Remote work has become increasingly popular, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to adopt it as the norm. However, while many people dream of the flexibility and freedom that comes with remote work, the reality can be quite different.
As a junior Javascript developer who has been working remotely for a Hungarian company while living in Denmark, I have experienced the dark side of remote work. Important note, that I was the only one in the team, who worked from home.
Expectations vs. Reality
Like many people, I had always dreamed of working from home. I imagined working in my pajamas, sipping coffee from my favorite mug, and taking breaks to relax in a library or a cozy cafe. However, the reality of working remotely was quite different. I found myself spending 24/7 at home, doing everything from work to household chores, playing with my child, and watching movies with my husband. While I love our home, not being able to work from other places was hard. I tried working from a cafe or library, but the uncomfortable chairs and unreliable internet connection made it less than ideal.
Loneliness
One of the biggest challenges I faced with remote work was loneliness. While I appreciated the peace and quiet of working from home, I found myself missing the collegues and social interaction that comes with working in an office. My breaks were spent alone, and even though I tried to connect with colleagues through messaging apps, it was not the same as face-to-face interaction.
Lack of Routine and Burnout
Another major challenge was the lack of routine. Working from home meant that my workday was not clearly defined. While I had a morning routine with my family, my workday was spent sitting in front of a computer without any breaks or chit-chat. I found myself mentally exhausted and almost burned out from the constant focus on work without any meaningful breaks. Even when I tried using the Pomodoro technique, I found myself either postponing breaks or doing household chores instead of relaxing.
Conclusion
Working remotely can be a great option for many people, but it is not without its challenges. While the flexibility and freedom are certainly attractive, the lack of routine, social interaction, and burnout can take a toll on mental health. As a remote worker, it is important to find ways to stay connected with colleagues, create a routine, and take meaningful breaks to avoid burnout.
Unfortunately, I struggled to establish a routine and take breaks, which led to mental exhaustion and burnout. As a result, I realized that a hybrid work model, where I can work from the office on some days and from home on others, would be a better fit for me personally. This would allow me to have the benefits of remote work while also providing opportunities for social interaction and structure in my workday.
What is your experience with remote work? Have you experienced any challenges with it, and how have you overcome them?
Top comments (52)
I can appreciate that some people feel like this. When the pandemic hit and people started working from home, I thought the new remote-first working system was wonderful.
Now? Years later? I think it's wonderful.
The things you said in your post, about the challenges of working from home are the reasons I love it.
Most of my colleagues like going to the office, and constantly make comments about how it would be nice if I came in from time to time. I know they think they're being sociable, but I wish they'd stop. Perhaps it's a neurotypical thing, but if I did the equivalent - constantly told them it'd be nice if they stayed away from me - I'm not so sure they'd appreciate it.
I don't understand why people want to work in an office, but I've come to realise that for some people, they genuinely do. They're not making it up. It seems totally alien to me now!
I’m happy you found the right way to work remote and that you fall in love with it. It’s great to hear success stories 🙂and yes, everyone is different, also regarding to attitude of workplace. I am happy I got the chance to try it, so now I am a step closer to find my best way of work 🙂
Just created an account to reply to this post.
Viktoria I think your problem may not be Remote Work. Your problem seems to be your job. "While I had a morning routine with my family, my workday was spent sitting in front of a computer without any breaks or chit-chat. I found myself mentally exhausted and almost burned out from the constant focus on work without any meaningful breaks " this for me is the red flag. A good job and boss will only make you work the working hours and thats it. Even taking into account hourly breaks and lunch. Yes yes yes, there are exceptions where sometimes you may need to work a little bit more but nothing crazy. You should be taking breaks without feeling guilty. Set your limits with your manager. Most will try to take advantage of you.
In addition, many people also miss the social aspect including me. You may have already seen posts in LinkedIn where people ask you to react to an image based on what you prefer: Remote Work, Hybrid, On-Site. Surprisingly, most posts including the post I saw that had most interactions (millions) usually had half of the people preferring Remote Work and the other half preferring Hybrid. This is a good indicator that you are not alone in this.
