6 Years a Remote Worker

Here’s what I’ve learned so far from the “future of work”

Like the time I finally enjoyed red wine after many tries, I will never forget the first gig I landed as a freelance writer.

The year was 2013.

I had just moved back into the city I grew up in and was searching for work after an enriching, but ultimately unsuccessful startup experience.

Work-wise, those were bumpy times.

The city was great and I was loving it, but jobs in my profession were (and still are, to some degree) quite scarce. After a few weeks with no jobs on the horizon, anxiety was eating me alive.

Suddenly, the whole “new city, new life” project was in question.

Then, one day, my girlfriend came home from work and asked me why hadn’t I tried to do some remote freelance work. “You should get on one of those platforms”, she said.

And then it hit me. I remember laughing and answering that it simply hadn’t crossed my mind. I also recall being invaded by this feeling of warmth: remote work was actually worth the try.

After the brief moment of enlightenment, I spent a couple of hours creating a profile and sending a handful of proposals on the now-defunct freelancing platform Elance.

Less than 48 hours later, I received an email with my first assignment.

I was to write a run-off-the-mill listicle for an online parenting mag that thrived on clickbait and sponsored content pieces featuring Chinese gadgetry and bric-a-bracs.

But I didn’t care about that. What’s more, I wrote that listicle like my life depended on it.

Soon after, the editor nodded his approval and paid me — wait for it — 7 dollars for the piece.

At the time, I was ecstatic, flabbergasted by the fact that a person living 7,000 miles away from me had liked my work enough to put me under contract.

And once that started, I never looked back — until now.

Hits and misses

That $7 listicle marked the beginning of my career as a full-time remote writer, digital marketer, and SEO specialist.

Not that I didn’t do any of these things before 2013 — I just never did them remotely.

Ever since I started working remotely, I have

• Held 4 full-time positions at an equal number of companies
• Worked on hundreds of projects for clients from all over the world
• Had a handful of stories featured at online magazines and news sites with millions of readers

Little did I know, remote work would become a launchpad for

• Meeting interesting people
• Advancing my career
• Learning new tools and tricks of the trade

Of course, not all that glitters is gold, and remote work is no exception here.

When the world becomes your playground, the possibility to get noticed grows, but so do the chances to run into scammers, bad-mannered clients, and other types that will try to take advantage of you in one way or another.

In hindsight, I’ve been blessed with good projects and opportunities, but also had my fair share of sketchy situations (more on this later).

The point here is simple:

When it comes to remote work, the path isn’t always clear.

Thousands of people are moving into remote positions as I write these words. Some are prepared, and some aren’t.

In light of this, I want to share my experience, and some words of advice as well.

Remote work is often sold as easier (and more convenient), but that’s not always true.

In any case, it’s just different, and here’s what I’ve learned so far about it.

1. Use the tools

When I started working remotely, my workplace tool stack was limited to Gmail, Skype, and Google Drive.

I know — it sounds ancient, but 6 years ago there weren’t nearly as many options as today.

Nowadays, it’s different.

My current stack has incorporated Slack, Basecamp, Trello, ClickUp, Harvest, Zoom, Hangouts, Keep, and Calendar, to name a few (and I’m not counting tools that are more specific to my trade, such as Google Analytics, SEMRush, Integromat or WordPress).

Workplace collaboration tools make remote work viable for 2 simple reasons:

• Better communications. Simple as that, and trust me: you will want to communicate as efficiently as possible when interacting with people distributed across different time zones.
• Organization. The tools are instrumental in keeping everything — tasks, documents, goals, guidelines — organized.

Knowing the basics about work collab tools will save you time, and make you more productive as well.

2. Building trust is twice as hard

I cannot stress this enough:

In remote work arrangements, confidence is king.

It’s a totally different game than what happens with IRL work.

Real-life interactions allow for a series of non-verbal and non-vocal interactions that are instrumental in the trust-building process: gestures, postures, voice tones.

Even being at sight range of someone else changes how we perceive and are perceived.

As a remote worker, you will not be able to rely on these cues to build trust with your teammates and employers.

Most communications take place over messaging platforms, or phone/video if you are lucky.

This “new normal” has proven a challenge for everyone, so you will have to focus on other ways to build trust and confidence. What has worked for me?

• A self-starter attitude
• Keeping an eye open for team dynamics, and adjusting my interactions accordingly
• Being friendly, open and concise

And of course, doing my job the way I am supposed to, and going the extra mile when possible.

3. Flexibility is great…if you can own it

Being able to choose where to work from, close to your family, friends, pets (and possessions) has been recognized as the biggest perk of working remotely.

