About 3 years ago, I joined the YNAB team. This was my first remote work experience and although I have come to really enjoy working remotely, it hasn’t been without some challenges. I did some things wrong early on, a few things right, and I am still learning as I go.
I really like it
First of all, I want to mention that I have really come to enjoy working remotely. The reasons:
- Control of my working environment - I am able to create a quiet, comfortable working environment in my home. For me, this is a huge boost to my productivity and happiness.
- Geographical flexibility - This is pretty obvious but I sure do enjoy being able to have flexibility in where I work, geographically. My wife stays at home with the kids so if we want to take a trip out of town or out of state to visit family, we can stay for weeks if we want to because I can just setup and work from there.
Lessons learned
One of the first (and best) things I did when I knew I would be working remotely, was reach out to a buddy of mine I’ve known since college to get his advice on remote work. He had been working remotely for about 5 years by that time and I knew he would have plenty of good tips. And I was right. He was able to give me some things to watch out for and some ideas for settings up some positive habits early on.
I put those tips into practice and figured a few things out that work well for me. The biggest lessons I’ve learned that make remote work sustainable are:
- Physically separate work and home - my office is in the far corner of the house with 2 doors of separation from everything else. When I’m home, I don’t see my office and it’s a bit out of reach. If my office is visible I lose separation of work/home and this can lead to dread/burnout.
- Tear down at the end of the day - when it’s quitting time, I make a point to get to a good stopping place, shut my laptop all the way down and close my office door. It’s tempting to plan to “finish some stuff up after dinner and kid’s bedtime” but it’s a dangerous precedent because it can lead to burn out and take away from family time.
- Work somewhere else a few times a week - It took me awhile to learn this but to prevent cabin-fever, it’s good to go work somewhere like a coffee shop for a few hours a couple of times a week because it helps me interact with actual people and mix things up a bit.
Top comments (9)
I just want to work remotely more and more! Last year I tried to but I didn't get it... I realized I didn't have any exposure, there was no way my potential employer get to know me besides my CV, I'm working on that now. Any tips?
The remote roles I see are usually for devs with more experience. Honestly, I'm not sure of the best path to get a remote gig other than being patient and getting bit more experience under your belt. I think employers that hire remotely know that mentorship and communication is really tough (not impossible!) remotely and this is one of the reasons for hiring more experienced devs. However, I would start establishing patterns of discipline, initiation and leadership which I think will help you in the long-run.
Thanks Brady! I'll follow your advice and continue to look that remote job.
I'm a software engineering student in South Africa, I've got a year left before I finish my course but if I wanted to start remote work how would I go about that because I have no idea where to start.
Tayamba, there are lots of online services that list jobs of companies who are happy to hire remotely. Do a Google search for 'work remotely'.
Haha if I knew it was that simple would've have tried it long ago, thanks a bunch
Useful advices, thanks!
I was on the other side of working from home - without any home/office separation, with crazy schedule and night working hours, burnouts and everything. It was a total nightmare! But what I like about the idea (I'm currently employed on-site but looking for a remote role) is that it demands huge self-discipline and actually highlights problems and questions I want to solve and ask. Like "what I'm passionate about" or "what is my most productive time in the day" and so on.
The question I have to you, is how do you keep developing your skills, especially soft ones, and how do you feel without constant face-to-face interaction with other developers?
I am involved with a few local meetups organized through Meetup.com which helps me make friends in the dev world, talk shop, and keep up with things outside my box. Also, I make a point to reach out and have lunches with people I used to work with.
Agree with all of this Brady. I've worked remotely for 22 years and best advice I can ever give anyone is have an "office", space where you'll not be disturbed by partner, kids and maybe even pets. Cannot stress how much a door between the two worlds is.
With the invention of coworking spaces, those are a good option for socialising my local one has space/desk by the day with a lot of people who are writers rather than coders. Nice change of scene and they have a Friday evening beer call.
My team are 100 miles away so I do go to the office once a month or so but I tend use that time for catchup/face time rather than actual work except for odd Sprint planning/retro meetings.