How to Survive Working from Home

COVID-19 has prevented millions of people from returning to their offices after the Lunar New Year holidays. Right now, many software engineers in China are likely coding from their living rooms—working from home (WFH), also known as remote work. Reflecting on my three years of working from home, I’d like to share some lessons learned and insights.

In 2015, I lived in Vancouver as a Chinese national and started working for Auris Health, a medical startup developing a novel bronchoscopy procedure. This technology enables doctors to inspect the inside of lungs using a flexible wire tipped with a camera. At Auris, I worked on Linux drivers and desktop UI, which gave me valuable insights into Silicon Valley and the startup world. However, it also forced me into a WFH lifestyle.

At the time, I was a young engineer with no family, living in a foreign country, and I wasn’t very well-connected socially. By 2017, I had moved to Toronto, but the isolation and dysfunction of working from home caught up with me. In 2018, I decided to take a local job in Toronto that paid significantly less but offered a better work-life balance. From this experience, I’ve compiled tips for surviving—and thriving—while working from home.

Protect yourself from overworking

The flexibility of software companies, coupled with a WFH setup, often leads to blurred boundaries between work and personal time. As a passionate engineer eager to meet deadlines, I often found myself working late into the night. At the beginning of the week, I could maintain a routine of waking up at 8–9 a.m. and eating breakfast. However, as the week progressed, my work hours stretched into the evening, causing me to wake up later, skip breakfast, and work even later—eventually leading to a 1 p.m.–midnight schedule by Friday.

The first point to remember is that coding is often a solitary activity, and working alone at night only deepens that isolation. The second point is that losing connection with the outside world can be easy if you don’t spend your evenings engaging with it. I often missed social gatherings or got so absorbed in work that I forgot about my plans. It became hard to feel like I truly “lived in Toronto” because I lacked a relationship with the city.

The most important point is that overworking without limits drains your energy and prevents you from enjoying life—whether it’s appreciating nature, staying updated on news, or simply living in the moment. Sometimes, taking an afternoon off can boost your overall morale and productivity. Ever since I stopped WFH, I’ve experienced a broader range of emotions and felt less like a machine. Maintaining a schedule and setting boundaries is critical to avoiding burnout.

Remove distractions from your environment

During my WFH days, I would occasionally visit the company’s headquarters for a week at a time. Comparing my productivity in the office to at home, I found I was often more productive at home—largely because of fewer distractions. While the lack of coworkers to chat with isn’t great for mental health, it does minimize interruptions, which is beneficial for focus.

Distractions at home can come from many sources. For me, a messy room or desk was the biggest culprit. When clutter accumulated, it quietly fatigued my mood. Air quality and lighting also played a big role in maintaining focus. I sometimes played music or podcasts while working, but I rarely found them helpful. Even the living room itself can become a source of monotony, which is why I recommend working from a coffee shop occasionally to change your surroundings.

Bonus tip: I consider myself a minimalist. I don’t use multiple monitors or fancy keyboards. Instead, I trained myself to work effectively with a single screen, which makes it easy to work from anywhere—whether it’s a coffee shop, meeting room, bus, or even my bed. This adaptability has been a huge asset in WFH scenarios.

Build relationships and find local communities

Engineers work hard, and they need more than just a paycheck from their job. Respect, a sense of belonging, and meaningful connections are essential. However, it’s challenging to feel included in a company’s office culture when you’re working remotely. Building relationships and finding communities requires intentional effort.

During my three years of WFH, I made meaningful connections with coworkers at the headquarters by taking every opportunity to mingle, have lunch, or take walks during my visits. Face-to-face meetings, even occasionally, can help build strong networks. However, when I stopped traveling to the office in late 2017, my sense of satisfaction dropped significantly.

To compensate, I sought out local communities by attending technology meetups. I looked for groups that were friendly, down-to-earth, and enjoyable to socialize with. The exact topics or programming languages didn’t matter as much as the atmosphere. In Toronto, I enjoyed meetups like HackerNest, Polyhack, and the Ember.js group. I didn’t even write Ember.js, but the people were welcoming and the events were always a good time. While many meetups focus on JavaScript, don’t be discouraged if you don’t write JS—the community is one of the friendliest in tech.

Co-working spaces are another option to explore. I tried several in Vancouver and Toronto, but they didn’t quite work for me. My job required deep focus, and while I enjoyed occasional ping-pong games and holiday parties, I found it hard to connect with people whose work was in completely different fields, like digital marketing or e-commerce.

Conclusion

Working from home is absolutely survivable! However, for an ambitious young engineer, an office environment might provide a richer and more fulfilling experience.