendliness.
| beforeolives wrote:
| The friendliness thing is hit and miss, small communities
| have their own brand of dysfunctions.
| throwaway3699 wrote:
| Yes to all of those, for me at least. I'm not denying there
| are some upsides to city living (easy access to office
| being the big one) but I wouldn't move back to one without
| at least double the salary.
| avelis wrote:
| This only works when quiet time to think and work is respected.
| Cowork spaces are usually terrible at it.
| ryankrage77 wrote:
| > organizations that allow remote work should not only encourage
| these employees to find professional spaces near (but distinct
| from) their homes--they should also directly subsidize these
| cognitive escapes
|
| Well I can think of one location a lot of businesses could allow
| an employee to work from - the office.
| Bjartr wrote:
| I actually have this arrangement with my employer. They're paying
| $500/mo. to rent a small one room office for me a few blocks away
| from my home because I am easily more than twice as productive
| when not at home. It's a no-brainer comparing the cost to value.
| blakesterz wrote:
| "Here's my proposal: organizations that allow remote work should
| not only encourage these employees to find professional spaces
| near (but distinct from) their homes--they should also directly
| subsidize these cognitive escapes. The cost need not be
| prohibitive. If we turn back to our author examples, we see that
| a workspace doesn't need to be aesthetically pleasing, or well-
| equipped, or air-conditioned (or even have walls or a roof!)"
|
| I'm not sure I agree with the specific proposal put forward here.
| Those examples probably won't work for most people. BUT I think
| many of us would agree with the general idea of having a place
| near home to do some work in some fashion. That's the point of
| remote work places like WeWork and all the many local places out
| there, isn't it?
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| I could not imagine taking anyone seriously who says I should
| leave my air conditioned house, comfy office set up exactly how
| I like it, for "that a workspace doesn't need to be
| aesthetically pleasing, or well-equipped, or air-conditioned
| (or even have walls or a roof!"
|
| Unreal. The disconnect here is just shocking.
| thatjoeoverthr wrote:
| I do this exactly. I rented a small apartment very near (fifty
| meters) from home, declared it my "studio" and set up my
| workplace. I can work there with my older daughter (studying at
| home) and my younger daughter (a toddler) is safely separated and
| home is not a work place. Literally, I don't have a "computer" at
| home; only my iPad and a 25 year old Nintendo. 10/10, strongly
| recommend.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| Oh wow. That is cool. What area are you in? I've considered
| this but I would need to move to a much lower COL area.
| thatjoeoverthr wrote:
| Poland. I'm paying about 500/mo (USD) for the place. That's
| true, I forget how expensive many places are.
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| Yup. At that price I'd 100% do the same thing. That's
| awesome.
| GoodJokes wrote:
| What if organizations just let employees do what they want and
| offered them a number of options.
| whywhywhywhy wrote:
| If work still has to be conducted by videocall they may as well
| just be at home it's just an inefficient either way and you still
| lose the ability to have creative ideation discussion that just
| doesn't work over videocall because of the time delay and forced
| one at a time speaking.
|
| I do think WFH is here to stay but I also see an uncomfortable
| divide is going to form both in the types of work given to the
| two sides and the promotion and salary opportunities.
| golergka wrote:
| In nice weather, I just grab my laptop and go sit on a bench in a
| nearest park. Best work environment that I've ever had in my
| entire life.
| abruzzi wrote:
| I did this for a bit during the pandemic (because my
| productivity approaches zero at home) unfortunately, it gets
| hot in the summer here, so working on a park bench in 110F heat
| isn't a year round option. I suspect there are few plaes in the
| US where this could work year round. I ended up just going back
| to the office--everyone else was gone, at home due to
| quarantine--and I could be very productive.
| CodeGlitch wrote:
| Seriously how do you do this for any length of time? I would
| have neck and back ache and my hands would cramp up after just
| 1 day.
| _joel wrote:
| I wouldn't have a problem, but I do feel there's an undercurrent
| of these kind of "You can't be productive actually at home"
| articles I'm reading. I wonder if WeWork are pushing these :)
| beforeolives wrote:
| Of course companies will push whatever agenda suits them and
| websites will push anything that gets clicks. But there are
| people who genuinely feel this way (I'm one of them).
| neonate wrote:
| https://archive.is/CYbFy
| omarish wrote:
| Yes. I've done this for the past 4 years and it's the best of
| both worlds. Right now I rent a private office that's ~10 minutes
| walking from home. Close enough that there's no traffic; far
| enough that I have a routine. Love it.
