Working from home.....
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Hi,
I have free reign to work from home, pretty much all the time. I am the sole person on a project which only my boss knows about and although i have tried to bounce some ideas off he says he doesn't have much time and doesn't know the codebase.Knowing i have a ton of work to do on it but can't get away from reading aimlessly on blogs/youtube etc. Feel like I am the WTF.
Anyone know any ways to help with this? I have tried to plan goals and little code sprints with myself but i can't be arsed to complete them....
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_DNpTMKXk
Is there anything to stop you going into the office for a few weeks until you have the basics hammered out and can go back to WFH to do the bulk of it? You might find it easier to stay motivated if you're in a work environment for the start of the project.
Alternatively, make sure your home working PC is in a location that's only used for work and keep a routine of getting up and dressing for work to keep you in the right mindset
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@Jaloopa
Done that.
Office is about 2hrs drive away. Plan to go in next week for a couple of days just as a change of scenery actually. However in the office I have found that after all the usual hellos the same thing happens. We all have our own offices and everyone goes off to work on their own things. My mind just wanders.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
I have free reign to work from home, pretty much all the time.
@Helix said in Working from home.....:
We all have our own offices
You have a better working arrangement than 99% of developers.
Just knuckle down and get it done.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
Knowing i have a ton of work to do on it but can't get away from reading aimlessly on blogs/youtube etc. Feel like I am the WTF.
Anyone know any ways to help with this?Music distract parts of my brain that are bored to death without stopping me from working. If you have ADD, taking meds for it make a huge difference too.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
Anyone know any ways to help with this?
I use music. If I can find motivating music that makes me want to get shit done, it'll help ease the transition until my brain picks up a problem I want to tackle, at which point I get in the flow and it stops being so hard.
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@Yamikuronue said in Working from home.....:
I use music.
Amen!
Previously: R.E.M. - Orange Crush
Now Playing: The Sister of Mercy - Temple of Love
Next: The Pixies - Levitate MeGoogle Play seems to be stuck in the previous century ...
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
You have a better working arrangement than 99% of developers.
Just knuckle down and get it done.You just gave him unsolicited advice. I got ya
(uh, ok, he asked for advice, at least it wasn't the advice he was expecting for)
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@otter Fuck off fbmac.
He doesn't need advice; he knows how to knuckle down and get work done or he wouldn't have gotten this cushy job. He just needs to stop slacking off and do it the way he did it when he did the projects that got put on his resume that let to him being here in the first place and yes I know this sentence is confusing.
The point is, he already demonstrably has the ability. So I don't get the point of the thread.
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@blakeyrat
Yeah I know. I have got everything i wanted in a job, but funnily enough it's not what I need in a job... feeling unproductive.
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@Helix So be productive.
How have you felt productive in the past? Do now what you did then.
If you've never been productive in your entire career, then you should vacate that job to someone who has and go stand in front of a deep fryer at McDonalds.
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...
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@otter So you're saying he somehow graduated high school, probably attended college, then got a job and put some great things on his resume so he could eventually get in this cushy job without once having to focus on an unpleasant task? I don't believe that.
He knows how to do it. He's obviously done it before. He doesn't need advice.
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
have you felt productive in the past? Do now what you did then.
If you've never been productive in your entire career, then you should vacate that job to someone who has and go standExactly
:)Perhaps i should say...... this is not a new greenfield project.
It's re-factoring piles of VB6 copy pasta shit withoutup to datedocumentation. Once eventually to be migrated to .NET. I think I have mentioned it in the past.The project that makes me give up dev.
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@otter
Interesting - perhaps there is something about that.
Yes, always used music for work.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
It's re-factoring piles of VB6 copy pasta shit without up to date documentation. Once eventually to be migrated to .NET. I think I have mentioned it in the past.
Ok...?
So you're currently converting it to .NET or are you just refactoring it and leaving it in VB6? Why would either "make you give up dev"?
Either way, it sounds like a pretty easy project to me.
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This post is deleted!
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@Helix Ha! Try configuring a dozen servers to be deployed in Bamboo. You get into this mindless rhythm of ctrl-c, ctr-v, click, click, ctrl-c, ctrl-v all damn day and start getting sloppy.
I like to do bursts: I'll configure for an hour, then take a 15-minute break. You could do pomodoro if you want.