Add a flexible schedule to the mix and you are in for the work-life balance you’ve been coveting so bad.

But are you, indeed?

The flip side is that you will have to develop an ability to switch between work and play and to keep your priorities straight at all times.

Otherwise, the juggle will soon become the struggle.

4. Go physical to avoid going mental

Sitting all day facing a screen sucks, and it can harm your body and your mind.

So, if you’re thinking about working from home and this is what your workday will look like, please dedicate some time to exercise as well.

I have it somewhat easy. Living close to the ocean I walk a lot, and that usually covers my exercise quota — albeit for the cold and damp winter time, in which I try to hit the gym at least 2–3 times a week.

Also, I recommend cooking and dedicating time to doing so.

Picking ingredients and preparing my food has prevented me from picking up weight, and it’s one of the go-to activities to unwind after a long day.

5. Infrastructure Matters

This is important for employers and employees.

For remote work to be possible on an ongoing basis, both will need:

• Stable electrical service
• Reliable internet service
• Proper devices: a computer with a working cam and a smartphone, plus the tools (digital and physical) that your profession demands
• A space to work without distractions, where you can make and receive calls

This may sound obvious, but trust me, it isn’t.

For example, if the area you live in is prone to blackouts, or your ISP does not provide at the very least 10 Mbps of download speed, you will need to reconsider either work or location.

Having up-to-date devices that meet basic safety and security standards is a plus, and a quiet space for calls and screen-sharing is a must.

If any of these items fail, it will only be a matter of time for the work arrangement to fail as well.

6. Research, Research, Research

Before joining an organization or accepting a freelance job, make sure you do the due diligence.

Take your time to evaluate:

• What the job encompasses
• Whether you can deliver on the premises or not
• What will you get in exchange, and how (payment methods)

Also, check what people are saying about the company. To do this, you can use sites like Capterra, G2, Glassdoor, and social media pages as well.

Just remember: there is no shortage of shady people and companies out there. Let me share with you an experience I had a few years ago.

I’ll make it short:

In 2015, I took a position within a company whose owner had been legally barred from running businesses in the UK (the country where the company was operating).

The reason? Fraud-related charges. What little I could find online, this person had taken a couple of million pounds from a series of investors.

To make things worse, I only learned about this after due payments began to pile up.

Needless to say, desperation kicked in quick, but I didn’t give up.

Eventually, I had to battle my way through all sorts of excuses to get paid, and ended up quitting right after the last payment arrived.

The lesson here is pretty straightforward: due diligence is critical!

If you get scammed by someone that lives thousands of miles away, chances are they’re gonna get away with it.

7. Develop Your Professional Network

I started to get remote assignments by using freelancing platforms.

First, it was Elance, then Upwork, then PeoplePerHour and Upwork, then just Upwork again…until I was able to move past them.

Truth is, freelance platforms are a good place to start but can wear you out pretty quickly.

Uneven competition, vague offerings, pay-for-play and strikingly high levels of unresponsiveness have driven me out of freelance platforms — but there is no way I could have made this move without a network.

I never, not for a minute, stopped developing my network. I know there’s not a single approach to this, so I kind of followed my gut and did this:

• Maintain contact with former remote employers
• Check with them every once in a while
• Share interesting news/resources with a small personal note attached from time to time

This has allowed me to stay away from freelancing sites for the past 3 years.

As a bonus, it has also allowed me to meet cool professionals whom I admire and enjoy working with.

8. Enjoy Your Due

Just like any kind of labor, remote work is an exchange.

This means that you will need to figure out what you’ll get from it, and what you will be giving in return.

In my case, remote work has been the answer to the enduring conundrum of reaching an enjoyable work-life balance.

Cliché? Perhaps, but that’s what I wanted.

When I started working remotely, I did it to avoid leaving the city I had chosen to live in.

I had just moved in with my partner, and we were (and still are!) very happy about being together in the same place.

I very much enjoy the life I’ve built in my city.

Without the reality of remote work, I’m sure I would have ended up either moving away or taking lower-quality jobs to sustain myself.

Luckily, it worked out well so far.

I’m currently working as a Content Strategist for Integromat, an exciting company with clear goals, a promising product, and fantastic teams.

Besides, I get to do what I want when I’m not working: I go out with friends for beers, I spend incredible amounts of time with my 2-year-old daughter and I read a lot.

It’s fantastic to have the time for these things.

Moreover, I seldom make it to the end of the day in shambles because of work-related reasons anymore.

But most importantly, I am home.

And it feels good.