# Remote Work Productivity

The remote trap: without boundaries, work expands to fill all space.

---

## What Actually Fails

**Always Online**
Green status from 8am to 10pm signals availability, not productivity. It guarantees interruptions and prevents deep work.

**Time Zone Martyrdom**
"I'll just take this 6am call." "I can do the 11pm sync." Soon your calendar spans 18 hours across zones.

**No Physical Separation**
Laptop on the couch, phone by the bed, Slack on your watch. Work infects every space. No room is restful.

**Performative Work**
Without visibility, anxiety creates busy-work: excessive messages, unnecessary updates, presence theater.

**Isolation Default**
Days pass without speaking to humans. Loneliness accumulates. Work becomes the only social outlet (an unhealthy one).

---

## What Actually Works

**Hard Start and Stop** — 9am you start. 6pm you stop. Laptop closes. Notifications pause. Non-negotiable.

**Physical Boundaries** — Work happens in one room/space. When you leave that space, work is over.

**Async First** — Not everything needs a meeting. Write it down. Record a Loom. Respect time zones.

**Communication Windows** — "I respond to Slack 10am-12pm and 3pm-5pm." Deep work happens in between.

**Intentional Social** — Schedule calls with coworkers, join virtual coworking, work from cafés. Combat isolation actively.

**Visible Results** — Document what you accomplish, not when you're online. Outcomes over hours.

---

## Time Zone Tactics

- Identify the 3-4 hour overlap window — protect it for sync work
- Async is the default — sync is the exception
- "Your Tuesday morning is my Monday night" — communicate time explicitly
- Not all meetings need you — empower others to decide

---

## Energy Reality

- No commute = no transition time — create one artificially
- Video calls are exhausting — use audio when possible
- Choice overload (when to work, where to work) drains energy
- Rituals replace the structure office used to provide

---

## The Real Issue

Remote productivity problems are usually boundary problems: work bleeds into life because nothing physical stops it. Build the boundaries yourself — no one else will.