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@blakeyrat
No, refactor first. There are some other 'third party' hurdles before moving to .NET. But we came to the conclusion that re-factoring and taking out almost half of the copy pasta code will simplify conversion. And you know, converted shit is still shit.
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@Yamikuronue
I like the look of thatAlso I should add: Never Ctrl-c Ctrl-v, make a script to do it for you and be reusable?
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.............So progress news.
- Lets be realistic, there is not design documentation
- Thinking about pomodoro I did some sketches to help break down the tasks into smaller jobs. Effectively mini design documents.
- Using my new sketches I achieved more in an hour then I did yesterday.
- PROFIT....
TIL I relearned why we don't be casual about these things.
It turns out I was wrong to turn my back on years of experience by saying "pfft we can re-factor and keep the code functioning the same. Stuff the design documents i've got this covered."
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
He knows how to do it. He's obviously done it before. He doesn't need advice.
No, he needs a pep talk. P.S. You suck at giving pep talks.
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
He knows how to do it. He's obviously done it before. He doesn't need advice.
That's stupid. People have various ways of getting focused and some of the things they do might help him. It might be different than what he did as a teenager.
You sound kind of like someone telling a depressed person that they've been happy before so they know how to do it why don't you just knuckle down and do it?
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
And you know, converted shit is still shit.
But some languages are easier to write tests for and refactor safely than others. It's complicated. It might be harder to do the conversion, but I'd still say the faster you jump the better for something like this.
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I often have similar problems when working from home or on my own. The ways I try to deal with them:
- 100% work computer. Shut down work-unrelated browser windows, remove games, etc.
- Desk and chair. The more comfortable they are, the less likely you are to think about that couch across the room.
- Work atmosphere. As hipsterish as that sound, take a laptop and go to a coffee shop or a co-working space. Being surrounded by working people can help.
I can't say I've been 100% successful with any of these. I still fail to consistently put in the level of effort I'd like to.
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@Helix At this stage, you just need to show your boss that you are responsible and can work from home. So go home, and do your job.
I'm in the same boat now. I can work from home any time I like. It's great. I save hours on my commute when it's convenient for everybody. But to get to that point, I had to show that my time working from home is at least as valuable to the firm as the time I'm in the office. It's just a perk. If you want it, you need to do your part.
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@boomzilla said in Working from home.....:
That's stupid. People have various ways of getting focused and some of the things they do might help him. It might be different than what he did as a teenager.
Well the company hired him because he can deliver projects, right? So at some point he could deliver projects. He needs to do now what he did then. That's all I'm saying.
The high school stuff was just because fbmac (who, BTW, why isn't he banned yet?) was suggesting that Helix somehow went an entire career without ever having to do hard work, which I found pretty difficult to believe.
@boomzilla said in Working from home.....:
You sound kind of like someone telling a depressed person that they've been happy before so they know how to do it why don't you just knuckle down and do it?
Well if he has clinical depression, then that's different. That means his brain literally wouldn't allow it. But he didn't mention a thing about that, so.
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
fbmac (who, BTW, why isn't he banned yet?)
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@DogsB Dunno why they started with this, I'm just playing along
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
That's all I'm saying.
I'm going to come into all of your help threads and say that you should just do whatever you've asking for help on. I look forward to your responses.
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@Yamikuronue said in Working from home.....:
I'll configure for an hour, then take a 15-minute
breakwank.FTFPWWFH
Yeah, I know, someone already made that joke.
@cartman82 said in Working from home.....:
I often have similar problems when working from home or on my own. The ways I try to deal with them:
- 100% work computer. Shut down work-unrelated browser windows, remove games, etc.
- Desk and chair. The more comfortable they are, the less likely you are to think about that couch across the room.
- Work atmosphere. As hipsterish as that sound, take a laptop and go to a coffee shop or a co-working space. Being surrounded by working people can help.
I can't say I've been 100% successful with any of these. I still fail to consistently put in the level of effort I'd like to.
+1.000
The only thing you can do is try to create a work atmosphere, and even then you'll inevitably fail to be productive half of the time. But don't worry: You would be slacking off just as much in the office as well, you just feel more guilty if you do it at home.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
Never Ctrl-c Ctrl-v, make a script to do it for you and be reusable?
I'm dealing wiht:
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
Never Ctrl-c Ctrl-v, make a script to do it for you and be reusable?
I'm dealing with:
so while I've written out all the scripts, put them in source control, and pre-written a "download script from source control and execute" script to paste into the box, I've still gotta paste server name, username, password, script into it. A billion times.