Finally, I would consider jobs in your home country (which probably pay way more than Hungary?) and that are hybrid or on-site.
Ooh and one last thing, when working from home also set your limits! People will usually ask you favours or think you are like playing on your PC rather than working. If someone asks you something even if its your husband just say NO. They can ask after your working hours and nothing will change.
Good luck!
Edit: I didnt consider you are just starting your career. At first work may feel a little bit harder because you are not experienced enough and thats normal. Still, you should consider what I wrote in this comment :)
First of all, welcome to dev.to :) and your comment :)
I am going to be honest, not taking breaks is totally on me. Nothing to do with management, they are not forcing me to work in my lunch break or anything crazy. It is on me only. I have this attitude that I don't see the point to take breaks what I need to spend alone, so I rather just not have meaningful breaks and work. If I would have somebody who "grabs" me out from my little world, than I would take normal breaks like normal people :D That's why I feel that office work / hybrid is a better fit to me.
You are definitely right to find a work in the country I am living in, and that's what I am doing in the past months.I know from the beginning that I want to find a work in Denmark, I accepted this offer to get some real-life experience, but yes I have never gave up searching to jobs in Denmark.
This incredible article speaks about it as well: medium.com/future-of-work/the-hidd... and because I've mostly worked on hybrid environment, where we tried our best to follow all of the tips in here (blogs.atlassian.com/2014/05/top-10...), I didn't felt the burden till COVID hit. It was a totally different beast.
Working from home demands a discipline that is hard for some people, me included, and it comes hand to hand with a slap to our face that even though we spent ~8h at work, it does not (and should not) be what defines our whole social life. We got to have hobbies, family, friends, and a bunch more of this in abundance if we're going to be happy working exclusively remotely.
My friend and I started this thing where once a week we go out for a coffee, and it doesn't matter if we meet on the weekend, we still go out on Wednesdays. That helped a LOT! I also am in therapy since my burnout in 2020/2021, which happens once a week and I could not stop saying: we all should have a mental health check up now and then.
I hope you find the balance you're wishing for, but I hear you... It is difficult!
That is a brilliant comment, and the key factor which makes wfh work for some and not for someone else is right there - Discipline !
It's not like you don't need that in office, but with office comes inherent rules which makes it easier to be disciplined (and frustrated at many a times).
It also depends on an individual's core nature.
For me, being introvert, WFH was a normal... But it brings an important side effect, the social circle almost vaporized as its difficult to make new friends, go out..., With office the social connect came with the job description (even when you didn't want to)...
I have started joining few hobby groups as we are still hybrid workplace.
Thanks or the great articles! It does help to interact with others and not being stuck just between the 4 walls. I have also tried, but honestly, I could arrange maybe 2-3 times some meeting with friend in the last half year... :S
Great piece, Viktoria! I appreciate your transparency in sharing the darker side of remote work that often gets glossed over. I, too, have experienced some of these challenges but have found a few strategies that really help.
One very good solution to combat loneliness is pair programming. It's a technique where two programmers work together at one workstation (we do it over Zoom) with one writing the code (the driver) and the other reviewing each line of code as it's written (the observer). This provides a sense of camaraderie and shared responsibility. It also offers the opportunity for real-time interaction, feedback, and discussion, which can feel similar to a face-to-face interaction in an office setting. It also improves code quality a lot and speeds up the process.
As for the issue of lack of routine and burnout, enforcing consistent breaks is key. I've found using the Alarms & Clock app in Windows to be an excellent tool for this. I schedule alarms to go off every 60 minutes, and we have agreed with each other that we don't postpone or skip these breaks, no matter what. If you're working in a pair programming setup and have agreed with your pair about this, there is not problem enforcing this rule. During breaks you can do excercises (the best option) or dishes or laundry (helps to make your mind go wandering which is good for releasing it from the fixed state it has became stuck during working) or return calls if you need to.
