The Remote Work Life: perspectives on working remotely full time as a software developer
Remote workers have been on the rise for several years now. These people have the luxury of working from anywhere around the world, wherever it pleases them. I have to admit that it is a lifestyle that has always sounded so enticing to me. Having so much flexibility and being location-independent, opens so many opportunities for unlimited traveling, while still maintaining your career.
Last year, I made a big move and have physically relocated across the country in Toronto. As I handed in my resignation to the job that I enjoyed, my employer asked me if I have considered remote work. It didn’t come across my mind but I decided to give it a try.
I then continued to work remotely in the comfort of my home for a duration of 7 months. And while it wasn’t exactly the dream of remote work, in a distant island while sipping piña coladas, it was still quite an adjustment from a normal working lifestyle.
Remote work was definitely not all that I had expected it to be. Below are some of my realizations on remote work and some tips on how to make working remotely work for you.
Work-life balance is a challenge
Working remotely makes it difficult to separate your personal life and professional work. Since you don’t really have an office to go to that separates you from your work, your work basically eats into your personal life.
An important thing you should do is to set aside a specific schedule for work and stick to it. Schedule all other activities around your work, just as you would if you had an office job. When it’s not your work hours, turn off your laptop and avoid checking your emails on a regular basis. You should make time for yourself or else you’ll quickly feel the burnout.
Self-Discipline
This ties in with my first point. Having self-discipline is very important. For my remote work experience, I decided to work the same hours as the people from my company, which was 3 hours behind me. So typically, I start work at 12noon and end around 8pm. But this left my mornings completely open. While I could have gone to the gym, or run errands and do groceries, or go out for breakfast and coffee, I felt like I was being too unproductive while everyone else in the city is hustling in their morning work routines. So most of the time, I just end up working earlier than the schedule I had set, and end up working more hours than I should.
Some people say that remote workers are lucky because no one is around to check up on them or supervise them, so it’s okay if you don’t work as hard. But I think of the opposite, since no one can see me actually working, then I feel the need to prove myself that I am working as hard as the other employees in the office. And because of this, I tend to spend a lot more time working than I should.
A sense of belonging
When you are not physically in the office, you tend to be forgotten. Sometimes you’ll notice that things are not communicated to you and that you are completely out of the loop. Your absence in the office quickly makes you become out of sight and out of mind, and you get that feeling that you just don’t belong anywhere.
Some things that you can do is to be more proactive and make some initiative to start the conversations. Update your team regularly even if they are not asking for an update. Make them feel like you are around and that you matter.
Social isolation
One of the biggest issues about working remotely and particularly from home, is that it can be very socially isolating.
I was basically alone most of the time with no one else around me. There are times that I have gone 4–5 hours without even articulating a single word. Other times, I would just talk to myself. It leads me to question my sanity sometimes.
While I am quite the introvert and most times avoiding contact with people, being introverted doesn’t mean that I want to be alone. I don’t need constant contact and communication with people, but I do take solace in their presence. This leads me to my next point.
Co-working spaces
Co-working spaces are ubiquitous nowadays. They are everywhere, and could potentially be a good alternative or break from the work-from-home set up.
One of the most popular co-working spaces is WeWork. You can choose to rent a dedicated desk or a hot desk, or even an entire room for bigger teams. The rent can be a bit expensive, but you do get a lot of perks along with it. They have a lot of locations in major cities and each location seems to have quite a modern interior.
Another alternative that I tried locally in Toronto, is a startup called Flexday. This company basically partners with restaurants and convert their spaces into a productive co-working space during their downtimes. With their membership, you get unlimited free coffee/tea, blazing fast Wi-fi, and access to the space for as long as it’s open, without the guilt of overstaying. It’s definitely a much cheaper option than WeWork. If you are in Toronto, definitely go check it out! (This is not sponsored. But if you decide to try it out, use my referral code to get FREE credits: katrina013)
Conclusion
After 7 months of working remotely, I realized that maybe it’s not for me and that I’m ready to find a job locally and be back in the office again.
I hope this blog would help those who are trying to think about doing remote work. Is working remotely really for you? It’s okay if it’s not, because it isn’t for everyone. And if it is and you are already doing remote work, then good for you. I hope you’ll be much more proactive than I was, and be happy with the lifestyle you chose.
While I’m not totally closed off with the idea of working remotely again, I think for now I’m just looking forward to actually feel like I belong somewhere. I might still consider doing remote work again, but in a much further time from today.
