A hostel roommate in Medellin told me my 'work anywhere' setup was actually just me working from bed
I was three weeks into my first long stay in Medellin and pretty proud of myself for logging 40 hour work weeks from a cafe, a coworking spot, and honestly my bunk bed. My roommate, a guy who'd been doing this for four years, watched me take a call under the covers one morning and just said 'dude, that's not remote work, that's hiding.' He was right, my back hurt, my sleep was trash, and I was saying yes to meetings at weird hours because I had no real setup at all. So I started renting a proper desk space two days a week and blocked my calendar around Colombia time instead of trying to be online for everyone. Curious if anyone else had to get called out before they built an actual routine, or did you figure it out on your own?
Having a separate desk spot saved my back more than any stretch routine ever did. The time zone calendar block is the real fix, people treat your working hours as a suggestion until your calendar says no. Got called out by a hostel roommate too, mine just pointed at my laptop fan screaming on the mattress.
Man, the calendar block thing goes even deeper than people realize. Once you start blocking your hours, you gotta hold the line on it too, because the second you take one "quick" call at 9pm, that person tells everyone your calendar is a joke. I started adding a fake "commute" block at the end of my day so it looks like I physically leave, and that one little trick cut the evening pings way down. Sounds silly until you try it and your phone actually goes quiet for once.