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Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

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Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#121

Post by katbyte »

matwood wrote: post #116
ben_jones wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you me? Some of my personal anecdotes going through the exact same circumstances (I'm also currently applying for dual US/Irish citizenship): 1) I hate working out. I don't want to do it. But when I do, I feel momentously better afterwards. I have not worked out consistently in the last 12 mo. 2) I hate cooking and cleaning up after cooking. I don't want to do it. But when I do, I feel better afterwards. I have n…

I know it's easier said than done, but you can't rely on work alone to make you happy. You have to take that task on yourself. I would even go so far to say you shouldn't even rely on your spouse to make you happy. They should complement you. I would also say that you have to embrace the biggest benefit of remote work - personal agency. Most remote workers I know (myself included) can for the most part work when we w…

This is exactly why i will never work in an office again.

  - I wake up when i want (thou without fail earlier then when i had a commute to dread)
  - i can make a nice coffee/breakfast while getting some work done
  - i work out every day, sometimes multiple times because i can pop to a class by my home whenever i want
  - i often take days off to climb or snowboard/shift my work into the evening
  - seeing friends is easier than ever as i can be social on their schedule
  - i don't always take vacation to travel and explore as i can work from anywhere
  - assuming a generously short commute of 30 min plus 15 min to get ready/unpack on either end thats at least 1.5 hours a day back to do whatever i want with

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#122

Post by oldboyFX »

robocat wrote: post #111
oldboyFX wrote: post #92

When I was younger (~18 yo), I always dreamed of leaving my small central European country and moving to the States, Canada, or somewhere in Australia. I couldn't imagine staying at home. It simply wasn't exciting enough and I didn't see my future here. My buddy and I used to hype ourselves up and talk about our future plans, which country we'd move to, in which ways we'd survive (our brightest idea at the time was d…

One thing I noticed about travellers was they can be put into two buckets: #1. The lost. Running away from problems at home (or travelling for vague reasons). #2. The motivated. Going to a country with purpose to do stuff. It sounds to me like you did #1, and if you do it again perhaps you need to find a drive for #2.

The main issue, I think, is the fact that I was already fairly successful when I decided to move. I was working remotely and it didn't really matter where I lived. If I moved a couple of years prior the story might have been different: I'd have something to chase.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#123

Post by el_dev_hell »

EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

> I can live wherever I want, but I don't know where I want to live! I can even move to Europe as I am a dual US/Irish citizen, but I don't know where I would want to go in Europe!

I'm in a very similar situation.

I can work from basically anywhere. For the first year of fully remote work, I moved all over my country. During the second year, I went abroad and spend 3ish months in several nearby countries.

Now I'm entering year 3 and I'm miserable. Having freedom to live anywhere makes the place I choose feel like it's "wrong" in some way.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#124

Post by dromen »

EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

Let me attempt to draw you a pyramid of home location needs:

5. Political situation - not a warzone? Not under sharia? Very democratic, or key to world issues you consider important?

4. Climate - no tundra/sahara? Would you benefit from living near the sea?

3. Food - is the local food edible? Is the local food cheap, including the restaurants? Or is it just very good?

2. Access to nature - do you want to try mountain ranges? Forests? A kind of people you like having around? If I feel disconnected from the city, I just use the public utilities more: coffee, beer, parks and benches for reading on. Not quite collecting mushrooms in the forest but I'm getting there.

1. Culture and language - any cultures you want to learn about? New languages? What would bring your personal and professional development in harmony?

Good luck!

P.S.: The Netherlands are decent. Everything is very "duidelijk", clear, and direct. People don't mind speaking English and speak it well. Weather is mild, can be a bit rainy but not half as bad as Britain. Housing aplenty for a programmer's salary. Consider visiting for a week or so if it peaks your interest.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#125

Post by [deleted] »

ericmcer wrote: post #69
EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

The ideal remote work situation to me would revolve around the ability to travel, want to go to Hawaii for two weeks? No big deal. People who talk about using a remote job to move to X city seem a bit detached from reality in my opinion.