| egypturnash wrote:
| This has been my life for years except without the "renting a
| place" part. I work in cafes. I work in parks. I work sitting on
| a bench taking shelter from the rain on my way to somewhere else.
| I work anywhere I have space to take my Wacom tablet out of my
| bag and plug it into my laptop, and the desire to spend more time
| working today.
|
| I also work at home in my studio but getting away from the
| distractions of home is, as this article notes, important.
|
| I thought "remote work" already meant this? I've been doing it
| for years, it's one of the perks of being a freelance artist.
| Sometimes I've toyed with the idea of getting together with some
| friends and splitting the rent on a shared studio space but
| really I know I'd only show up a few days a month.
| shard wrote:
| I wouldn't mind working in a different place than at home, but
| I've grown accustomed to having a 27" screen, and having to
| switch to using just the 13" screen of my work laptop would
| drive me bonkers. Perhaps one day when rollable monitors are a
| common thing and I can carry a 27" scroll screen in a poster
| tube...
| Foxfox12 wrote:
| I have considered this but it seems too inconvenient. A cafe
| doesn't seem like a great place to work unless it's
| consistently quiet and mostly empty so you aren't taking a
| table an actual customer could have. The library seems like the
| next best place after home but it doesn't seem to provide a
| whole lot of value over just working from home since I have a
| pretty good setup there.
|
| Currently my current and ideal situation is working from home
| 3-4 days a week and then coming in at the end of the week.
| Those in office days might be less productive but they do
| provide enough social interaction for the week.
| spaetzleesser wrote:
| I wish I could work like this but I like my fixed setup. I
| can't focus while on the beach or in a cafe. I guess it also
| depends on the type of work.
| spiderjerusalem wrote:
| very much this, I'm a very restless person and I _need_ to move
| every 2-3 hours. Cafe hopping is very very important to my
| general flow. I also need noise and general life happening
| around me. Offices are too artificial an environment and my
| apartment is too silent.
| steveklabnik wrote:
| > I thought "remote work" already meant this?
|
| Like anything, it's a spectrum. To some people, "travel" means
| "I drove to the next state over for the afternoon," and to some
| it means "I am going to this island down by Antarctica that
| requires getting a special government permit".
| peterbraden wrote:
| As long as the work gets done, why does it matter?
| steveklabnik wrote:
| I agree!
| the_greyd wrote:
| Now that you can sit in inside spaces without a mask, I feel
| libraries and cafes are a real alternative for me! And this is
| me typing from a desk at a public library 10 minutes from my
| apartment. Can't express the amount of relief and joy I feel
| right now
| egypturnash wrote:
| ooh, thanks for reminding me about libraries, I got a lot of
| work done upstairs in the main branch of Seattle's library, I
| gotta get around to checking out the options in my new city.
| cube00 wrote:
| I already find it distracting enough listening to conversations
| from other departments that have nothing to do with me, now I'd
| have to deal with discussions from other companies instead. Open
| plan needs to die already.
| alexjplant wrote:
| I live and work in a 700 square foot apartment (of which too
| large of a percentage is closet space for my liking). I just
| discovered that there are two coworking spaces within walking
| distance; I'm going to see if I can get a reasonable daily rate
| and shell out a hundred or two a month to go in once or twice a
| week.
| leecarraher wrote:
| I think we will soon see a dip in productivity.whenever assessing
| trends, you should never base conclusions on outlier events and
| we are basing too much of the wfh success on this past year. A
| year when you couldn't go out and do things, when people feared
| for their jobs amid a global crisis and felt a call of duty to
| keep on working.
| dcolkitt wrote:
| A lot of managers seem to have an unshakeable convention that
| as soon as workers are no longer cattle-penned into an office
| that they'll turn into lazy slobs. As if the only thing
| stopping them from vegging out on the couch, eating ice cream
| and watching Jerry Springer during the work day is the watchful
| and benevolent gaze of their adult supervisors from across the
| open office floor plan.
|
| Believe it or not, most professionals are actually still
| productive outside the panopticon. If anything, substantially
| more productive because of being in a pleasant environment of
| their choosing. The only reason I can think why so many refuse
| to accept this evidence is because a lot of middle managers add
| little value beyond daycare supervisor. Not all, but a lot.
| thrower123 wrote:
| Possible, but there's the counter-balancing fact that people
| have been amped up and stressed out the whole last year, they
| didn't have the hardware they needed or the processes in place
| to help them succeed, they were dealing with their kids being
| unexpectedly dumped in their laps, etc.
