Hello co-remote workers of the Triangle!

The pumpkin spice lattes and ghost-shaped cookies are out at coffee shops around town, which means it's fall in the Triangle! I hope you're capitalizing on the nice cool weather to work outdoors while you can, because soon, it will unfortunately be time to head back inside for most of our work hours. So in this newsletter I'd like to talk a bit about something that can significantly affect the way we work, but that few ever think about: the air we breathe.

Have you ever been in a meeting with several people in a small conference room that just seems to drag on and on and on, as your co-workers go through PowerPoint slides, you start yawning, struggling to pay attention and praying no one calls on you to contribute? Well, your colleague's boring presentation may not be the only thing to blame for diminishing your focus. It could be the rapidly diminishing good air you have to breathe.

Since you breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2), you increase its concentration with each breath you take when you’re in an enclosed space. Whether you’re in a big office with many co-workers or alone at home, this can compound the longer you’re in a poorly ventilated room.

A normal outdoor CO2 concentration is around 400 parts per million (ppm), with well-ventilated indoor spaces ranging from 400-1,000 ppm. But poorly ventilated rooms can climb well into the thousands, and it can have serious effects on how productive and creative you are.

​One study recruited working professionals to go about their usual office work in a room that simulated a normal office environment. Unbeknownst to these subjects, the CO2 concentration was being manipulated to different levels each day, ranging from a well-ventilated 550 ppm to a high, but not uncommon 1,400 ppm. Then each afternoon, the subjects were given cognitive tests. They found that when compared to the 550 ppm baseline, cognitive function dropped 15 percent under a moderate CO2 day of around 945 ppm, and a full 50 percent for a high concentration day of 1,400 ppm. A poorly ventilated room can slice your brainpower in half!

One of the many perks of remote work is that you have more control over your immediate environment, so while workers in an overcrowded office might just have to grin and bear it, you can do more to enhance the situation. The simplest thing you can do is briefly open a window...which has an almost immediate and dramatic effect at lowering indoor CO2 levels, and the effect can last hours. If opening a window isn't an option, move around to different rooms throughout the day, or go for a brief walk outside to inject some higher-quality air into your body. Keeping house plants around doesn't hurt, but unfortunately, those who've broken down the numbers found that it takes at least a few hundred of them just to offset the CO2 output of a single human. Short of turning your home into a miniature forest, it won’t have a meaningful impact on your air quality so it's not a substitute for getting fresh outdoor air in one way or another.

To really keep on top of your air quality, you might consider investing in a desktop air quality monitor – ideally one that measures CO2 and various air quality indicators like AQI (air quality index) and PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) – so you can easily see when it's time to open a window or take a walk AND see if there are other pollutants that you might need to address with an air purifier. These devices range anywhere from about $50-$200, and are well worth it if they can remind you to regularly take simple measures that keep you to better engaged and productive.

What we're up to

Our big news since the last update is that we'll be doing our first co-working 'retreat' next month in Yadkin Valley, a region in central North Carolina famous for its beautiful forested mountains and vineyards. This is something I'd envisioned doing with this group since the beginning and now I feel we're finally big enough that it's feasible.

As I wrote in a previous newsletter, the ability to travel and work from anywhere is probably the biggest perk of remote work. Besides the obvious fun of a vacation, studies have shown workations help boost creativity, motivation and learning – and by integrating work habits into new surroundings and experiences, your perspectives can broaden and your work can improve. The drawback though is that traveling in this manner can be lonely, since it's hard to find others with the flexibility to join you. Linking people together who have this flexibility – and who can further help one another have novel experiences and see different perspectives – is one of the main reasons I started this group.

So for this trip, we'll be heading out Thursday, November 17 and staying though Sunday, November 20 at a big gorgeous forest cabin in Piney Creek, NC. There, we'll get work done as needed, do skill shares of anything we're able to teach or share with the group (ie, yoga, tea tasting), and get our creative juices flowing in beautiful new surroundings. Then on the weekend we'll do activities like hiking and wine tasting at a nearby winery. If this trip is a success, we'll start doing these retreats regularly.

The cabin has room for 12, and as of this writing, there are still a few spots left, so if you're interested in joining, you can learn more and see photos of the house at the event listing or you can contact me at durhamremote1@gmail.com or on our Slack channel.

Our upcoming events

Reminder that these are only the events already confirmed, and they are subject to change. We often post new events less than a week ahead of time, so be sure to follow us on Meetup to stay up on them as they're posted or adjusted.

• Wednesday, October 19 (7pm-9pm) - Special Event - Digital nomad happy hour with The Nomadic Network (TNN) at Raleigh Brewing Company. If you're a travel junkie who likes to combine remote work with traipsing around the world, or are considering it, come meet fellow travel enthusiasts and become part of of TNN's international network of digital nomads and more casual frequent travelers. (Event listing)
• Friday, October 21 (10am-2pm) - Co-working at Benelux Coffee in Raleigh (Event Listing)
• Thursday, October 27 (9:30am-5pm) - Co-working at Frontier RTP + Lunch at Boxyard + Free Booze (Event listing)
• Monday, October 31 (Afternoon, time TBD) - Costumed co-working - Show off your Halloween costume to co-remote workers (Venue TBD)
• Thursday, November 17 to Sunday, November 20 - Special Event - Yadkin Valley Co-working Retreat (Event listing)

Other events of interest

Not affiliated with us in any way, but you might be interested in:

• Friday, October 28 (9am-4pm) - $5 Fourth Friday Coworking & Happy Hour at Wright Village in Raleigh (Event listing)
• Wednesday, November 9 (11:30am-1pm) - On the menu: How to Monetize a Side Hustle - free seminar with free lunch at Frontier RTP's co-working space (Event listing)
• Wednesday, November 9 (8:30am-5pm) - Free co-working day at Spaces Magnum Street in Durham (Event listing)

Venue spotlight: BREW

Brew is a small and simple but charming café in Cary's similarly small and simple but charming downtown area. Enjoy their self-steeping tea, and if you're a regular, you can stick your own mug on their wall of mugs to drink from at a discount whenever you pop in. There are several unique restaurants nearby you can't hit for lunch, then after work grab a beer at Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage, snag dessert at FRESH Local Ice Cream and catch a show at the historic Cary Theater next door. (Check out their website)

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October remote work reads

• ​Is ‘productivity paranoia’ from remote working solvable? - Retail Wire
• ​These Remote Tech Workers Secretly Juggle Multiple Jobs - Wired
• ​Remote work could keep fueling high turnover: ‘The map is open for job seekers’ - CNBC
• ​Remote work boosts productivity and helps fight inflation despite business leaders doubts - Fox Business
• ​You’re going back to the office. Your boss isn’t - Vox
• ​4 remote workers who've secretly worked from abroad without their employers knowing describe how they keep up the charade - Business Insider

Thanks for making it to the end. If you enjoyed this newsletter, send this link to a friend so they can sign up too. And if you have any other questions or suggestions, write to us at durhamremote1@gmail.com. Happy working!

-Eric

Note: We have no relationship – financial or otherwise – with any of the establishments mentioned in this newsletter. All recommendations are our genuine, unpaid opinions!