What do you like about remote work?

Interview with Jacob, a site reliability engineer

Working remotely has really opened my eyes to the fact that "work" isn't a separate thing to the rest of your life, and it all needs to be balanced based on what you see as your priority.

As for remote work itself, the freedom and flexibility are the two big things for me. I can work from anywhere that has an internet connection in a setting that helps me focus.

Sometimes I need more distractions to allow more free-flowing thinking, while other times I just need to strap in be distraction free.

It's also a huge win that if I need to run an errand during the day, I can get it done without sacrificing other parts of my day. For example, sprinting to the Post Office 5 minutes before it closes to collect a parcel before they close for the weekend.

Remote work (specifically heavy async communication) has also forced me to slow down and really think about meaningful communication and being as efficient with it as possible. When you're communicating with people in multiple timezones, you lose time going back and forth if you're not succinct and lay everything out properly.

Jacob is a Site Reliability Engineer who believes in asynchronous communication and bullet journaling - learn how he maximizes his daily "deep work" time.

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Interview with Mark, a programmer building bespoke business applications

Having extreme flexibility to schedule day-to-day life interwoven with "traditional" working hours just feels right to me.

Now that my before- and after-work schedule is not dictated by a commute, I've found that I can enrich my social life with more spontaneous events with friends and family.

In terms of the work environment, there is a freedom in not having the "boss over the shoulder" or the "always-talking coworker".

This simple mastery over nearly every detail of your work environment is not only liberating, but thrilling.

For Mark, avoiding distractions and sticking to regular hours are perhaps the hardest parts of being a freelancer - learn his secrets to achieving a good workflow.

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Interview with Rosemary, a digital content marketing manager reveals must-see freelance tips

There are lots of things I like about remote work. Being able to focus on doing work for my clients and myself rather than being stressed out and losing valuable time in life - stuck in traffic, finding parking, and feeding meters to list only a few stress points.

I enjoy learning and enhancing my online remote work-skills because nowadays, learning never stops. That I can do at my desk with the time saved and not wasted travelling etc.

Being part of the freelance community means that I feel flexible and feel I can adapt sooner to a changing world.

Also, in my network of freelancers, I have colleagues who have been able to maintain and indeed build on careers when they in real life have health and mobility challenges. That is inspiring to me because if they were not remote workers, then what?

Finally, remote working is a growing industry with growing opportunities, and more different skill sets are now being sought out remotely.

Rosemary, a digital content marketing manager shares the freelance lessons she has learned over the years—see her tips & exceptional entrepreneurial wisdom.

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Interview with John, a full-stack web developer who works remotely

I love being able to set my own hours, being my own boss, not having to worry about commuting, working comfortably and you know taking meetings in pajamas.

John works remotely while using the latest web development technologies, learn how he works by reading his interview.

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Interview with Mike, a software engineer who works remotely at GitHub

I like the time and location flexibility it affords me and my family. It decouples my preferred employer (currently GitHub) from my preferred location to live (Edinburgh, Scotland).

It forces my employer to judge me on how much I get done rather than how long I'm sitting in a particular chair in a particular office.

I like that I'm more productive working remotely than working in an office; it feels like both my employer and I are getting a better deal.

Mike got started with remote work after getting an offer from his dream organisation. Learn how he works remotely while working on open source projects and publishing books.

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Interview with Adam, a UX engineer building his own consulting company

I love the freedom.

Because my clients cannot see me day-in and day-out, they judge me based on my output and value, and not based on my time in a seat.

Because of that, I don't have a problem taking a long lunch or running errands, because I can always slot in my work time earlier/later in my day.

I'd rather have that flexibility with the shared understanding of high output than simply exist in an office for 8 straight hours just because it "feels" more productive to a manager or executive.

Learn how Adam started working remotely from a cold-email on Hacker News, to how he's using a local co-working space to grow his business.

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Interview with Nikita, an entrepreneur building a website to learn anything

I like the freedom of being able to work from anywhere.

Not being bound by any location and also time is a really great thing. Although it does require discipline to be effective with this freedom.

Nikita is an entrepreneur working on his startup while optimizing his productivity—learn how he organizes his life and work to maximize happiness

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Interview with Scott about working remotely for 20 years

I like that distractions are mostly of my own design.

There’s so much about commuting and office life that you can’t control, right down to someone talking to someone else in the room you’re in.

If I need quiet, I get quiet. If I need socialization, I can go out and make that happen. If I need to go for a walk, run or hike to clear my head, my door is right there.

Probably the best thing, though, is being able to be there for my family. If my kids forgot something at school, it’s not a big deal. Having a dentist appointment doesn’t derail my day, as it takes just a half hour. These are things I don’t have to tell my manager about, since they’re so quick.

Life doesn’t get in the way of remote work; it complements it rather well.

Scott is a designer and developer that's been working remotely since 1998, read his interview to learn how he's been successful

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Interview with Sarah about working remotely from an RV

The thing I love most about remote work is the sense of entrepreneurial spirit behind it.

While I have what some may consider a traditional "9-5" where I do need to show up every day even though I'm remote, there is an underlying sense of self-discipline and self-motivation that you have to develop in order to be a successful remote employee.

I've learned a lot about my own work habits whether I'm building my own business or working for someone else and I think this is largely due to my experience working remotely.

Of course, the big plus of remote work is the flexibility to work when I know I'm most productive which allows me to not only get more work done, but to be able to achieve a work/life balance like I've never had.

Sarah is a digital marketing manager who travels the United States with her partner and two dogs while working remotely in her RV.

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Interview with Alexandra, a freelance fashion designer building her own brand

I finally learnt how to manage myself and be my own boss and I really enjoy the freedom of being a freelancer.

I can choose the days I want to be off, I don’t really follow the regular timetable, Monday – Friday.

Luckily, I arrived to, the point where I can select the projects I want to work on and I always learn new things, since the projects are so different sometimes.

Alexandra is a freelance fashion designer who works remotely while traveling and building her own brand.

Read full interview from Interview with Alexandra, a freelance fashion designer building her own brand.