My main advice if you want to work remotely and you have those kinds of issues is to stick to the timezone of the company you are working for. I've done pair p

My main advice if you want to work remotely and you have those kinds of issues is to stick to the timezone of the company you are working for. I've done pair programming effectively remotely for long periods of time. I actually enjoy doing it remotely better (more control over your environment, more comfort, etc). As long as the team is open to interaction and has a mechanism for doing it, there is no problem. If you get too far out of the timezone, though, it is really difficult to organise overlapping sessions (I'm currently +9 with my team mates and it means I almost never have a "normal" working day). Confidence is also quite important IMHO. It's easy to start doubting your ability when you have nobody else to compare to. If you have a bad day (as everyone does from time to time) and end up getting nothing done, you need to be OK with that. If you run and hide, it can pile up on you. One thing you might try is to convince your current employer to try doing 1 day a week remote. This will let you get your feet wet without a lot of risk. If you have problems, you're back at the office the next day. My current employer did that and it worked so well that most people are free to work in the office or not as they choose from day to day. There are many people who now work permanently remotely as well.