5 ms·

I've been working remotely on and off for 20 years, and consistently for the last 10 years. A few suggestions: - Choose to not make every day the same. You're

by Blahah 4y ago

I've been working remotely on and off for 20 years, and consistently for the last 10 years. A few suggestions: - Choose to not make every day the same. You're free! Once or twice a week, take a train or bus to a different place for the day, somewhere with good cell signal. Work from a national park, or a beach, a café, pub, museum, library, take a river cruise... whatever. There's nowhere in the world that has nothing to offer. Just get into the habit of picking somewhere different than home and going there to work for a day. In your breaks and before/after working, explore, relax... Just enjoy yourself somehow. - Be deliberate about arranging calls with coworkers, friends, family. Just hang out on a call. Go for a walk while you take these calls, or do something other than sit in a chair. - If you don't already have hobbies, you want to discover some that you enjoy. Do something that creates nice memories with your spare time, and that isn't the same as your work, or just relaxing. Once you've got one or more hobbies, if you're missing social interaction, find a (local/regional/national/International) group, meet up, society or some other form of community. Join it and participate. In person, online, maybe travel to go to events related to it. You'll quickly find your people this way. There are friends and partners out there for everyone. - if you're not happy with where you live... move! It might not seem possible, but it is. Whatever the hurdles, you can get over them. Remote work is freedom to choose your environment. Choose it.

dbwjxufh7373 4y ago
Getting a dog and a bunch of hobbies was huge for me too. Need to get out of your headspace and ideally out of the office.
tjr225 4y ago
> Remote work is freedom to choose your environment. Choose it. Sort of. First your employer needs to approve of where you’re going to live assuming it is out of state or country. There are a variety of legal and tax implications. The first remote company I worked for had a list of approved states, for instance. I assume this is common.
- mechanical_bear 4y ago
  Employer doesn’t have to approve shit. They probably won’t even know, I’ll leave my address the same as what it is, and just forward my mail. It isn’t really their business.
  - tjr225 4y ago
    > It isn’t really their business. State governments that collect income taxes beg to differ. Heck, your employer probably disagrees with you too! Heck, even federal governments that are collecting taxes beg to differ. Good for you if you can keep the secret though, it’s probably illegal in one way or another.
- xdfgh1112 4y ago
  My contact specifies my place of work as "anywhere with an internet connection"
  - tjr225 4y ago
    Yep, this is one reason to specifically seek out contract work.
Sparkle-san 4y ago
> Be deliberate about arranging calls with coworkers, friends, family. Just hang out on a call. Go for a walk while you take these calls, or do something other than sit in a chair. I'll second this. I started a new remote job recently where we're encouraged to regularly schedule virtual coffee time with coworkers where we don't talk about work. It goes a long way towards fostering relationships.
- felipellrocha 4y ago
  You're telling me your solution is to do the same thing we used to do with forced birthday party celebrations, but more frequently? UGH!
  - barry-cotter 4y ago
    Not everyone is like you and that’s ok. Some people enjoy having connections with other people, even if they’re not best friends.
  - Blahah 4y ago
    Personally I don't really enjoy group or regularly scheduled mandatory hangout calls. What I really enjoy is just pinging someone to say 'hey, free to chat after work?' and then if they are I go for a walk and call them.
dheera 4y ago
> national park I've been trying to keep track of park locations near me that have - restrooms - tables with shade, if shade comes from tree there must not be lots of birds shitting from tree - 4G/5G signal - not hot mid-day It's hard to actually get work done without all of the above. Separately, an EV makes an excellent mobile office. You can use the car's power and air conditioning all day without "idling" an engine. Just pack a lunch, drive to a scenic vista point that has a restroom and cell signal and you're all set.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  I had found a perfect work-from-cafe-outdoors spot Until a bird shit on my head My quest continues
  - AnimalMuppet 4y ago
    At the office, power lines cross the parking lot. Birds like the power lines. I've been hit between the car and the front door. So, the office isn't perfectly safe on this front either.
Karrot_Kream 4y ago
> Choose to not make every day the same. You're free! For us, once we all went remote, the day just started earlier. Whereas we used to start at 10 we begun starting meetings at 8. The assumption being that nobody is commuting, so why not start the day earlier? This also helped accommodate others in non-Pacific Americas timezones. This means you have to jump straight into meetings and each day can't be materially different, unless you make your after work life different. > Be deliberate about arranging calls with coworkers, friends, family. Just hang out on a call. We tried this but it wasn't the same. Eventually, everyone ended up on their phones while on the call and slowly nobody started showing up to social Zooms. Zoom calls are fine for work but just don't allow the same sense of presence that being in the same space in real life would offer. > If you don't already have hobbies, you want to discover some that you enjoy. Do something that creates nice memories with your spare time, and that isn't the same as your work, or just relaxing. But my coworkers and I have so much shared context. We spend 8 hours+ together. It feels like a waste to pretend that we just don't have anything in common despite the time. Don't get me wrong I love how easy it is to start my day and how little time is wasted commuting. I love the coffee I make at home and I love being able to eat my home cooking or talk with my partner over lunch. Being able to use my home bathroom is majestic. But there's definitely things lost working remote. Maybe if you're a remote worker at a hybrid or in-office company where expectations around most employees are in the office, the above works, but at a full remote company I'm not so sure.
- bigDinosaur 4y ago
  Honestly, how can you all be so unwilling to push back that you tolerate starting at 8 instead of 10 because the commute vanished? I'd walk if the longer day was enforced rigidly (e.g. by constant monitoring or meetings).
  - Karrot_Kream 4y ago
    Because it's easier on the non-Pacific time folks. Instead of Eastern time folks starting at 1300, they start at 1100. It also helps coworkers who want to move to other parts of the US, at the expense of those of us still in Pacific timezones. This way Eastern time folks can sign off at 1900 instead of 2100, which makes it easier for us to work synchronously if needed across the US. Before we went all remote we tended to hire in the same time zone but now we hire across the US. Pacific time workers have to take the early bird hit. If we operated the same as before then we'd have extra morning time, but going remote means we now hire many more coworker in other timezones. It's a double edged sword. We do also tend to end earlier. I don't care because I'm a night owl, but early bird coworkers seem to enjoy the extra time. And yes I've considered walking but haven't yet because I'm not so sure it's that different in other companies I'm interested in at my level.

