Working Remotely - Commuting

Introduction #

When your place of work is outside of your home, the physical movement from home to work is called commuting. But what if your workplace and bedroom are 10 feet away from each other? Or are in fact the same room?

In that case, it is still important to commute. And I can tell you why and how.

How #

The commute is circular or semi-circular if your work from home. If you and your partner both work from home, you can bookend the day with a neighborhood loop on foot or on bikes to a light errand, such as buying milk or to the bakery.

A semicircular commute when working from home can be to walk to a cafe, McDonalds, or library for the morning, bringing your laptop. I have even done fine Zoom meetings at those places, using cheap noise cancelling headphones (30USD).

Partner Time #

Walking while both facing forward is like time spent in a car. The conversation is different. If you or your partner are male, you might really know what I mean with this one. It's a different kind of conversation.

Thinking Time #

If you are walking solo, the thinking can be very different. Cal Newport is a Comp Sci professor, at MIT, and he specializes in time hacking his day. To double dip on the health benefits of walking to work, he pre-defines a good "walking problem" the night before his commute. He defines a clear outcome and the steps to that outcome.

His book is Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Serendipity #

If your personality type delights in surprises and serendipity, you can scratch that itch by getting outside, I think.

New research: Walking after a rain #

Wet ground, hit by rain drops, gives off vapors that are mood effectors.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ryhr Just one thing podcast from Wed 1 Nov 2023

• The ground releases Geosmin, a fragrant compound which is linked with relaxation and increased serotonin levels.
• The ground releases negative air ions created after rainfall. He is researching how high levels of negative ions could potentially reduce stress. Source: Professor Michael Terman, from Columbia University in New York

New research: Walking backwards #

The muscles are opposite. If you do it on an incline you will really feel like you are achieving the benefits of paying a membership to a gym.

• Source: Professor Janet Dufek from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, research suggests that walking backwards could help with lower back pain.

New research: Walking inhaling with your mouth closed #

Your nose gives off nitric oxide compounds, which are a neurotransmitter. When you inhale through your nose, the NO compounds enter your lungs and dilate the vessels, activating more of the deeper parts of the lung to absorb oxygen readily.

• Source: Professor Jon Lundberg from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden

IRL Relationships #

We are all hairless apes and the mental health that other primates receive from a social context also acrue to us.
Mental health flows from passive context. Eavesdropping, people watching, social norming, being a part of a thing can be passive but still benefit
Mental health flows from relationships.

There's an accountant, lives at the opposite end of my block, Bruce. He's not a chatty person. The first 10 times I saw him on the street we said Hi. Maybe Hi plus. But I've seen him 100 times now so we have a lot more to say by this point: I know how his grandfather, his life in Ohio, and I found out he works one floor up from where my partner works. So now they can share some stories about that building on the UW campus.

Further topics in remote work #

Feedback
Trust creating

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