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Ask HN: Where's the best place to work remotely?
30 points by MilnerRoute on Dec 27, 2018 | hide | past | favorite | 32 comments
It was nice taking a break for the holidays - but now that I'm slogging back to working remotely, I'm trying to think of new places where I can work. Does anybody have any thoughts or recommendations?

I've been doing the public library, but I feel a little guilty about making it my workplace, day after day. There's some nearby coffee shops, but sometimes it's hard to find a comfy chair there. A few local restaurants offer wifi -- even the nearest Subway sandwiches -- but there's only one restaurant that's gone out of their way to say "Stay as long as you like!" My girlfriend suggested the library at the local community college (though I think I'd feel guilty unless I'd signed up for a class). I'm surprised there's not more free co-working Meetups (on Meetup.com). Maybe I should make my phone into a mobile hotspot and then just work in the park?

Anyways, I'm looking for suggestions. When you've been working remotely, what were the best places? (And how do you find them?)




Im having the same challenges. In my case working from home not by choice, and will likely continue to be remote for a few more months.

Its not too bad when the kids are at school, but my biggest challenge is to convince my wife that 'I'm working'

I keep telling her 'No, I cannot watch the baby or run errands' because I need to focus on what I'm doing. She tells me she understands ,but after a few days it starts again.

I've done Coffee shops and libraries and I like working in that setting, my two main concerns are

- Meeting/Phone calls ( I dont want to disturb others)

- Physical Security ( too much of a hassle to take my laptop with me to the bathroom, and no proper anchor point)

If I don't have any more meetings for the day, I will just go and work from the Library/Coffee shop.

I've seen other guys working from coffee shops, that somehow take phone calls and attend meetings ,and I can barely hear them. If I ever master that skill "speaking quietly, yet clearly without actually whispering" it would make a big difference in my life.


> I've seen other guys working from coffee shops, that somehow take phone calls and attend meetings ,and I can barely hear them. If I ever master that skill "speaking quietly, yet clearly without actually whispering" it would make a big difference in my life.

First step is to get a good mic.


If you missed Krisp.ai, check it out.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18460726

https://krisp.ai/index.html


> Its not too bad when the kids are at school, but my biggest challenge is to convince my wife that 'I'm working'

If your wife is not respecting your needs around your home workspace, I'd recommend to either start working from a coworking space or rented office, or get an au pair to help with the tasks she's asking you about so that you can work without interruptions.

Thankfully, mine is Russian and treats my work and my role as a provider as sacred, so I get zero friction from her about the time and space I need to do my work.


This whole comment reads very bigotrist.


you are imaging bigotry where there is none in the above comment.

it would equally apply if the wife was the sole bread winner,


I've worked from my house for roughly 10 years and I will be honest there are days when I question my own sanity. I have a wife and teenagers, so after around 3pm my day is useless, hence I work early or late, and I just expect 3-10pm to be crappy for work (which generally is totally fine). Currently I am working early mornings anyway, like 4am to 1pm or so.

There are also some days where my wife just has 0 respect for my office door and just keeps walking in interrupting me until she sees me look at her with that specific stay the fuck away, but remember I love you, look. Years of doing this has led to a balance but it takes time to get to, and some days it just doesn't work to be honest. If I know I have a critical day coming up, I always prep my family ahead of time, if it becomes one of those days midway through, I lock the door and tell them to give me time. They have figured this out and it works pretty good now without any friction or hurt feelings.

Outside of this, I also like to schedule and spend time at hot desk spaces some days and just go to a coffee shop or similar places other times. It helps to just have a different physical view some days IMO. I also will just sometimes leave the house without a destination and find a corner in a park or near the ocean and work, which anyplace near water is my personal heaven, so that usually lets me function and refocus some which is helpful.

I have done super critical conference calls from my truck when I am out or even from my back yard with just a quick finger for mute. Honestly sometimes I think this is better for me personally, because being outside and walking around almost helps me think clearer some days. I figured this out when I worked in the office actually, as I used to use walking (outside) meetings as a way to do 1-1's.


I've been a digital nomad for about a decade and have worked from all sorts of spaces. What makes for an ideal workspace depends on the type of work you are doing and various other factors in your life. If your work involves a lot of interacting with clients, or handling sensitive information, public spaces like cafes, restaurants, etc. are not going to be a good fit. Trying to participate in a conference call with a barista in the background running the blender doesn't help support your professional image and billing rates. Personally, I work mostly from coworking spaces, or from the place where I'm staying (e.g. AirB or Hotel). It's really worth paying the money for a workspace where you can count on having consistent access to a quiet environment and not being interrupted.