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@Yamikuronue Does Bamboo only support configuring via the interface? Because with Jenkins, there are solutions that allow you to script the configuration.
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@asdf Far as I can tell, yes. I make heavy use of the "clone configuration" button, but if I clone a deploy job with only one server and need to make one with two servers, I can't clone the task itself, I have to re-enter the information for the second server.
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@Yamikuronue I just googled "Jenkins job DSL bamboo", and this came up:
Not as great as the job DSL + API that Jenkins has, but may be helpful?
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@Yamikuronue said in Working from home.....:
I've still gotta paste server name, username, password, script into it. A billion times.
AutoHotKey, or some other tool for repetitively entering information?
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@asdf These are "Deployment projects", which are second-class citizens and don't get all the features that "build plans" do :(
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@blakeyrat said in Working from home.....:
So be productive.
That's a bit like telling someone who is depressed to just stop being sad. It is not that easy.
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@Luhmann said in Working from home.....:
@Yamikuronue said in Working from home.....:
I use music.
Amen!
Previously: R.E.M. - Orange Crush
Now Playing: The Sister of Mercy - Temple of Love
Next: The Pixies - Levitate MeGoogle Play seems to be stuck in the previous century ...
The only century with proper tunes
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@Jaloopa said in Working from home.....:
AutoHotKey, or some other tool for repetitively entering information?
AutoHotKey storing my bot credentials does help with one less thing to c/p, and since that's used in literally every task, that helps quite a bit
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@Helix What works for me:
- I have a work area that is only for work. When I go there, it is time to get shit done. I goof off in other areas of the house, but that area is just for working. (mostly)
- Get dressed for work when it is time for work. You don't need to put on a suit and tie or anything. But at least jeans and shoes. If you are sitting around in a pair of old basketball shorts and a grotty t-shirt, you will fuck off instead of working.
- Play some music, but possibly the type of stuff you would hear in an office. You don't want to drum along with it or sing along with it, but you don't want to hate it either. It needs to become white noise to you.
- Take breaks. No one can keep their nose to the grindstone for 8-10 hours straight without their mind wandering. You are working from home. Go for a walk, have a decent lunch, go play with a pet. Our work is mentally fatiguing. If you were doing manual labor carrying heavy shit, occasionally you would stop and rest your body. Do the same for your mind.
- Figure out when you work best. Are you most productive in the morning? Evening? Late at night? Afternoon? Whatever time that is, work then. You are working from home, fit your work to your productive hours. I work best late at night, so I do a lot of things then. There are still some things I have to do during the day. I take care of those then, but do the other stuff when my mind works best.
Hmmmmm, there are probably some other things. But that is all I can think of for now.
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@Helix said in Working from home.....:
Exactly
Perhaps i should say...... this is not a new greenfield project.
It's re-factoring piles of VB6 copy pasta shit without up to date documentation. Once eventually to be migrated to .NET. I think I have mentioned it in the past.
The project that makes me give up dev.I think your major problem may be that you are bored. You are uninterested. How you keep your mind on your work under those conditions...I don't know. Do your best, or try to get a different project? If I had to do that every day, I would probably be begging for the sweet relief that only death could bring.
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@Polygeekery Cripes. VB6 is not that bad. The biggest problem is probably half your tools no longer run correctly, although I know the IDE worked ok still in Windows 8 so I presume it still does in 10.
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@Yamikuronue OK, that sucks. In an ideal world, the CI configuration should definitely live in source control and it should be easy (as in 1 or 2 commands) to set up a new CI server.
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@Yamikuronue Technically, if you can do it over the web, you can script it…
But yes, I can understand just wanting to get it done. (Just been in the same position for instantiating a bunch of data ingestion systems. They were all very slightly different from each other; clone-tweak-clone-tweak-… And not quite enough of them to really justify switching to code.)
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@dkf said in Working from home.....:
@Yamikuronue Technically, if you can do it over the web, you can script it…
Sort of like certain forums which certain people have claimed were impossible to write bots for?
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@anotherusername said in Working from home.....:
Sort of like certain forums which certain people have claimed were impossible to write bots for?
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Yeah, so I'm not sure if I've figured out the work from home thing yet.
I started a 100% remote job a couple of weeks ago and was just fired for not getting enough done.
I even had to waive pay for the hours worked to avoid further unpleasantness.
So, yeah, compartmentalization is a common difficulty.