|
| This time last year companies were scrambling because they were
| absolutely unprepared for the amount of VPN bandwidth and other
| resources that would be necessary to handle abruptly shifting
| their work-force remote.
|
| If anything, I would expect things to go more smoothly, for the
| companies that don't hastily revert to the asses-in-seats
| paradigm.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| As long as I still have a quiet, private office and don't spend
| an hour+ per day in traffic and am not expected to give up
| evenings for "not mandatory but really you should show up to play
| politics" office happy hours, I don't care where I work.
|
| Currently working from home gives me all of that and I haven't
| been happier with a job ever.
| geoduck14 wrote:
| Regarding the Happy Hours:
|
| In 2019, my team would occasionally need to work long hours or
| would deliver something awesome. I would reward them with HH
| and dinner/late meal. It gave me a chance to say "thanks" and
| for us to bond over the challenge we overcame.
|
| I can't do that anymore! I've don't virtual HH, but it isn't
| the same! I would REALLY like a virtual solution to "bond with
| your team" and "say thanks in a meaningful way" - cost be
| damned.
|
| As a side note, politics suck. I really like WFH. Working long
| hours is bad - bonding is good.
| bcrosby95 wrote:
| At my workplace, long hours are usually compensated with a
| bonus _and_ commensurately shorter hours for a period of
| time.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| Spending more time at work (yes, going to a happy hour with
| my coworkers is still "at work") is not a reward for hard
| work. More money or time off is.
|
| I work hard to have my own life, outside of work. I don't
| work hard to be rewarded with a single expensive meal with
| booze paid for.
|
| I don't even drink anyways.
| conductr wrote:
| > It gave me a chance to say "thanks"
|
| "Me" is the key word
|
| > and for us to bond over the challenge we overcame.
|
| That occurred already. It happened through the process of
| overcoming the challenge.
|
| I get the intent, but your people probably just want to rest
| and get some of their time back. If you must celebrate, do it
| during hours. I typically did offsite lunch time activities
| pre-COVID. Now it's more gift driven and individual. I made
| up award systems like the high school "most likely to ...".
| If someone renovated their masterbath, give them something
| that is specific to that as a thanks. Find out if they prefer
| public or 1:1 gratitude
| Taylor_OD wrote:
| Yup. Ever after 5pm work thing I've been "rewarded" with is
| still work. Even if it's more fun than working at my desk its
| still work. I'm not able to do with that time what I want.
| It's only a reward if it is replacing work. And really it's
| only a reward if the amount of time that it is replacing is
| taken out of the sprint planning.
|
| At the end of the day if you take a weeknight from me I'm
| going to be annoyed at best and upset at worst. If you take a
| work day from me, or part of one, but still expect me to get
| a full days or work done we will both be in a bad position.
|
| I get the intention here. I used to be a people manager and I
| planned lots of things for after work. But I stopped when I
| realized how difficult it actually made things for many
| people and people with kids.
| watwut wrote:
| These things are highly individual. Usually, after crunches
| and pressures, I tended to be angry at disorganization that
| caused it and also wanted to go home due to pile of stuff
| that accumulated there.
|
| I get that there were people who appreciated these, but not
| everyone does. It is one more added duty after you have
| already done a lot.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| Imo, It's people who have no other life or responsibility
| outside of work that love work organized and paid for
| events.
|
| And they seem incapable of understanding that other people
| have better things to do than get wasted at a bar with
| their coworkers on a weeknight, even if the company is
| paying for it.
| patmorgan23 wrote:
| It's a balancing act. It's good for people to have some
| bounding time with the people they work with in a non
| work environment. It builds empathy across individuals,
| teams, and departments which makes resolving conflicts
| easier. Work is a big part of your life and there's
| nothing wrong with building strong long lasting
| relationships with your co-workers.
|
| On the flip side, work is a big part of your life and it
| shouldn't be 100% of you life. It's good to have
| relationships and commitments outside of work. Finding
| this balance is hard and different for everyone.
| shard wrote:
| It depends on the kind of work-organized events. My
| previous company organized free concerts, from pop to
| classical to jazz, as well as family events such as Theme
| Park Day. Aside from company-wide events, there are the
| large team events (~50 people) that included day hikes,
| museums, activity camps, and plays. I've enjoyed many of
| these despite having responsibilities outside of work.
| halgir wrote:
| It sounds like you're the manager in this case, and that your
| intentions are genuine. But are you entirely sure that your
| team feels the same?