[deleted]

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#126

Post by arkitaip »

Arubis wrote: post #119
EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

If available, I strongly urge you to find a local coworking center that focuses on community (ie. not WeWork or a similar executive office relabeled as coworking). Try poking around on https://coworking.org/visa or https://wiki.coworking.org/w/page/29303049/Directory . I've been full-time remote for my entire software development career and have happily taken advantage of it for occasional travels and such, but for t…

Wait, a coworking center is a place you share with people who aren't your actual coworkers because you wanted to work remotely? Man, this new economy is out of sync.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#127

Post by katbyte »

eternalny1 wrote: post #91
ericmcer wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ideal remote work situation to me would revolve around the ability to travel, want to go to Hawaii for two weeks? No big deal. People who talk about using a remote job to move to X city seem a bit detached from reality in my opinion.

I've done this, and it isn't great. It's not quite the "vacation" type experience you'd think it is. You still have to do work. So yes, you can fly to Hawaii for two weeks, pay for flights, hotel bills, meals, none of which are reimbursed because these are not corporate expenses we're talking about. And then you stay in the hotel or somewhere else plugged in for a long time to do the actual work they are paying you f…

shrug each to their own, i really enjoy going to another city and grabbing an airbnb for a couple weeks. Work at coffee shops overlooking the ocean, grab lunch somewhere, explore some sites, checkout hawaii, then get some work done in the evening.

It's definitely not the same experience off taking a week off, which i also enjoy but usually reserve for camping/backcountry trips.

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#128

Post by socceroos »

dromen wrote: post #124
EMM_386 wrote: post #13

I am a fully remote worker nowhere near my "office", which is simply where our company is technically HQd. I have never met my boss or any of my coworkers in person. I do highly technical work, on a team that only hires very senior developers who have prior remote work experience. And I can say, it is NOT for everyone. If you do not have a life out of work, if you live alone, if you do not have a good network of real…

Let me attempt to draw you a pyramid of home location needs: 5. Political situation - not a warzone? Not under sharia? Very democratic, or key to world issues you consider important? 4. Climate - no tundra/sahara? Would you benefit from living near the sea? 3. Food - is the local food edible? Is the local food cheap, including the restaurants? Or is it just very good? 2. Access to nature - do you want to try mountain…

Come live in Tasmania. We double-tick the top 4 on that list imho

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#129

Post by cocomittens »

dijit wrote: post #2

Article conflates digital nomadism with remote working in general. Remote work allows you to work from a space you control, eliminate commute and allows you to be able to walk around to clear your head without feeling guilty for not being in your seat. You could use it to travel, but I figure that would be a harder lifestyle and is not synonymous with “remote work”. The author did try working from home but the damage…

Only the first few paragraphs talk about digital nomadism, after that he says "The obvious alternative to traveling the world while working, is working from home. But that can be equally isolating in its own way." after which most of the article is about regular remote working

Re: Isolation, anxiety, and depression in the remote workplace

#130

Post by Arubis »

arkitaip wrote: post #126
Arubis wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If available, I strongly urge you to find a local coworking center that focuses on community (ie. not WeWork or a similar executive office relabeled as coworking). Try poking around on https://coworking.org/visa or https://wiki.coworking.org/w/page/29303049/Directory . I've been full-time remote for my entire software development career and have happily taken advantage of it for occasional travels and such, but for t…

Wait, a coworking center is a place you share with people who aren't your actual coworkers because you wanted to work remotely? Man, this new economy is out of sync.

I get that you're being flippant, but yeah, it does sound a little strange at first blush: work remotely, but without working from home?

The secret is that spending all your time alone actually sucks for a lot of people (and for those whom it doesn't, great! Working from home may serve you well).

It so happens that coworking strikes a good balance for many of us. My location and that of my employer are fully decoupled, and my coworkers don't have any overlapping office politics. When I change jobs, I don't stop seeing my friends. It's pretty ideal.

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