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by fatnoah 1459 days ago
I'm not OP, but I'm a manager that's 100% WFH at this point. I had a spare bedroom to devote to the workspace, and that's been a lifesaver, since (for me) part of maintaining WLB has been the ability to physically change spaces as a way of reinforcing that I'm no longer in "work mode" before/after certain times. Even without a separate room, having a dedicated work area might be a good idea to help with that balance if that's a problem for you.
2 comments

My wife and I both went remote and the start of the pandemic and both of our respective companies have decided to keep our positions fully remote. We have a dedicated office space in our home that we share. I don’t think we would have been successful in WFH without the dedicated space. It feels like a place where work gets done. I can sit out in our living room, dining room, or kitchen but I find I am just not as productive in those spaces.
Yep, I look forward to upgrading my housing at some point, for these great reasons and more..
Buy a smart bulb for your WFH desk. Pick a color (example: bright white) that you only use when you are working. you might not notice anything at first, but after a while it really helps with shifting your mentality into or out of work mode very quickly. Very helpful at the start of a busy day, or the end of a rough day.

Source: I did WFH for about 2 years before the pandemic in a 1 bedroom apartment that I shared with someone

I did this for sleep hygiene reasons because my office is windowless (the light goes from cool, to warm, to red as the night goes on) and as a side effect I stopped working so late because it was easier to notice "hey, it's 6 pm, I should probably stop for the day".
Great idea. I double up my office space for work and for personal projects / hobbies outside of work (same desk and chair, different computers), but didn't consider having a dedicated colored light for it.

I think I'll leave normal lighting for work, but then do a more playful color for hobbies, like purple or blue or red or something. I already have the light even, I just haven't been using it.

Something I never got around to setting up that you might find interest in if going for a few different "modes" is using NFC tags / stickers to trigger the light change. So you can have a couple stickers on the wall or w.e and tap you phone to work or hobby or normal and have things change automatically.

going into the phone isnt really a big deal, but I always felt setting up a physical trigger would be way smoother mentally

Our HR team recommended having an alarm, that plays calming music, which starts 15 minutes before your day ends so you don't stay past your time.
Personally, I don't really have an issue with staying late (a little after 5:30 I need to start dinner so it can be ready by 6:30-7:00, I'm kind of a slow cook).

My motivation to try this is more for shifting to hobby mode and being productive when I go back after dinner, as I've been super unproductive after work lately.