While working from home, or working remotely, used to be an alien concept for most organizations and professionals, it’s now the prevailing work setup thanks to worldly events — namely the COVID-19 pandemic. At one time it was reserved for freelancers, small business owners, and creatives, but the work from home (WFH) space is now dominated by professions you wouldn’t expect to see, such as programming or development.

It has presented unique opportunities but also takes some getting used to, especially for software engineers. Luckily, there are some programming tips, or work from home tips, rather, that can help sustain productivity and prevent burnout. If you’re getting ready to work from home, or already are, and want some need-to-know tips on getting a better experience, you’ve come to the right place.

Get Another Monitor or Two

The more monitors the merrier, because you’ll have more screen space to work with, allowing you to multi-task and keep more windows or applications active. Monitors don’t affect technical performance, of course, but they certainly improve productivity and convenience.

Software engineers, developers, and even IT personnel working from home will undoubtedly have a plethora of applications that need to remain open at once, from communication and chat tools to workflows, automation, and beyond. Being able to keep them open on a secondary monitor is an absolute game-changer.

It’s also worth noting that monitors can be used with both desktops and laptops, so even if you have a company-issued laptop, you can (and should) still use an additional monitor.

Get a Mechanical Keyboard

You’ll be doing a lot of typing, and that can be challenging on a low-profile keyboard, like the kind you’d find on your average laptop. Cue mechanical keyboards. Not only are the keys much more satisfying to use, and clicky, but they’re also springy so you can type faster. It’s one of those things you may not “get” until you use a mechanical keyboard, but once you do, you’ll never go back.

An external mouse is another good addition, and it is preferred to a laptop trackpad or similar control scheme.

Communicate Often

When you’re first learning how to code and starting to work with programming languages, whether you’re teaching yourself or following a more traditional curriculum, communication is of paramount importance.

You pick this up pretty quickly while asking for advice or guidance from peers and teachers, and interacting with online communities. But it’s something that a lot of developers forget as they enter the workforce and the professional world, and working in a remote or isolated setup can compound that factor.

Coding is like a team sport, so communicate often and well. In fact, it’s not possible to over-communicate when you’re working remotely or with a distributed team. There are so many different programming languages, tools, paradigms, workflows, and job descriptions — for example, front-end vs. back-end developers — that you’re just not going to know it all, and you’ll need support.

In short, even the best of the best out there need to lean on friends and colleagues at times, and it’s an excellent way to stave off burnout.

Establish a Healthy Work-Life Balance

With operations going remote, there’s a lot more talk these days about creating a healthy work-life balance, and remembering to take time for yourself. But what does that actually look like? How do you pull yourself away from your computer and desk?

As trivial as it sounds, the best way to ensure you’re living a healthy lifestyle is to treat your WFH opportunity as a conventional job. Wake up early, shower, and get dressed like you would if you were going into the office. Make sure to eat, hydrate, and take frequent breaks. Work an actual schedule, and when it’s time to clock out for the day, get up and get away from your work computer or desk, and don’t go back.

When you’re not far from your office or workstation, it’s easy to fall into the trap of diving in for a few minutes or more at a time in the after-hours — it’s right there! Just don’t do it. Do the best you can to avoid emails after-hours, and power down your body. Go exercise, watch some TV, relax, build a gaming PC, and play some games, or whatever it is you like to do. Make an active effort to stay away from your WFH space.