I worked remotely for 7 years, sitting at home (alone), and it’s great, I interact as much with other people as in an office, just over slack/zoom, I do not feel alone and save allot of time not commuting, time I spend with family and friends.
What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
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Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#32I'm a natural recluse who loves living alone and loves working remotely. I've always been this way. This article didn't resonate with me; I don't get lonely and generally don't desire many social connections or interactions. My key issue when working from home is staying focused and avoiding distractions. Still haven't found a good solution (I only end up using website blockers a few times before my hedonistic side t…
I get lonely, but I feel it more poignantly when I'm in an office and everyone is taking in groups, sharing personal details. I don't know how to get into such groups. I fail to resonate with what they discuss, and generally am faced with a demonstration that I am alone.
Put me remote and I can get by just fine with some casual jokes on slack. I can lurk in channels where issues that matter to me are discussed and tune out when it doesn't apply, and there is no anxiety because people dont know not care that I am "present".
Not saying my practice is healthy socializing, just saying that putting me in physical proximity of other people does nothing good for my loneliness.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#33I have a wife and 3 sons and am working remote now for over a decade. If you have family around its super not depressing. Before that being single, I had my dog or went out to the beach and sat under an umbrella and programmed wirelessly or visited a coffee shop. Being in sunny SoCal helps too. If you don't have friends or don't go out and stay by yourself all the time, the vast majority of us would feel depressed. B…
Same here, wife and 4 kids. Definitely not depressing. People like to associate big targets with their mental health, but honestly remote work doesn't make you depressed, your lifestyle can, and remote work can emphasize that. If you get your "fill" of social interaction via other means, there are enormous advantages as well.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#34Sure, I imagine if someone isn't already lonely, being put into such circumstances could make them lonely. But loneliness exists in conventional workplaces too! I work in an open office every day, but I'm still extremely depressed, isolated, and alone. Culturally, I am very different from my coworkers. I do not fit into their social events cleanly, and do not socialize with them. There are many possible boundaries to…
Read your comments and saw this wasn't the first on this theme.
Depending on your status, do you have anything against asking guys/gals to grab lunch?
Sounds weird but honestly, I ask out plenty of girls all the time not to date them but to see if they'd be an interesting friend.
EDIT: I see you're also 21 like myself. Ever tried going to meet ups? Maybe not tech-oriented meetups but hiking, kayaking, boating, etc.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#35I don't think the title ("What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work") makes sense for this article.
He mentions co-founding a company and never had a "real" job but his title is all about being a remote worker for a company.
There's a HUGE difference between being a remote worker FOR a company, and a remote worker for YOUR OWN company.
In the employee / company case, you have someone telling you what to do work on day to day and probably report to them on a regular basis for progress. You have no chance to spiral out of control because if you produce low quality or no work over a few days or a week you'll get reminded by your employer that they are paying you to do work.
In the entrepreneur case, you have no one for that and then it's very easy to get into trouble.
I've been working remotely for ~20 years (for my own freelance / teaching business) and I find it super simple to find motivation to work on client work because someone is requesting I do something for them, and they pay me in return (similar to a "real" job).
But for the teaching (creating and selling video courses) side of things, it's much harder to grind through everything because there's no real deadlines (other than being irrelevant if you take too long, which is a serious threat but you typically don't think of that during your day to day). I imagine someone working on a startup as a solopreneur could have the same issues, because it's the same thing.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#36Remote work is dramatically different for different people. For me, it means I'm home with my family, and in 6+ years of doing it I've not once had the urge to go into an office for any reason, much less socialization.
almost 7 years for me, and i still love it. i don't miss office stuff at all.
it kind of helps that my wife is a housewife, so we can have meals together, we can talk to each other when we are feeling lonely and etc. also i try to chit-chat with coworkers on our "random" slack room just like i would do at an office.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#37I’ve been working remotely for almost 5 years. One thing I would recommend remote teams is visiting teammates cities (if possible and if traveling is your thing). Is a nice way to see the world and for team bonding at the same time.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#38I have a wife and 3 sons and am working remote now for over a decade. If you have family around its super not depressing. Before that being single, I had my dog or went out to the beach and sat under an umbrella and programmed wirelessly or visited a coffee shop. Being in sunny SoCal helps too. If you don't have friends or don't go out and stay by yourself all the time, the vast majority of us would feel depressed. B…
Same here, wife and 4 kids. Definitely not depressing. People like to associate big targets with their mental health, but honestly remote work doesn't make you depressed, your lifestyle can, and remote work can emphasize that. If you get your "fill" of social interaction via other means, there are enormous advantages as well.
I mean being around family reduces the risk of depression. Being married especially so.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#39Very interesting post, as it helps me see things from the perspective of someone at a different life stage from me. I’ve been leading a distributed (my preferred term) team for 2 years now. I’ve got 4 other humans + associated animals in my house, a dedicated outbuilding as an office, and the option to visit a an office if I want to. What’s more, I came to working remote after doing 50-75% work travel for a couple years. Being able to see my kids and wife everyday is absolutely amazing and makes any other annoyance worth it.
But I’ve got 20 people on my team. Some of them are new grads, some are recently divorced, etc... This article helps me see areas we as a team can do better serving them I wouldn’t have seen myself. Thanks to the author and OP.
Re: What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work
#40I don't think the title ("What Most Remote Companies Don’t Tell You About Remote Work") makes sense for this article. He mentions co-founding a company and never had a "real" job but his title is all about being a remote worker for a company. There's a HUGE difference between being a remote worker FOR a company, and a remote worker for YOUR OWN company. In the employee / company case, you have someone telling you wha…
Exactly what I was going to write.
Plus, if you end significant relationship, then cut off all support group (friends and family) you can be in literal paradise and still be depressed and suffer.