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What I have learned from eight years of being a remote developer

Ivan Neto on June 10, 2018

I enjoy working remotely. There are many advantages such as not having to commute to an office; having more time with my family and myself; being i...
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Adrian B.G.

I think this sums up about half of the article

"One of the big problems remote workers have is not setting boundaries between work and home and mixing everything."

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Omar Hussain

Spoke my mind there. Agree with all of it. Remote working has its advantages and disadvantages. The major disadvantage I see I have had while working remotely for past 7 years is not making enough connections, being able to verbally speak to peers and discuss ideas. Its mostly a robotic conversation where a client lays out their requirements and you go on to make them as close as possible to the requirements. Having peers and discussing ideas before working on them is not just beneficial but healthy as well. Human to human relation is largely missed during remote work. Great article!

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Matteo Rigon

As a person who is getting into the idea of working remotely in future, this post has really given me some insight on what to expect. Some things I imagined were as you described but some others weren't, so thanks you!

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Ivan Neto

I'm glad I could help!

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Darío Kondratiuk

What? Working in pijamas is the best part of being remote! 😂

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Antonin J. (they/them)

I honestly do it only occasionally. I find it uncomfortable. Normal day-clothes are usually the best for me.

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Bertrand

Thanks for this article !
Do you have some tips for time tracking ? 🤔
I tried Timing on Mac but a lot of features for a beginner and quite expensive...

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Nick Karnik

Rescuetime

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Ivan Neto

I use Toggl: toggl.com/

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Bertrand

Thx a lot, I'll try :)

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Mohannad Salah • Edited

Oh man !!, all facts

I totally relate to every point you said, specially (Family, Pajamas and having time sleeping), i have serious sleeping issues (i don't sleep) but now thanks to you i know the reason

i really felt good reading this, this a lot for sharing your experiences ♥️

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Ekim Kael

Even now my parents still asking me what i'm doing un front office my PC all the time.and as you told they don't really think i'm working and in front office my brothers i don't have a value.
Anyway i'd love to read your post.

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Ivan Neto

Please keep doing that, they will see the value someday :)

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Michael Kimball

I appreciate the perspective here. I wish my current position allowed remote work because I always end up staying way too late.
One thing I would suggest is a bit more proofreading.
Also, thank you for the list of resources!

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Ivan Neto • Edited

Thanks for your feedback. I reviewed the text, it's much better now!

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Manuel Torrez

This is gold! I loved reading your experience and the resources are great!

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Guillaume Martigny

Great article, easy to read and interesting all the way. Thanks for the advices.

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andrew

“They need to learn, as well as you do. You need to have a conversation with them a couple of times to make them understand.”

doesnt it actually sound more like by cutting expenses on commuting, you brought your work closer to your life, so that it is not only affecting how you organize your home (with mini-commuting route between its parts), but actually affects lives of your family, who are otherwise completely unrelated to your working process?

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Ivan Neto

I don't disagree with what you say, but I believe family is not completely unrelated to the working process. Working at home is a decision that must be done together, listing pros and cons and if there is anything to be changed that should be taken into consideration before the decision is made.

Your work contributes financially to your home, so it should be respected. It's more of a conversation beforehand about what should be done to have less friction and both (work and home) not be affected so much.

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Luis Miguel • Edited

Overcomunication is also key in a conventional office.

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Ivan Neto

Agree. My point here is in the office when you arrive and sit, everyone sees. Same thing for when you leave or go to the restroom. You don't need to say at loud something like "Hello everybody, I arrived". Remotely, you have to.

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Antonin J. (they/them)

I think remote really forces the overcommunication. A good remote team is definitely better at communication by default than a good "office" team.

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Paul Lefebvre

Some great tips here. And thanks for the link to my post about remote working.

I also suggest this site for people looking for remote work:

weworkremotely.com

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Rafael Corrêa Gomes

Thanks for sharing Ivan!

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Salun Marvin

Excellent article. I need more creativity and discipline to work better, but I'm getting int the way to achieve it.
I would recommend torre.jobs also.

Thanks for sharing, Ivan.

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Ivan Neto

Thanks for the feedback, updating the text.