Working remotely is hard • Hacker News Board

Re: Working remotely is hard

#101

Post by vinceguidry » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:05 AM UTC

imaginenore wrote: post #69

vinceguidry wrote: post #40

I wouldn't work remotely even if you gave me 25% more salary to do it. My ideal work context would be a six hour day at an office in the city that I can walk to from my condo. Sit-stand desks, balance-ball chairs, decent coffee, but no catered lunch / dinner. I want to take coworkers or dates out. Preferably with a nearby park that I can take walks in. Sit at home with a computer all day? Sounds too much like solitar…

I'm the opposite, I turned down $300K in LA to keep my remote job at a lot less. I move around the world freely, I don't need to commute, i can work in my underwear or while sitting on a beach, and I generally don't even have to be available during the office hours as long as I do my job and respond to emails reasonably quickly.

I've traveled enough to realize I'd rather stay in one place. Other places are good to take vacations to. But I always end up looking forward to getting home.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#102

Post by joeax » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:06 AM UTC

I love working remote, and wouldn't consider working any other way. That being said it's still difficult to find work at home jobs, even for software engineers. I have recruiters hitting me up on LinkedIn all the time about open positions, but when I tell them I'd rather work remote, they sort of just shrug and go away.

Any other engineers out there that feel the same way? How would you approach finding a work at home job should you be looking?

Re: Working remotely is hard

#103

Post by gkop » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:08 AM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #97

gkop wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. But until we start to see the proportion of remote jobs to all jobs decline, remote is just as easily available as traditional, but lacking the physical and social stickiness that distinguishes traditional jobs and facilitates retention; remote is "closer to a commodity".

I guess that's true. But my inner cynic thinks that (ab)using people's herd instincts like that to "facilitate retention" cheapens traditional jobs. I would rather work remotely and have a meaningful social life, than work in an office and have a social life that my employer engineers to make me less likely to leave for a better job. As an introvert, there is only so much social interaction I can take in a day. The o…

I agree with you. I need to be more nuanced and less cold in my language. The reality is, I prefer going to an office and seeing my coworkers; fortunately this is well-aligned with the retention interests of my company.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#104

Post by narrator » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:10 AM UTC

I find that I need people around doing stuff to look at occasionally to fend off the loneliness. I prefer to work from a Starbucks or a local open plan co-working space because of this. If there are people around, even if I don't talk to them, it helps me get work done.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#105

Post by workitout » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:10 AM UTC

spdionis wrote: post #71

asdfologist wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you get your work done more efficiently, you actually have more time to socialize, with the people of your choosing. Also, socializing in the workplace tends to be very superficial, because you're extremely limited in the range of topics you can discuss. God forbid that you say something unprofessional.

Weird places you worked in. Where I worked I could talk about anything I wanted and that's normal for every other office.

Actually that isn't normal at all. Have you worked in any companies larger than 10 people? There are legal liabilities employers have to (or are supposed to) uphold and more so for public companies. Starting with this: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-sex.html

Re: Working remotely is hard

#106

Post by elementalest » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:11 AM UTC

brahmwg wrote: post #85

For me, working long hard hours from home can begin to make me feel an association between being at home and doing hard work (as opposed to coming home from work, where home is a place of rest). I think being able to have work separate from home is important, especially for the family. The stress of work should stay at the office, and being able to compartmentalize that stress while working from home is a skill I hav…

I agree. One way to address that is to define a space at home that is your work office/space. So a study, or corner of a room. If a corner of a room, you could even get some dividers to separate yourself from the rest of the room. It also helps hide work if you also use the room for something else.

Then doing something like going to the gym, or going for a jog etc when you finished work for the day can help you make the mental disconnect. A routine can really help develop that mindset.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#107

Post by chrischen » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:11 AM UTC

I forgot which company it was or where I heard of this, but they would be remote and do a group video chat together the whole time while working.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#108

Post by Swizec » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:11 AM UTC

gkop wrote: post #103

Swizec wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess that's true. But my inner cynic thinks that (ab)using people's herd instincts like that to "facilitate retention" cheapens traditional jobs. I would rather work remotely and have a meaningful social life, than work in an office and have a social life that my employer engineers to make me less likely to leave for a better job. As an introvert, there is only so much social interaction I can take in a day. The o…

I agree with you. I need to be more nuanced and less cold in my language. The reality is, I prefer going to an office and seeing my coworkers; fortunately this is well-aligned with the retention interests of my company.

As I said, I'm probably just too cynical, and seeing things through the fact that I don't like going to an office.

I agree that when it comes to team productivity rather than personal productivity, offices do work better. Especially when people of varying skill levels are involved.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#109

Post by sarciszewski » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:14 AM UTC

At the risk of sounding totally ridiculous or trolly, the toughest challenge I've faced when adjusting to working remotely is answering the question, "When should I shower?"

It's easy when you're working in an office job: Shave and shower before you go into work in the morning.

When no one will see your face, you're suddenly left with the curse of too many options.

In the morning? But what if your roommate needs the hot water before he goes to work?

During your lunch break? What if you're hungry?

After work? What about your other roommate who usually works night shift?

Maybe that's totally silly to some folks. Communication came easy for me, but I grew up on IRC.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#110

Post by nav2u » Mon, Nov 16, 2015, 2:14 AM UTC

Sometimes people don't have any choice and must work remotely like my startup. It was frustrating in the beginning but once we got used to it, it was very rewarding.

My cofounders and I are in this situation. We don't have a choice and have to work remotely as we have been in different countries for over a year now. We have been dogfooding our product (a real time collaborative whiteboard) to work together because as a startup we are always exploring new ideas, discussing strategies and designing solutions. Can't say that it beats meeting or working in person, but it definitely has worked well for us by making it easy to communicate and focus on ideas.