I've been working remotely since 2012 and I agree with most of your points. Remote work is a lot to manage. As they say: with great power comes great responsibility; and that is awfully true with remote work. I remember getting out of the honeymoon phase when I first started working remotely. I felt the loneliness, the boredom, the lack of motivation; I didn't realize the discipline remote work actually requires. Not just to be productive at work, but to be OK with yourself. The boundaries you're used to, both space and time, aren't there by default, YOU need to set them.
Boundries. This is a keyword here. For there was none when I first started work from home sometimes and found myself work...to much hours("just ONE more thing...").
Great article ! I'm in my first year of fully remote working (outside of COVID) and i relate to all of your points.
For the isolation part, i go to a coworking space (part time only), which means i get to socialise. However, i've noticed i'm more efficient / focused at home, and can achieve more in less time. So when i have to answer email, and do small tasks, i go to the cowork. If i have to do deep work / analysis, i stay home, and go for runs / coffee / lunch with friends to break my day.
Oh, co-working is very good idea to be with people! Years ago(around 2016) - I read a great article from Buffer(which is remote comapny) -> it was about switching places in a day: 3 times. I tried it: worked from home, restaurant and office -> it's really great and creativity thrives, but...switch time was too much for me. SO I dropped it then. But maybe...once a week, different scenario might be a good one!
Very robust post with loads of precious information. I have been working remotely for the past few years now and you touched on all the important factors which I too have encountered.
I remember that during Covid when I first started working from home I would keep my daily routine the same: wake up at 5.30, light training (instead of commute), wash, dress for work and sit to work at 6.00 and at 14.00 I would undress and change clothes to my sweatpants. I did it intuitively but later realized that this was one of the key factors for my brain to be able to understand the context switch. Today I have a whole new routine but that context switch was the backbone of my performance and later on the true ability to work from home without burnout.
Thanks for that post, it’s very important to know those things :)
I can relate to improtance of routines here so much! But in my case...it took me sometime to figure it out how important it is to mantain them. I was struggling for a bit.
I think the key thing is to use this extra time wisly. Training is a very good one!
Exactly, with remote work you get some extra time back, so the argument of „I have no time to <insert something meaningful>” is a bit invalid. Really worth thinking how to spend it like you said.
Good insight 😌 Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
Yes, please do :)
I've been working remotely since 2012 and I agree with most of your points. Remote work is a lot to manage. As they say: with great power comes great responsibility; and that is awfully true with remote work. I remember getting out of the honeymoon phase when I first started working remotely. I felt the loneliness, the boredom, the lack of motivation; I didn't realize the discipline remote work actually requires. Not just to be productive at work, but to be OK with yourself. The boundaries you're used to, both space and time, aren't there by default, YOU need to set them.
Boundries. This is a keyword here. For there was none when I first started work from home sometimes and found myself work...to much hours("just ONE more thing...").
Great article ! I'm in my first year of fully remote working (outside of COVID) and i relate to all of your points.
For the isolation part, i go to a coworking space (part time only), which means i get to socialise. However, i've noticed i'm more efficient / focused at home, and can achieve more in less time. So when i have to answer email, and do small tasks, i go to the cowork. If i have to do deep work / analysis, i stay home, and go for runs / coffee / lunch with friends to break my day.
Oh, co-working is very good idea to be with people! Years ago(around 2016) - I read a great article from Buffer(which is remote comapny) -> it was about switching places in a day: 3 times. I tried it: worked from home, restaurant and office -> it's really great and creativity thrives, but...switch time was too much for me. SO I dropped it then. But maybe...once a week, different scenario might be a good one!
Very robust post with loads of precious information. I have been working remotely for the past few years now and you touched on all the important factors which I too have encountered.
I remember that during Covid when I first started working from home I would keep my daily routine the same: wake up at 5.30, light training (instead of commute), wash, dress for work and sit to work at 6.00 and at 14.00 I would undress and change clothes to my sweatpants. I did it intuitively but later realized that this was one of the key factors for my brain to be able to understand the context switch. Today I have a whole new routine but that context switch was the backbone of my performance and later on the true ability to work from home without burnout.
Thanks for that post, it’s very important to know those things :)
I can relate to improtance of routines here so much! But in my case...it took me sometime to figure it out how important it is to mantain them. I was struggling for a bit.
I think the key thing is to use this extra time wisly. Training is a very good one!
Exactly, with remote work you get some extra time back, so the argument of „I have no time to <insert something meaningful>” is a bit invalid. Really worth thinking how to spend it like you said.