|
| I've done similar, but in local restaurants during working
| hours. It's unfair to implicitly demand your team to donate
| free time, regardless how much you believe they should enjoy
| and appreciate it.
|
| That aside, virtual options have come pretty close for us.
| Give everyone a budget to arrange their own food and either
| organize activities/games that your team will enjoy or just
| hang out.
| nomoreplease wrote:
| > I would reward them with HH and dinner/late meal.
|
| Maybe your team would appreciate a $200 gift card instead of
| HH + dinner/late meal, especially when some people don't
| drink or prefer healthy meals instead of steakhouses.
| JohnWhigham wrote:
| Classic HN missing the point of social interaction and the
| benefits it provides.
| CoastalCoder wrote:
| I think the problem with something like (specifically)
| Happy Hour is that it's really welcome by some employees,
| and really hated by others.
|
| Imagine being one of the few Mormons, observant Muslims,
| or recovering alcoholics at a company that "rewards" your
| team with Happy Hours. Or being someone who's been
| sexually harassed or assaulted at previous events where
| coworkers drank too much.
|
| I'm not suggesting that it's easy (or even possible) to
| plan a social event that's guaranteed to be welcomed by
| _every_ member of a team. But I think events that focus
| or rely on alcohol as the means of team bonding can be a
| bad idea depending on the team.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| Then do it during work hours, and everyone wins.
| shard wrote:
| My previous company had done mid-week outings (definitely
| not Fridays, people want to go home), where everyone in
| the team kicks off at 3PM, go see a movie together (the
| team splitting up based on what movie they wanted to
| see), then have a nice dinner, with games and prizes at
| the end at around 7PM. I won a Nintendo Switch one time.
| It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.
| tannedNerd wrote:
| Seriously this is the best solution. Instead of after
| work, do a (virtual or not) HH at 3 on Friday. People
| don't have to donate free time and will appreciate it
| much more.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| I'd still bet that many people would rather just go home
| early on a Friday. I know I would.
| topkai22 wrote:
| Following up late nights working by expecting people to
| attend an after-work event is not a benefit to the
| worker. As others have said, having a big team lunch and
| then sending them home is a benefit.
| cujo wrote:
| Classic comment missing the point that not everyone needs
| or wants the social interaction with their work mates.
| legerdemain wrote:
| THIS, 100% this. I don't want to be "social" with you, I
| don't want to "bond" with you, and I don't care about you
| as a human being. You are 100% just a queue of work tasks
| and a source of pay checks. The less I see, hear, or know
| about the other people on my team, the happier I am _and
| the better off they are_. WFH forever, don 't mess with a
| good thing.
| JohnWhigham wrote:
| Writing software in most companies is a team endeavor. If
| you can't handle interacting with others on a daily
| basis, find another industry. Better yet, start your own
| company.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| There is a huge difference between working on a team and
| the team essentially acting as a replacement for your
| social life.
|
| I love working on a team. I don't want to spend my free
| time with them. That's what my friends are for.
|
| Sometimes people from the team become friends that I
| spend time with outside of work, but that's on my terms
| not my employers.
|
| It really seems like many people do not have any kind of
| healthy boundary with their employer.
| Ronson wrote:
| I get away with being "The grumpy Scotsman", it's got the
| point that I don't even get invited which took some work
| but wouldn't have it any other way. I am still held in
| high regard at work and part of the furniture now. I just
| don't do that forced shit. It's not my personality.
| kristjansson wrote:
| Not everyone of course, and one should be attentive to
| and accommodating of teammates that feel that way. But
| surely "let's knock off at three today and go down the
| pub, thanks for all the hard work" is a positive for most
| people?
| Angostura wrote:
| Try Let's knock off at three today.
|
| I'm going down the pub - anyone care to join me? I'm
| buying."
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| "Thanks for all the hard work, let's knock off at three
| today" Is a positive.
|
| "Let's go down to the pub" is still capitalizing on my
| time. It's still work, just the location has changed. And
| in the past it has often started at 3 and then kept going
| and going until way later than if I'd just worked out my
| day.
|
| There is always some idealism around it like "oh if you
| don't drink you don't have to, just come hang out for a
| bit" or "you don't have to stay late you can leave early"
| but in practice people aren't actually that
| understanding. You try to head home and it's all "you're
| not having a good time?" Or "you're not a team player"
|
| No thanks. I'll pass on all of that from now on.
