4 ms·

I left the bay area in 2013 when my third kid was born. I'm about 110 miles north now. I expected that as I withdrew from long office hours, replacing it with

I left the bay area in 2013 when my third kid was born. I'm about 110 miles north now. I expected that as I withdrew from long office hours, replacing it with remote work, my income stagnate (or go down). The opposite happened - my income has actually gone up steadily. Towards the point of this topic - I have been able to spend a lot of time with my kids. We walk (or bike) to and from school, I coach sports, and I'm able to see all of the recitals, performances, and various events. My kids are age 12, 7, and 5 for those wondering. I do work quite a bit, but the work is performed at odd hours, and not during prime family hours. It helps to find companies that is geared towards projects and your performance over the long or medium term, rather than people who want to see butts-in-chairs when they are at the office. I encourage everyone to try to replace their commutes with more time with loved ones. Move your working hours around, if at all possible.

ktross 8y ago
I’m a newly single parent, and I’ve been considering my options in regards to remote work. Are you employed full time by a single company or do you find freelance work? The challenge and time investment of finding new clients constantly has me leaning away from freelancing. I haven’t yet been able to find a full time position that’s flexible enough (results based) though.
- liveoneggs 8y ago
  I have a "regular" (9-5) remote job and a wife who works full time. Working from home has been very helpful for childcare activities. I pick up my kids at 2-3 pm and then get a babysitter for the afternoons while I am still working until 5ish. This ends up being, basically, just a late lunch. If things go south with my babysitter the kids can play or watch tv while I finish up the day and it's not a big deal to occasionally do. I would try to get a stable/full-time job at a family friendly company, but that's just me all the time. Health care is expensive.
- NDizzle 8y ago
  A little of both. I do the minimum number of full time hours to get insurance benefits, and then I have a part time job at another tech company. Both of those things are very rare. It took me some time to work things out between the two entities. I did have some time to work on pet projects and freelance-style (usually free) projects prior to the kids starting sports.
nerdwaller 8y ago
I can’t agree with this more, I’m so thankful that I get time with my wife and son at lunch daily. When he starts school in the fall I’ll have the ability to take him in and/or get him for a special treat for us both. Without a flexible job where I can shift my hours this wouldn’t be as doable. As a consequence, if one views it that way, is I give up some evening time from mediocre TV to wrap up an hour or so of work - in order to not feel like I allocate time poorly from formal work (which I don’t). My dad passed away when I was 5, and I have very few memories (sadly more negative ones than positive due to a battle with cancer). So for me the ability to do as much with my family as the work/life balance allows before the inevitable is highly valuable hoping to tip that scale in the positive direction for my family.
eitally 8y ago
+1 My wife works 5am-1:30pm so I do the morning routine for our three kids (1, 7, & 9). I work 9am-4pm and am home by 5pm. It's family time -- dinner, sports practice, homework, chores, fun -- until the kids get to bed around 8pm. After that, I'll finish tidying up for the night, make lunches for the next day, and settle in for another 1-2hr of work a few nights/wk. This schedule affords us the ability to be with our children nearly the entire time they're not in school, and is definitely worth the tradeoffs we made to facilitate it, considering the obvious alternative would be for one of us to quit their job (which not only has an opportunity cost but would also likely reduce the time the other partner had with the kids).
CalRobert 8y ago
I have a ten month old and start a new remote job next week (with a pay raise, which surprised me). I'm leaving a job I like, but which is stressful, for it. Thanks for sharing your story, it assuages my substantial nervousness about entering the unknown.

ktross 8y ago

I’m a newly single parent, and I’ve been considering my options in regards to remote work. Are you employed full time by a single company or do you find freelance work? The challenge and time investment of finding new clients constantly has me leaning away from freelancing. I haven’t yet been able to find a full time position that’s flexible enough (results based) though.

liveoneggs 8y ago
I have a "regular" (9-5) remote job and a wife who works full time. Working from home has been very helpful for childcare activities. I pick up my kids at 2-3 pm and then get a babysitter for the afternoons while I am still working until 5ish. This ends up being, basically, just a late lunch. If things go south with my babysitter the kids can play or watch tv while I finish up the day and it's not a big deal to occasionally do. I would try to get a stable/full-time job at a family friendly company, but that's just me all the time. Health care is expensive.
NDizzle 8y ago
A little of both. I do the minimum number of full time hours to get insurance benefits, and then I have a part time job at another tech company. Both of those things are very rare. It took me some time to work things out between the two entities. I did have some time to work on pet projects and freelance-style (usually free) projects prior to the kids starting sports.

nerdwaller 8y ago

I can’t agree with this more, I’m so thankful that I get time with my wife and son at lunch daily. When he starts school in the fall I’ll have the ability to take him in and/or get him for a special treat for us both. Without a flexible job where I can shift my hours this wouldn’t be as doable. As a consequence, if one views it that way, is I give up some evening time from mediocre TV to wrap up an hour or so of work - in order to not feel like I allocate time poorly from formal work (which I don’t). My dad passed away when I was 5, and I have very few memories (sadly more negative ones than positive due to a battle with cancer). So for me the ability to do as much with my family as the work/life balance allows before the inevitable is highly valuable hoping to tip that scale in the positive direction for my family.

eitally 8y ago

+1 My wife works 5am-1:30pm so I do the morning routine for our three kids (1, 7, & 9). I work 9am-4pm and am home by 5pm. It's family time -- dinner, sports practice, homework, chores, fun -- until the kids get to bed around 8pm. After that, I'll finish tidying up for the night, make lunches for the next day, and settle in for another 1-2hr of work a few nights/wk. This schedule affords us the ability to be with our children nearly the entire time they're not in school, and is definitely worth the tradeoffs we made to facilitate it, considering the obvious alternative would be for one of us to quit their job (which not only has an opportunity cost but would also likely reduce the time the other partner had with the kids).

CalRobert 8y ago

I have a ten month old and start a new remote job next week (with a pay raise, which surprised me). I'm leaving a job I like, but which is stressful, for it. Thanks for sharing your story, it assuages my substantial nervousness about entering the unknown.