How to work remotely as a software developer • Hacker News Board

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#51

Post by pickettd » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:01 PM UTC

Kaivo wrote: post #32

Is that kind of job viable when constantly moving? I want to travel in the next two years, and I was thinking about keeping only stuff that fits in a bag and just going away with my wife, but doing that without a decent amount of cash or a job you can have on the road would be hard. Is it viable to have a remote job while travelling, in the event that I might stay for several days in each city and do most of the trav…

I have a full-time, remote, software development job that I started while travelling. It is doable. You may find that it is hard to be motivated to do work when you'd rather be out seeing the place that you are visiting though. I also find that it usually takes me a week or two to get into a daily routine in a new place. So when I plan to go places I generally make it fit into a (long) weekend or I plan to stay for 2 weeks or more.

My working space is pretty much always just wherever I'm living at the time. Which means that checking ahead to make sure I'll have a decent internet connection is part of picking a place to live. I especially like when I can find a place that has at least a separate office nook.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#52

Post by blumentopf » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:08 PM UTC

joel_perl_prog wrote: post #14

I have to laugh at this. Not because he's wrong, but because it's so indicative of the programmer's mind. Structured, orderly, formulaic. Laying down rules and procedures. Which is fine--nothing wrong with that, however... Let me offer a counter-example, for what it's worth, which perhaps isn't a whole lot. I've been working at home for almost a year, after being in the office for six. It's very simple. In the mornin…

True. And I would actually go so far as to reject some of the advice, e.g. the strict separation between home and work and the timeboxing: I often take a pause during the day to do some stupid housework. This lets me toss around a problem in my head that I'm working on and when I later return to my programming I have a fresh pair of eyeballs and have formed new ideas to solve the problem. That kind of relaxed way of working on a problem would be impossible with timeboxing.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#53

Post by neurostimulant » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:20 PM UTC

grownseed wrote: post #34

Been working remotely for a bit more than a year now and it's definitely largely about pace for me too. I generally start relatively early to try and catch up with my colleagues (I'm on PST and they on GMT) then head to a coffee shop later in the morning. Just having the walk in itself is quite an important motivator. As far as coffee shops go, I think the criteria for a good place to work from are as follow: - how i…

> I find tickets irritating, I keep forgetting about the limit and having remote shells disconnecting and whatnot.

I've been using Mosh to mitigate this. The drawback is Mosh relied on specific udp port which might be blocked on some public wifi. But this is not an issue to me since I always vpn to my vps (a cheap $5 digital ocean vps) on public wifi, thus allowing me to use udp in any port as long as the wifi network allows vpn connection.

http://mosh.mit.edu/

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#54

Post by nthj » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:21 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #13

I've never tried working from a coffee shop but it seems people do. How does that work out financially? I imagine they aren't too pleased if you just buy a coffee and then occupy space for 5 hours. But I don't really want to spend a fortune on excessive caffeine consumption and $5 bagels.

If any of you guys are in Austin, check out 1405 E. 7th. ("Vintage Heart"). Fairly large space, some stand-up desks with optional bar stools, lots of outlets, and pretty solid wifi. Also a lot of the tech crowd hangs out there already, so it's practically a free co-working hub. And there's always at least a few tables open so I never feel rushed out.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#55

Post by benji-york » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:23 PM UTC

stormbrew wrote: post #30

I went back to remote last year after not doing it for quite a while and it turned into a bit of a disaster. I won't deny that my being out of practice with it and not doing some of the things this guy and others talk about contributed massively to it not working out, but I want to add one piece of advice since I don't think this talked enough about external factors: Be careful who you do it for. When he talks about…

Agreed. I have been working 100% remote for three years and it has been great. However, I was very careful to choose a company that has had several 100% remote teams for many years over a company where I would be the first. I did not want to be both the person pushing for change and the only person that would be out of luck if the change didn't take.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#56

Post by benji-york » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:26 PM UTC

GlennCSmith wrote: post #4

I worked alone from a home office for 20 years in my consulting practice until, in the last year, as my company has grown, I've moved to commercial office space for the first time. I found working at home a delight, and enjoyed many years of jokes about my short commute (18 feet.) However, in the end, I found the repeated advice of friends to be correct: I'm more productive with an outside office. The extra focus mor…

I'll gladly agree that working from a home office vs. an "office office" can be good or bad depending on the person. I'll also point out the chance for the Hawthorne effect to make changing from one to the other seem more (or less) productive than it really is.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#57

Post by benji-york » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:34 PM UTC

chuckcode wrote: post #47

A lot of this article applies just as much to working at the office. Managing time, distractions and communicating clearly are important no matter where you are. Does anyone have any links to articles that talk more about the tool for collaborating and developing remotely? With existing tools I find it pretty easy to get code written and coordinate remotely, but it it still seems very difficult to actively collaborat…

It sounds like you're doing Windows development, so this may not help you much, but it helps me. :)

I have a little open source project that lets two Linux users share a console session remotely. It is much like sharing a screen or tmux session but without all the setup. If you're interested you can check it out at termbeamer.com

I'm actively improving it and hope to release a version soon that will let the "client" connect using an SSH client and not need Termbeamer installed at all.

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#58

Post by kscaldef » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:48 PM UTC

mumrah wrote: post #41

This article makes no mention of spouse or kids, both of which can be major distractions. For adults, it's very hard to not see someone as "here" even though they are just down the hall; for kids - it's impossible. The compromise my wife and I have is that I take time during the day to help out around the house or run errands, but I make up the time at night. Also, I pretty much have my headphones on all the time, wh…

"Having a space to work that you can ignore people is key to getting work done. Constantly being interrupted by people you live with or other people will kill your productivity."

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#59

Post by porker » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:52 PM UTC

This works when you're a remote worker, but what about when you're a freelancer with multiple clients, using time tracking software? Where do you bill the "going for a walk to clear your head", the "restroom break" or that all-too-common one, "popping on Hacker News to see if anything exciting's happened in the last 5 minutes"?

Joking aside, I've reached burnout by driving myself hard to get 8 billable hours each day (plus communication, writing proposals etc on top), and apart from lunch don't step away from the computer even when tired and procrastinating. Because if I'm sat there working on a problem I can bill the client, if I step away (even though I'll be more productive when I come back) I can't.

I know it's a matter of perspective on how I define 'honest' and 'billable', but I cannot make the mental leap needed!

Re: How to work remotely as a software developer

#60

Post by technomancy » Thu, May 23, 2013, 6:53 PM UTC

jiggy2011 wrote: post #13

I've never tried working from a coffee shop but it seems people do. How does that work out financially? I imagine they aren't too pleased if you just buy a coffee and then occupy space for 5 hours. But I don't really want to spend a fortune on excessive caffeine consumption and $5 bagels.

I think this depends on the culture of the city. In Seattle every coffee shop is full of people just working on their own.

If you buy a cup of coffee, no one bats an eye if you stay all morning. If you head out to get lunch and then come back without buying another cup obviously that's pretty tacky, but all AM or all afternoon is normal.