[rizzin]

And what can be done if there's no easy way to separate "work" and "home" environments?

Pretty soon (in less than a month) I'm going to have the following working conditions: I'm gonna have a room to myself and a powerful tower pc. I need it both to work and to do non-work related stuff like videogames. Of course I can drag it to kitchen every day to work and move it back to my room afterwards but that seems absurd to me.

[loudmax]

Separate as much as you can. A commenter suggested dual booting. Putting your work environment in a virtual machine might be another option.

On my laptop, I keep separate browser instances for work and play:

google-chrome --user-data-dir=/home/workuser/.config/google-chrome-workuser

google-chrome --user-data-dir=/home/playuser/.config/google-chrome-playuser

Some people are able to switch contexts easily. If you're one of these people, advice given here may not apply to you. If you do find yourself having trouble keeping yourself focused at work, try doing things to keep your environments separated. It doesn't have to mean physically lugging your tower PC to a different room (but don't rule it out). Try creating different user logins, or at least different backgrounds and color schemes.

[_benedict]

I manage just fine without that isolation. However I'm the opposite end of the spectrum: I have a laptop and work from wherever I happen to be. It works just fine.

I don't find concentration is at all hard to come by, however switching off can be difficult.

[DaveWalk]

Yes -- I think the separation for you (and me) is to see the laptop as the "separation" device. I have a home office, but the distractions are everywhere. If I can grab my laptop and head anywhere else, my productivity shoots through the roof.

Ultimately, the beauty of the GP's quote "set yourself up for success" is that you must do absolutely whatever works for you. If it's working in a bar at 2 in the afternoon, do it. With no "office" to go to, it's an ideal situation to experiment.

[kryptiskt]

Maybe you can at least separate them virtually by dual booting home and work setups?

[rizzin]

Thanks, that is actually a solid idea. Or you could have a VM exclusively for working / for personal stuff.

[lifeisstillgood]

Seriously if you are not earning enough remote working to buy a new laptop / tower, charge more.

I worked remote for 2 years and was paying for a separate office space about 20 minutes walk away. You have to have that separation - otherwise you will take two hours to make lunch and just get that lawn mown instead of doing the emails.

Take a laptop to the library or to Starbucks, go find a friend I a similar shape and swap rooms, knock on local company doors and do website maintenance in return for a desk.

Do not work in your one room in a flat share. Get out. Have physical distance

[saynay]

Maybe it is different when you work remotely most of the time, but for me I primarily use my home computer for games / netflix. On the occasions that I do work from home, I find it extremely hard to concentrate as my brain immediately goes in to 'netflix / games' mode.

The only consistent success I have had is by using my laptop from a different location than one I normally use for another purpose, such as the coffee table while not using the couch.

[imjoshholloway]

Different keyboard & mouse? That could give the "feeling" of a different PC.