What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work

What strikes me the most was this line:

   Encouraging people to use sick days for mental health when they need them.

Can't agree more, because mental health is as important as physical health. And,

   Finding work-life balance isn’t about prioritizing your
   mental wellbeing at the expense of your work. It’s 
   acknowledging that, in the long-term, all areas of your
   life are better off when you put your mental health first.

Spot on. I have followed a very similar path. Backpacking through SEA for 6 months, then creating a remote work environment back home. But all of it was lonely.

Joining a makerspace and yoga are my favorite things to keep me busy.

agreed, but i'd say that mental health IS physical health. if you have depression, you are more likely to get all kinds of cardiovascular diseases, and your likelihood of death -- from any cause -- is vastly increased. it isn't acceptable to suck it up and suffer through mental health episodes like it's seasonal allergies or something. these mental health problems are left unaddressed due to the need to do work -- or more likely, BECAUSE of work -- and that causes people to die younger and live in more misery.

The importance of finding social hobbies outside of work cannot be stressed enough.

However, if you are not in the lucky situation of having a partner for whom you feel responsible (e.g. by regularly doing things together, stopping work together, or even just having a conversation over dinner), it becomes way too easy to get sucked into a spiral of not going out and seeing people, and not even feeling like you want to.

I have had times when I was working alone for extended periods of time, at which I felt lucky to even be able to talk to a cashier while shopping for food. That alone however didn't automatically motivate me to go out and seek friends or activities. It's way too easy to forget taking care of your mental health in such a state.

Ultimately, public health systems and employment laws should take care of people by providing counseling and paid mental health days.

Great article that really highlights the negative aspects of Digital Nomadism. I work with some folks that do this, and when we talk about it, they can't understand why I would want to just stay in my medium-sized city and travel a few times a year. Like, why wouldn't you want to spend 6 months a year in Thailand? It's such a no-brainer!

And for me, it's just sort of mind-boggling that you'd jet set around the world. We own a home. We have friends and family. We have a great dog and probably kids in the future. We've built something here that we like. Yes, I know that the weather is great/everything is cheap/people are nice in City, Country, but the lifestyle just doesn't appeal to me. I like being at home.

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One thing I'll say though is that the loneliness can extend to the non-Nomad remote worker as well, though. Not that long ago, I worked at a startup in my city where I came into the office every day. I really liked it, I just wanted to do something different. And now I miss the camaraderie, going out to lunch with work buddies, happy hours, and just getting in a physical room and talking through tough problems. Sorry, a few Google hangouts a week does not replace that.

Are all those things mentioned above worth sacrificing for the additional flexibility, coming and going when I please, waking up when I want, working on the things I want to work on? I don't know. Some days it feels like it is, some days not so much.