These consistent breaks can be a game-changer. Not only do they eliminate the feeling of being mentally drained by the end of the day, but they also improve productivity and creativity. Our brains are not designed to maintain high levels of focus for extended periods. Breaks give our minds a chance to rest, which actually facilitates 'out of the box' thinking and gives better overall productivity: during breaks, the existing paths between synapses in the brain are broken, and new ones can form more easily. This shift can lead to fresh perspectives and solutions, often helping us get unstuck from a problem we've been dwelling on.
While remote work indeed presents its unique set of challenges, incorporating strategies like pair programming and regular, enforced breaks can greatly enhance the experience and mitigate many of the issues you've highlighted. Thanks for opening up this important discussion. Let's continue to share and learn from each other's experiences.
Pair-programming and scheduled alarms with your PARTNER (so he/she can force you :D ) sounds really a game-changer. First of,our team consists 3 member (1 senior developer, me a junior and a manual tester). Therefore, as I am the only junior in my team, pair programming with my senior developer is not really a option as everyone is busy with their tasks. But it is a great idea, I might suggest this to my team and we will see. :)
I have been pairing exclusively with junior developers since 2009 and 99% of that time remotely. First with Skype, then with Teamviewer Meeting and now with Zoom.
Over the years I have many times found that junior developers can bring a fresh perspective to the table. Their unique outlooks have led me to reassess and change the way I approach many tasks. They've shown me innovative, improved ways to do things that I used to do in my own way, not even knowing about the existance of these alternatives.
However, before you dive into pair programming, I recommend reading Tuple's guide on the topic. For instance, silence during a pairing session is a significant red flag, indicating that something might be amiss. Continual conversation is essential. A good starting point is to practice strong-style pair programming, where any idea must always be executed through another person. This approach ensures that there are no situations where one person is coding and the other gradually disengages.
At first glance, pair programming might seem like an inefficient use of time and resources. However, that's far from the truth. The rationale behind this strategy is the same as why there are two pilots in an airplane. The cost of fixing issues after they've caused a system crash post-deployment is significantly higher than catching them during development. A second pair of eyes scrutinizing the code during writing can prevent such mishaps. And the code is more easily maintained afterwards as well, as it will adhere to higher standards because during pairing you feel the urge to do things even more properly than you'd normally care to do.
I can assure you that pairing a senior developer with a junior one is an excellent strategy for rapid onboarding, quick knowledge acquisition, swift skill enhancement, and guaranteed professional growth. And remember, the learning process is not one-sided; it often goes both ways!
Wow that was a great perspective and thank you for your insights (and reading recommendation). Now I have some good points to discuss with management and teammates about this opportunity.
An unexpected bonus of pair programming is also the natural discouragement of distractions: you're less likely to mindlessly click on incoming notifications while in a pairing session. Picture this: you're sharing your screen and suddenly a notification for a new email, Facebook message, or the like pops up. You're not going to open it. In fact, you may even enable 'Do Not Disturb' mode during your pair programming to prevent such notifications from appearing on your shared screen. Furthermore, procrastination becomes a thing of the past as your pair keeps you on the task at hand and productive.
Well said!
Thanks for bringing that up!
I think it's important topic. I've been working for over a year and a half remotely now and I have to agree that mostly I'm simply at home. Lately those four walls became unbearable and I want Sun so much.
Switching to digital nomad vanlife in a month. Gonna see if that helps. :)
Digital van-life sounds like a great way to break the monotony! 🙂 I hope it will help for you 🙂
While working remotely is nice at first is easier to shot yourself on the foot working extra hours. Other than that I think personalities and work culture might help some people like WFH for the same reasons others like the office:
As an introvert I am better alone than with people around.
Some things that have helped me avoid working extra are:
Thanks for your great (and proven 🙂) advice. I will try my best to find out what will work for me.
