Live data from Hacker News

Working remotely is hard

moishelettvin.com

61–70 of 163 posts

Re: Working remotely is hard

#61
post #6

I'm the CTO of 17hats. The entire engineering team works remotely. It's not as challenging as you seem to suggest. Right now is the best time ever to be remote. Excellent tools like Slack and Speak really help comms. We pair program very often by sshing into a tmux session which makes any lag close to nil. We use Trello for sprints. And Invision for product work. It's extremely efficient. We have our usual retrospect…

Screenhero is an amazing tool also.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#62
I'd also call myself an introvert, and the best productivity I get is when I dedicate a couple of days working from home with the rest in office. This allows me to get the bulk load of work done when I'm home and allow some social interaction with my colleagues the rest of the week, while still getting a decent amount of work done. It's consistently the same days every week that I work from home, so people I work with can have their expectations set on when I'll be around. Choosing random days does not really work well for this, as people get confused when I'm not there.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#63
post #32
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its funny, your elevator pitch makes me want to use them. But over at their web site, they just look like a me-too skype replacement. They don't push the low bandwidth aspect at all.

They were just purchased by Slack as well.

I think you're thinking of Screenhero - https://slack.com/screenhero

Re: Working remotely is hard

#64
post #6

I'm the CTO of 17hats. The entire engineering team works remotely. It's not as challenging as you seem to suggest. Right now is the best time ever to be remote. Excellent tools like Slack and Speak really help comms. We pair program very often by sshing into a tmux session which makes any lag close to nil. We use Trello for sprints. And Invision for product work. It's extremely efficient. We have our usual retrospect…

How long have you been doing this? I'm a pretty serious introvert and I have been working remotely for about 6 years. I started out absolutely loving it but the shine is definitely off over the past year and the drawbacks are feeling like they are balancing out the benefits. The only thing that keeps me sane is if I am fairly religious about having at least two social outings per week, and even with that, it's starting to wear on me. It's possible that it's actually cured me of being an introvert.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#65
post #60
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No one can come to my desk to socialize Yeah who would want that? I've done both and both have their pros and cons, socializing is definitely a perk and introvert or extrovert should not be underestimated in keeping you healthy and happy and a skilled professional.

> socializing is definitely a perk No, it's not. It is a hindrance to the reason you are there, which is to get a job done. I do not wish to socialize at work, I do not wish to work when I socialize.

I don't know. I'm an introvert but having nice people to socialize and make friends with is one of the key parts of being happy at my job. And if I'm happy I'm more productive.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#66
post #58
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so your company only hires country singers? You are missing out on amazing, qualified candidates that don't sing country music. Even if you are having a successful time hiring great people that are happy remote, how are you going to retain them? A remote software job is much closer to a commodity than a traditional software job. (I read the 37signals book and built a remote team over 5 years; in the end the diffi…

> A remote software job is much closer to a commodity than a traditional software job In the current climate all software [engineering] jobs are commodities from an employee viewpoint.

True. But until we start to see the proportion of remote jobs to all jobs decline, remote is just as easily available as traditional, but lacking the physical and social stickiness that distinguishes traditional jobs and facilitates retention; remote is "closer to a commodity".

Re: Working remotely is hard

#67
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the microwave though.

Microwaving cooks food without generating as much carcinogenic char as other methods, so it can actually be healthier. Relatedly, freezing is the healthiest way to preserve and transport fruits and vegetables. It also allows them to be harvested when naturally ripe, rather than artificially ripened.

Alternatively, use something like https://www.pantelligent.com/ (disclosure: co-founder / engineer) so you can control cooking temperatures. This lets you get delicious browning without the non-tasty and non-healthy burnt "char" bits.

Edit: sales team just added coupon code T2F8NB9UBC for HN readers! [expires 11/16 at 11:59pm PT]

Re: Working remotely is hard

#68
Similar to the poster, I started renting a coworking space and riding my bike to work each day and it really makes all the difference. I've met friends, go out to lunch each week (and then take a little nap afterwards at my desk), and drinks on Friday. Discovering coworking has been really great, and now working remote doesn't even phase me

Re: Working remotely is hard

#69

I wouldn't work remotely even if you gave me 25% more salary to do it. My ideal work context would be a six hour day at an office in the city that I can walk to from my condo. Sit-stand desks, balance-ball chairs, decent coffee, but no catered lunch / dinner. I want to take coworkers or dates out. Preferably with a nearby park that I can take walks in. Sit at home with a computer all day? Sounds too much like solitar…

I'm the opposite, I turned down $300K in LA to keep my remote job at a lot less. I move around the world freely, I don't need to commute, i can work in my underwear or while sitting on a beach, and I generally don't even have to be available during the office hours as long as I do my job and respond to emails reasonably quickly.

Re: Working remotely is hard

#70
post #42
post #2

Working remotely is excellent. 1.5 hours less commuting - that's more time to get work done or go to the gym or read the news. No one can come to my desk to socialize or ask a quick question to fuck up my flow. No one requiring me to arrive at an office at an arbitrarily early time. No dress code. No ad hoc meetings in the conference room. Listening to music I like aloud. All conf calls done on speaker. I'm home to r…

And you lose all social interactions. I enjoy people stopping by my desk and having random chat with them.

While you're in the middle of diagnosing an important issue in production? While you're working out a tricky graph algorithm?

Having some social interaction is nice. The problem is that there are too many people who'll stop by and initiate social interaction while you're in the middle of something more important. What's worse, in an open plan office like mine, your flow isn't just disrupted by people stopping by at your desk. Your flow is interrupted by people stopping by at any of your neighbors desks. God forbid you sit next to a PM who has foot traffic coming and going at all hours of the workday.

For me the best working situation would be an office (doesn't have to be big) with a door that closes. After that comes working at home. Finally, at the bottom, is working in an open plan office (which is unfortunately my current situation).

Post reply on HN