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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

#41

Post by caust1c »

d357r0y3r wrote: post #10

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.…

> they can't understand why I would want to just stay in my medium-sized city and travel a few times a year.

I would except I want to travel while keeping my carbon footprint minimal.

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

#42

Post by goshx »

I did remote work for many years starting back in 2003.

The worst time, when I almost lost my mind, was when I was living in a tiny apartment, having my work desk inside my bedroom. Although I had my mother and my sister living with me, I was supporting all of us and that pressure was strong, so we didn't interact much.

I'd never leave the apartment. I'd wake up and jump on my work chair and start coding. I'd get stuck in my bedroom sometimes working 16 hours in single days.

At some point I didn't know if I was working from home or living at work. It was terrible. I wasn't aware of the potential problems at the time, so I let it happen to myself. I had to eventually rent an office, otherwise I'd lose my mind for real.

I love remote work and I love times of solitude, however you need a break from time to time. Even if you are anti-social, you need to at least see and be near people. Co-working spaces, coffee-shops, etc. they all work great for me.

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

#43

Post by erezyehuda »

meowface wrote: post #5

I'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…

It's kind of funny- I assume other people will assume I'm not productive at home, so I end up hyper-focusing on getting things done when I'm working from home just to prove I'm not slacking off.

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

#44

Post by da02 »

d357r0y3r wrote: post #10

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.…

What type of work do your nomad friends do? Freelance design? Copywriting? Programming?

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

#45

Post by chrisan »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #27
vinbreau wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been remote for almost 8 years now. I love it and dread ever having to go back into an office. Faking productivity for show when the workload is low was the worst feeling, as if I was wasting my time and life. Plus I have social anxiety and the pressure to 'fit in' was overwhelming. Now I work from home where my wife and toddler are. Being home to educate her is worth more than just about anything. I don't have…

To each their own. I found that working remotely pigeonholes you into your role; its much harder to network in a remote org, to find other opportunities within the org when you're ready to explore a new role. My current org has offices around the world; I can work from any of them, or from home. I can apply for other internal roles, and keep my benefits and salary while changing up the work I'm working on. Working fr…

I agree with vinbreau. I've been 100% remote for about 10 years now and echo his comments.

> I also don't want to have superficial conversations with coworkers

I would argue this is a problem with the relationship between you and your coworkers and/or the size of your company and nothing to do with the means by which you communicate. Some of these people also may just not be your "kind" of person you like.

In addition to my remote work mates I have also found remote gaming buddies. Both workers and gamers alike I have found deep relationships with. I know all about their kids, pets, activities, deaths, illnesses, etc. Comparing these faceless friends to friends I regularly see in my area are the same. In some cases the faceless people are deeper because you can chat whenever. IRL friends you have to deal with families and work schedules and a month may go by before we can meetup to grab a drink or movie together, especially when they start having kids.

I would bet if you can't find much to talk about remotely you wouldn't find anything more to talk about in person besides the weather and how the coffee tastes today. Just because a person is next to me doesn't mean I like him or will have a deep relationship with him/her. I've sat in an office before, 5 years with a team. Some people just aren't compatible. When I left, I no longer communicated with them, the ones I did develop a relationship with I still talk to to this day.

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

#46

Post by jhall1468 »

sjg007 wrote: post #38
jhall1468 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yep, that's kind of the point. Working remote doesn't cause depression, it enables it, particularly when your lifestyle makes depression a high probability. If you're a type B "loner" that doesn't really have friends/family, I would argue that you probably shouldn't work remote if you also happen to be susceptible to depression.

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

#47

Post by bitL »

Dunno, if you have a life outside work, the remote work is absolutely amazing. If you are glued 12-16h to a computer, then it is likely horrible. By remote work you already saved 1-4h of commuting, you don't have to be in an office with people you don't like, you can work in comfortable clothes, can take packages you ordered right at home instead of picking them up from post office, you can be productive even when your office is going through virus epidemics etc. Often you can set cool working hours like 6am-2pm and do whatever you like afterwards... If your income is sufficient, you can even travel the world, working one month from one cool place, the next month from another one, and surprisingly getting a huge productivity boost just from changing the scenery (if your job is in any way creative).

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

#48

Post by d357r0y3r »

da02 wrote: post #44
d357r0y3r wrote: post #10

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.…

What type of work do your nomad friends do? Freelance design? Copywriting? Programming?

Mostly marketing/copywriting types and designers. Some programmers, although that seems to be rarer - could have something to do with what personalities are drawn to these professions.

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

#49

Post by d357r0y3r »

chrisan wrote: post #45
toomuchtodo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To each their own. I found that working remotely pigeonholes you into your role; its much harder to network in a remote org, to find other opportunities within the org when you're ready to explore a new role. My current org has offices around the world; I can work from any of them, or from home. I can apply for other internal roles, and keep my benefits and salary while changing up the work I'm working on. Working fr…

I agree with vinbreau. I've been 100% remote for about 10 years now and echo his comments. > I also don't want to have superficial conversations with coworkers I would argue this is a problem with the relationship between you and your coworkers and/or the size of your company and nothing to do with the means by which you communicate. Some of these people also may just not be your "kind" of person you like. In additio…

> Just because a person is next to me doesn't mean I like him or will have a deep relationship with him/her.

This is absolutely true, of course.

What I would like to point out is that interaction in the physical space is higher resolution than what you tend to get in virtual environments. In my experience, when you make a remote friend, you have even better interactions when you're together physically.

It's sort of like sports - you may like watching a certain sport or you may not like it. But, regardless of how much you like it, you'll like it more if you're actually at the game. There's just something about being there in person that makes it more fun.

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

#50

Post by neokantian »

d357r0y3r wrote: post #10

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.…

You can be part of a community anywhere in the world. I have lots of equally remotely working kick-abouts here.
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