Hope it helps 🙌🏽
I'm fully remote now and don't think I'd ever want to go back to an office. However if this were earlier in my career, I would have gotten lonely being fully remote. I made many close and wonderful friends from my first jobs that I wouldn't have been able to if I were remote. Especially after graduating from university, it's harder to meet people socially in your city and work can be a great place for those connections.
If the company culture isn't structured to handle remote workers well, that is also an issue. I had a job where only a couple of people were remote due to family situations, and they were forgotten about sometimes. They would accidentally not get invited to meetings and would be disadvantaged when it came to more opportunities.
Remote work requires the company to really dedicate to creating a culture that supports this, and also requires effort from employees. I have to make sure to participate in online social activities to get to know my teammates. I also have to make a clear separation between work and personal time, especially since I use the same room. It works great for me, and I love the extra time not having to commute, but I can understand people who prefer to come in at least part of the time. There is an in-person socializing aspect that is impossible to duplicate in a remote job.
The company itself supports remote (WFH) work, I am not sure that hey have a culture in this though. Or it can be that its just the small team, I am working with, has not been in this situation before. Our team is consist of 3 members (including me) and they always in the office. I can also feel, that some information sometimes arrives to me later (as they can discuss anything anytime from the office).
Yes I think your situation makes it more difficult. Like I said, it's not intentional, but they may "forget" about you sometimes if you're not right there in the discussion. I hope you have weekly stand-ups or other meetings/group messages with your teammates to make sure you get all the information you need.
I started remote work as a "digital nomad" in 2017, traveling around eastern Asia and freelancing, and it actually was a bit like "the expectation" of working on beaches or whatever (never actually brought my laptop to a beach, but could have... it would probably overheat though).
Now I'm a salaried employee working from home in the US. Very, very different two style of remote working. I still like working remotely, but I can emphasize with a lot of what you write. The biggest difficulty for me is the lack of natural boundaries around work. It's hard to shut my mind off from it when I do it in the same physical space as I do my non-work. This wasn't as much of an issue for me back when I freelanced due to having less emotional attachment to the work, having a specific number of hours I'm aiming to hit (maybe I should try setting one despite being salaried), and doing a lot of my work from co-working spaces.
Based on what you wrote, maybe you should look into co-working spaces. Just because you're working remotely doesn't mean you can't have an office full of people to do it with!
That’s nice you could try both ( digital nomad and WFH). It is hard to find boundaries - the opportunity that you can check work related issue even after working hours are dangerous…
Years before the pandemic and everyone carving out a piece of their apartment as a home office, I worked with a wonderful programmer who worked remotely from the Florida keys. She kicked ass. The trick to being a valuable remote worker is to make yourself indispensable and make your presence felt. It's not about sipping coffee and wearing pajamas.
That is really well-said that as a worker, you should aim to be indispensable, whether you work from home or in the office. It is just, there is this misconception that remote work means working from anywhere (home as well) and having chill time.
I completely agree with you the toughest part of the remote job was loneliness I faced tremendous exhaustion and burnout during working and at the end of the day it didn't felt worth it. You constantly question your decision of WFH and if you don't have friends like me it became a mental health issue which unfortunately became panic attacks.
While remote work may seem fun at first, its not as after a few months you start to see the dark side of it. The no routine happened with me too that too I have afternoon shift timings which is worse if I continued to work till 11pm the work remains in my head and after a few times it became insomnia my entire sleep schedule just uprooted because of the weird office schedule.
The only social interaction I had was in a zoom call that's it and most of the time you don't see their faces so its like talking to a stranger. I would suggest that a hybrid work or WFO is way better than WFH but it you have a family then WFH may suit you.
Thanks for sharing - I had the same thing: no friends, working after working hours in late evenings, which led to sleepless nights. I am trying to shift to hybrid or office work and I really hope it will be better :)
Well I think the first step is to make that decision, if you made up your mind things will fall into place