Office productivity report: preliminary considerations

I've been going to the office for three days in a row, and tomorrow will be the first time I'll have gone to the office for four days in the same week since Covid began. Perhaps since even before that, it wouldn't be ridiculous to consider that I haven't gone to the physical workspace since late 2019. So this is an important update. It's obviously, way, wayyy too early to make judgments on what the consequences and outcomes might be, but here's my early impressions.

I like it. Or at least I don't hate it. There's no coworker friends I can talk to or hang out with at the office, but that's only because I have never ever gone there, if I show up every day or as often as I can, that will surely change. In terms of productivity, hmmm how does one go about putting it...it's actually more productive than working at home, because there's no escape into random madness of other stuff like youtube or reddit etcetera, so work is all one must do. And to remind oneself of TD's advice, working at work takes away the guilt of slacking at home. Plus, the extra step of going to work provides anchor for productivity hacks at work too, for habits to form. I've been using that anchor to do the standard writing, but soon I'll be using it to actually write useful essays, as I've planned for an entire month but never gotten around to executing it.

Plus, I get 30 minutes of free walking time to go to work, which is not something that can be sneezed at. 30 minutes that would otherwise have been spent sitting and doing nothing. When I'm there I feel more compelled to go to the kitchen and get tea, or use the restroom and so forth, so more personal wellbeing time as well. And for some reason, somehow, when I get back from work I feel refreshed? I wouldn't mind opening up the laptop for 10/20 minutes after coming back and working a bit if I leave early, because that's how good of a mood I'm in.

Going to office has also improved my productivity because I'm compelled to put proper work time, otherwise I'm so guilty of not working, as I'm enjoying the experience. Plus the office itself is quite nice, and I could go around exploring various floors. The weather's getting better, and walking early in the morning is crisp and refreshing. One could see how pulling up the morning commute could get even better.

I should create a measure for satisfaction, and productivity for before going to office, the first few days, and the first few weeks to months after. There's a good reason it'll be an uptick, because turns out humans need a 'break' between long blocks of working, something one has had difficulty implementing.

The idea is to try to head out at around 9am localtime, but if not, get around to doing it at the earliest time after that. So preparation takes 30 ish minutes, the commute 30 minutes, therefore one must prepare accordingly.

It's also made me quite efficient at getting ready to head out once again, that's a skill I had lost during the covid years...