You just have to be within range. You don't have to sit there and it doesn't have to be done in a single session. You can farm crops, smelt ore, cook, sort chests, use the obliterator, cut and plant trees. make charcoal, build a lodge, add a room to a lodge, do some interior decorating and all the other stuff you put off.

When I do a new start the first thing I do is build the pen. The pen is in 2 sections so I can lure 2 boars, one on each side. When I have a boar on each side is when I build the lodge and they tame while I'm building. Taming pauses when I have to go chop more trees but it starts back up again when I return and resume building.