by Blahah 4y ago

dbwjxufh7373 4y ago

Getting a dog and a bunch of hobbies was huge for me too. Need to get out of your headspace and ideally out of the office.

tjr225 4y ago

> Remote work is freedom to choose your environment. Choose it. Sort of. First your employer needs to approve of where you’re going to live assuming it is out of state or country. There are a variety of legal and tax implications. The first remote company I worked for had a list of approved states, for instance. I assume this is common.

mechanical_bear 4y ago
Employer doesn’t have to approve shit. They probably won’t even know, I’ll leave my address the same as what it is, and just forward my mail. It isn’t really their business.
- tjr225 4y ago
  > It isn’t really their business. State governments that collect income taxes beg to differ. Heck, your employer probably disagrees with you too! Heck, even federal governments that are collecting taxes beg to differ. Good for you if you can keep the secret though, it’s probably illegal in one way or another.
xdfgh1112 4y ago
My contact specifies my place of work as "anywhere with an internet connection"
- tjr225 4y ago
  Yep, this is one reason to specifically seek out contract work.

Sparkle-san 4y ago

> Be deliberate about arranging calls with coworkers, friends, family. Just hang out on a call. Go for a walk while you take these calls, or do something other than sit in a chair. I'll second this. I started a new remote job recently where we're encouraged to regularly schedule virtual coffee time with coworkers where we don't talk about work. It goes a long way towards fostering relationships.

felipellrocha 4y ago
You're telling me your solution is to do the same thing we used to do with forced birthday party celebrations, but more frequently? UGH!
- barry-cotter 4y ago
  Not everyone is like you and that’s ok. Some people enjoy having connections with other people, even if they’re not best friends.
- Blahah 4y ago
  Personally I don't really enjoy group or regularly scheduled mandatory hangout calls. What I really enjoy is just pinging someone to say 'hey, free to chat after work?' and then if they are I go for a walk and call them.

dheera 4y ago

> national park I've been trying to keep track of park locations near me that have - restrooms - tables with shade, if shade comes from tree there must not be lots of birds shitting from tree - 4G/5G signal - not hot mid-day It's hard to actually get work done without all of the above. Separately, an EV makes an excellent mobile office. You can use the car's power and air conditioning all day without "idling" an engine. Just pack a lunch, drive to a scenic vista point that has a restroom and cell signal and you're all set.

bee_rider 4y ago
I had found a perfect work-from-cafe-outdoors spot Until a bird shit on my head My quest continues
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  At the office, power lines cross the parking lot. Birds like the power lines. I've been hit between the car and the front door. So, the office isn't perfectly safe on this front either.

Karrot_Kream 4y ago

> Choose to not make every day the same. You're free! For us, once we all went remote, the day just started earlier. Whereas we used to start at 10 we begun starting meetings at 8. The assumption being that nobody is commuting, so why not start the day earlier? This also helped accommodate others in non-Pacific Americas timezones. This means you have to jump straight into meetings and each day can't be materially different, unless you make your after work life different. > Be deliberate about arranging calls with coworkers, friends, family. Just hang out on a call. We tried this but it wasn't the same. Eventually, everyone ended up on their phones while on the call and slowly nobody started showing up to social Zooms. Zoom calls are fine for work but just don't allow the same sense of presence that being in the same space in real life would offer. > If you don't already have hobbies, you want to discover some that you enjoy. Do something that creates nice memories with your spare time, and that isn't the same as your work, or just relaxing. But my coworkers and I have so much shared context. We spend 8 hours+ together. It feels like a waste to pretend that we just don't have anything in common despite the time. Don't get me wrong I love how easy it is to start my day and how little time is wasted commuting. I love the coffee I make at home and I love being able to eat my home cooking or talk with my partner over lunch. Being able to use my home bathroom is majestic. But there's definitely things lost working remote. Maybe if you're a remote worker at a hybrid or in-office company where expectations around most employees are in the office, the above works, but at a full remote company I'm not so sure.

bigDinosaur 4y ago
Honestly, how can you all be so unwilling to push back that you tolerate starting at 8 instead of 10 because the commute vanished? I'd walk if the longer day was enforced rigidly (e.g. by constant monitoring or meetings).
- Karrot_Kream 4y ago
  Because it's easier on the non-Pacific time folks. Instead of Eastern time folks starting at 1300, they start at 1100. It also helps coworkers who want to move to other parts of the US, at the expense of those of us still in Pacific timezones. This way Eastern time folks can sign off at 1900 instead of 2100, which makes it easier for us to work synchronously if needed across the US. Before we went all remote we tended to hire in the same time zone but now we hire across the US. Pacific time workers have to take the early bird hit. If we operated the same as before then we'd have extra morning time, but going remote means we now hire many more coworker in other timezones. It's a double edged sword. We do also tend to end earlier. I don't care because I'm a night owl, but early bird coworkers seem to enjoy the extra time. And yes I've considered walking but haven't yet because I'm not so sure it's that different in other companies I'm interested in at my level.