> I've been doing the public library, but I feel a little guilty about making it my workplace, day after day.

Don't feel guilty. That's what your taxes pay for.


To add to this: if your library is a part of a system (as most are in the US), you could go a little farther to another one to get a change of scenery. Sometimes working in just another room from your usual work space will improve your clarity of thought immensely.


What do you do for monitors? I need 4 screens.


Really? People are plenty productive on a single monitor every day. I have no idea what you do or who you work for, but it seems like "need" might be a bit of an exaggeration.


I trade stocks so I need many charts open. Also another screen to code on. The issue is libraries don't have monitors in general so a single laptop screen is not ideal.


I don’t work in libraries often, but I have one 1920x1200 monitor on my desktop and a laptop at 1400x900. I’ve used multiple monitors before but I always find that I direct my attention to one or the other primarily.

I guess you could bring two separate laptops with similar software and use one as a web browsing machine and the other as a text editor/compiler/version control system machine. I can’t say I’ve tried that but it sounds like it would be a little challenging with multiple power supplies and finding a bag big enough to carry both comfortably.


Four 'virtual desktops' on linux are free out of the box and you can't look a four physical screens at the same time in any case.


No need to feel guilty about the library, serving the public in a variety of needs is what they are there for. That said, why not home? If there are specific reasons that home isn't a good or preferred locale, those reasons might help guide the suggestions you receive.


Don't you have some co-working space around you? Usually you can rent a shared desk for a very little fee (something like 300$ month)


$300 per month strikes me as being quite steep for a shared desk.


This is why companies want remote workers. Cities like Toronto, where I am, an office is more than some of the employees salaries.


When I was freelancing full-time, I rented some shared/temp office space. For $400 a month, I got an office with a locking door, a desk, chair, space to plug in multiple monitors, access to conference rooms, and a mailing address. The place I rented was a ten minute walk from where I lived, so I got the best of all worlds.


I love working remotely from a home office in some sunny spots of the Mediterranean. If you choose well, you can find cheap places with great weather all year round, quality food and very good services (including healthcare).

For me nothing beats a quiet home office as I need to do really deep work in probability & logic.


A coworker and I sometimes work remotely from the local community college library, since they have private rooms that you can grab. You shouldn't feel guilty -- that's what it's there for after all. (You should feel guilty if you go on there and talk on the phone all the time though).


University libraries are usually pretty great if you can find one that permits non-student access - depending on your city they may have better internet than the public library.

If you can find coffee shops that are inside business parks or college campuses, those too usually have great internet and plenty of outlets. Employees at those kinds of locations are also unlikely to bat an eye at you camping out for half the day while you work.

But yeah, for me its a circuit of home, coffee shops, and libraries.

If you're working full time, or have a long-term contract, I'd recommend at least trying a co-working space. It seems silly to pay 300 bucks for a desk, but it can be nice if you 're working steadily and can afford it.


Anyone rent dedicated office space? By that I mean 4 walls and a door that you can close. I was thinking that if I ever get back into full-time remote work I might try to find something like 100 sq. feet to rent.


I rented office space for a while. It was pretty worth it. I much prefer having a room of my own at home though. If I'm going to work remotely, I want to reap the benefits. For instance, I can cook healthy food for lunch and not have to microwave it. I can take a break to go play with my dogs. I can go to coffee with my wife. If I'm commuting to an office anyway, I might as well be working for some company in their office.


I'm renting a private office space where I do my work as a remote contractor. It's glorious; it's also my firm's biggest expense, but hey, life quality.

For various reasons I'll be terminating the lease soon. Instead I'll spend money on renting a bigger apartment—one with a room dedicated as an office.

Four walls and a door is the only way to work as far as I'm concerned. Stable internet, my own printer, silence, comfort, etc.


I did the same thing – I had an private cabin in a co-working space for some time and then moved out to a larger apartment with a dedicated office room. It's been working pretty well so far, although I have make sure I go out for workout and some tea every day to prevent myself from going insane.


My big advantage of being remote is zero commute (used to do 5 to 6 hours of commute per day). I have a dedicated room at home and I would not trade that for some office space I had to drive to without some compelling and temporary reason.

Occasionally, the sounds of the house interfer, but I can either drown it out with white noise or ask those making the noise to stop. My wife and kids are very good at respecting my workspace.


Please, do not be those people who squat all the seats in coffee houses.


Hotel lobbies, cafes, other people's places in other countries.


For me definitely not home, as I get depressed 2 days in. Strangely, I rarely leave home on weekends. For me, libraries is the best.


at home




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