What do you not like about remote work?
Interview with Dane, a freelance writer and author with 7 published books
When I left my old job to go full-time freelance, I used to joke with people that I was trading all of my colleagues for a single cat – and that the cat would be more useful to have around. I’d heard a lot of people talking about how freelancing can get lonely but I’d never paid too much attention because I like my own company anyway and tend to get more done when I’m alone because I’m not being stopped every five minutes and asked for favours.
Still, perhaps I should have listened some more because it does get lonely sometimes and it also means that I spend a lot of time indoors. I often go a few days without going outside, and most of the time I don’t even realize it.
I’m also not particularly happy with my current living situation, but I’m trapped in a contract here until March and so I’m pretty much making the best of a bad job until we can move out to somewhere with a little more space. And hopefully a garden so that at least I can take my laptop and go and work outside.
Maintaining a work/life balance isn’t easy either, although it’s something that I’m working on and getting better at. But despite the cons, I don’t think I could go back to working for someone else because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and I value the freedom that remote work gives to me.
Dane is a freelance writer and author who works remotely, and balances client work with writing his own books.
Read full interview from Interview with Dane, a freelance writer and author with 7 published books.
Interview with Patric, a UX designer and usability engineer that works from home
Not having multiple colleagues around to just fool around or have a chat about random things...
Having to sit in front of the computer all the time and mostly not being able to "walk through the meeting room while drawing on a whiteboard and discussing stuff"
Not being able to gauge the actual emotional state of my colleagues / team members / employees when I talk to them or write emails back and forth.
Sometimes a 10 minute face-to-face meeting would be 10x as productive as having to set up a call, video-sharing, explaining, etc.
Patric works on his own projects while also consulting for medium sized software companies, learn how he works remotely.
Read full interview from Interview with Patric, a UX designer and usability engineer that works from home.
Interview with Melissa, a co-founder and remote work champion
I have the same answer. The flip side of the above is that sometimes I have a hard time taking breaks because there’s so little distraction when you can totally control your surroundings.
I think five-minute breaks every hour are important to stay energized and also healthy (get water, get out of PJs, go to the bathroom, stretch).
Sometimes it will be noon, and I haven’t moved from one position, hunched over my computer.
Working in an office sometimes forces you to get up and move around and engage with others.
Melissa started Work Well Wherever to help individuals & companies embrace remote work—see how she balances entrepreneurship, parenthood, & self-care.
Read full interview from Interview with Melissa, a co-founder and remote work champion.
Interview with Tyler, a director of customer success models how to start a remote work career
I still feel like I'm in a honeymoon period with it; check back with me in another 18 months? The only frustrations I've felt so far are mostly unrelated to remote as a mode of business.
From networking to land a remote work gig, to building out an exceptional remote work tool stack, Tyler has quickly figured out how to thrive in remote work. See his tips for starting strong.
Read full interview from Interview with Tyler, a director of customer success models how to start a remote work career.
Interview with Vivek, an entrepreneur building a virtual office for remote teams
Social isolation has been the most challenging aspect of remote work. As much as I hate the dynamics of office culture, working remotely made me realize how much I missed the passive social contact that you get in an office. Human contact is critical for work fulfillment.
I work around the isolation by using Pragli to stay present with my team and replicate the impromptu conversations that happen naturally in offices. But, developing relationships outside of virtual settings has been the most important for me to prevent loneliness.
Being diligent about scheduling time to hang out with friends 2 to 3 times throughout the week has been great for my mental health.
The long San Francisco commute sent Vivek into remote work—hear about his three strategies for eliminating distractions & his must-have tools.
Read full interview from Interview with Vivek, an entrepreneur building a virtual office for remote teams.
Interview with Michelle, an organizer of digital nomad experiences
It is challenging to deal with the fact that people come and go. I am quite social and mostly work in coworking spaces, but people travel, so it is hard to really get to know people.
A solo backpacking trip led to Michelle organizing co-travel experiences for digital nomads—hear how she manages working while traveling.
Read full interview from Interview with Michelle, an organizer of digital nomad experiences.
Interview with Taylor, a marketing director and intentional digital nomad
It can be isolating and lonely if I'm not intentional about building my community.
In-person community takes a lot more effort than it used to because it doesn't just happen naturally.
I do not default into a community because I have to build and nurture my own. That actually makes for a more meaningful community, but it takes a lot of work. It can be exhausting.
Taylor shares how co-working spaces, digital nomadism, and work flexibility gave her the work environment she always wanted.
Read full interview from Interview with Taylor, a marketing director and intentional digital nomad.
Interview with Kay, an independent software consultant who found freedom in remote work
Nothing much. The only annoyances are people I have to work with, who don't like remote work. They bother me with phone calls or synchronous communication in general and find strange reasons, why I should be "in office" right now.
Often this boils down that the management is bad and don't takes time to setup some processes.
Companies that rely on water-cooler-talk to spread critical information are the worst.
Learn how Kay made the jump from full-time employee to full-time remote consultant
Read full interview from Interview with Kay, an independent software consultant who found freedom in remote work.
Interview with Pilar, director of Virtual Not Distant
I don't like that it is getting a little bit too busy online. It's that you end up looking at a screen for too long, and all the work happens in once place, which is behind the screen, whether I am talking to someone, writing or podcasting, I seem to spend my time looking at a screen which is not great for the eyes.
Hear about Pilar's flexible approach to managing Virtual Not Distant and the career-changing advice she received from a friend.
Read full interview from Interview with Pilar, director of Virtual Not Distant .
Interview with Michael about being an entrepreneur and freelancer
There isn't much I don't like about remote work.
Sometimes I have to force myself to stop working because I can get very involved and feel like there is always something to be done. Occasionally it would be nice to work with like-minded people and have been making a much better effort to network with others.
I would say is that not everyone is cut out for a remote working job. It takes a lot of discipline and drive to make it happen. It could be easy to get lonely as you are largely isolated and might not fit everyone's lifestyle.
Michael is an online entrepreneur, author, and freelance writer who specializes in self-improvement and personal finance.
Read full interview from Interview with Michael about being an entrepreneur and freelancer.