| time0ut wrote:
| The kind of happy hour you are describing is great and one of
| the things I miss about the office. Chilling with your tight
| knit team after a long day or a big release is great. I
| assume the GP is talking about the other sort of happy hour
| where it is a bigger crowd. I can't stand those.
| throwawayboise wrote:
| I've worked with teams that worked well together and got
| stuff done, at work. But never wanted to hang out after
| work with anyone. We all had different lives. Some single,
| some married, some with kids, some not, etc. At the end of
| the day everyone just wants to go home to his or her
| private life.
| shard wrote:
| I prefer the larger team outings, as there are usually more
| people that I enjoy hanging out with than the small 4-7
| people team that I work with. Also, larger team outings
| usually means more things to do because of the larger
| budget, so it could be a trip to a tourist attraction or
| activity camp, as opposed to just a meal when it is the
| smaller team.
| agent008t wrote:
| How about reward them with a cash bonus?
| zelphirkalt wrote:
| It can be great to sometimes (!) put in a little more time to
| reach a goal, deliver something the team wanted to deliver
| for a long time or improve upon some annoyances in status
| quo.
|
| Working extra hours is not to be expected and should be
| valued. A team probably works better when extra effort is
| valued. I think it is great, that you are trying to thank
| your employees / coworkers.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| You can thank employees and coworkers without using their
| non work time. Do it at lunch.
| zelphirkalt wrote:
| True, you got a point, but consider: Saying a few words
| at lunch time can become a kind of automatism quickly.
| Perhaps inviting people to social time going out to eat
| somewhere will leave a more lasting memory. It might not
| be for everyone. For example people having children and
| all that. But it does give people a chance to be in a
| setting outside of work, but with people from the job,
| which might give a chance to bond through other topics.
|
| I think there might not be the perfect reward/thank you
| for everyone.
| bluefirebrand wrote:
| > I think there might not be the perfect reward/thank you
| for everyone
|
| There is actually.
|
| It's called big stacks of money.
|
| Oddly, companies don't seem to want to reward people with
| it, the one universal thing that basically everyone could
| appreciate and is the entire reason anyone works anywhere
| in the first place.
|
| Crazy. It's almost like playing relatively small amounts
| for a big expensive catered meal saves the company way
| more money than rewarding people with meaningful sums of
| money would.
| SteveNuts wrote:
| Take the money you would have spent on this and give it to
| your team directly.
| dao- wrote:
| > I can't do that anymore!
|
| Good. You'll have to think harder to find ways not to
| overwork your team in the first place.
|
| This attitude towards workers rubs me the wrong way, but your
| side note saved you in my eyes:
|
| > Working long hours is bad
|
| Yes! Overworking people and then saying "thanks" by
| exploiting the fact ("using the chance", as you put it) that
| you locked them into the office isn't exactly fair. If this
| is what people mean by happy hour, that's absurd. If they
| chose to stay for social stuff after a normal day of work,
| that's of course another thing.
| dcolkitt wrote:
| What about the occasional company ski trip?
| reidjs wrote:
| If you all still live in the same area would it be impossible
| to organize a little offsite at a bar or restaurant?
| gajjanag wrote:
| Also, the ability to tune out of useless meetings by muting
| audio/video is great.
| devoutsalsa wrote:
| I wish Zoom had an in-app mute button. I'd love it if I
| didn't have to mute the entire computer.
| hwbehrens wrote:
| A trick I've used before in a pinch is to set your monitor
| connection (via USB-C/HDMI/DisplayPort) as the Zoom audio
| output. I never use it as an output, so it's permanently
| muted in the on-screen menus. Since Zoom makes it fairly
| easy to customize audio, it can act as a simple mute
| effect.
| patmorgan23 wrote:
| You can mute individual applications in windows volume
| mixer (right click speaker icon in the taskbar, click open
| volume mixer). I don't know if there's a Mac equivalent but
| I would be really surprised if there wasn't.
| zaptheimpaler wrote:
| Also Windows+G brings up an on screen overlay over any
| application with the volume mixer and other stuff. Its
| super useful.
| k__ wrote:
| It never did.
|
| I work remote for 7 years now and the first year I worked mostly
| from libraries and coffeeshops.
| kenneth wrote:
| I've worked like this since way before Covid. Unfortunately the
| lockdowns have pushed me more at home than at my usual haunt of
| cafes and bars (or occasionally the beach). I'm completely
| incapable of getting anything productive done at home. I work for
| myself so an office is kind of a waste. A bustling cafe or a bar
| gives me the best ambiance in which to focus distraction-free.
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