How to Survive the Hardships of Remote Work
When I tell people that I work from home, they are often jealous. I worked in the office for many years and I understood. But there are some things about telecommuting that really suck.
Of course, telecommuting has several nice and pleasant benefits, which I’ll summarize here: no commuting, flexible meal times, acceptable pajamas, fewer eyes staring at you, and a private toilet (excluding roommates).
But I didn’t necessarily choose this life for myself; for many professions related to the computer, especially for a freelancer, going to the office is not even an option. And there are positive aspects in office work that are simply not available to remote workers. In his Twitter thread on the pros and cons of both systems, editorial director Sean Blanda summed it up rather succinctly that you wouldn’t get any bad work from home if you never did it on a regular basis.
Find opportunities to chat
Blanda comments that in real life, small talk is often discouraged when people are working. But if you’re in the office, small talk happens anyway: there are lunch breaks and other opportunities to chat with each other. This is why the phrase “talking about water coolers” exists – people want to know who they are working with! This is tricky when you are not actually a water cooler.
To cope with the feeling of being excluded from the key time to get to know you, I often found myself chatting a lot on Slack. This can be frustrating for your boss, but other people working remotely will usually be happy to answer. Relying on the communication system you use at work is a good solution to this feeling of disconnectedness. Set up smaller private chats to avoid cluttering your main channel. I was at Slacks where people could talk about everything from beauty products to Riverdale .
Feel free to be curious
When you are working remotely and not in a leadership position, it can be difficult to stay on top of what other people are working on. You don’t have the clues and context that you can glean from being in the office with your coworkers. As Blanda says, you are often not involved in casual meetings or brainstorming sessions. So what needs to be done? Be curious, damn it!
Ask what is going on – either a trusted colleague or your boss. It’s not crazy to ask for updates or face-to-face conversations to keep up with any news. And, as Blanda says, hiding the chatting channels can help you get more information about what exactly you should be asking about.
Be your own cheerleader
I’ve worked in a lot of places where I haven’t heard from anyone except when I screwed up. We are not children and should be able to work without being constantly poisoned by our superiors. It’s just that when you work remotely, you also don’t have friendly meetings with your boss, you don’t get an impromptu “good job” every once in a while, and when you receive a complaint, it is in text form. This can make it difficult to read the tone and easy to believe that your boss hates you. This is bad for morale.
It can also hurt your chances when the time comes for promotions and promotions, due to the out-of-sight / out-of-sight dynamics. One way to help is to actively track your accomplishments, whatever they may be. That way, you will understand why you deserve the same seriousness as your colleagues in the office, and you will be able to defend your interests. It also makes sense to ask your leaders for feedback from time to time. You don’t want to be inconvenient, but checking regularly is a good way to make sure you are on the right track and will be remembered.
Know when your working day is over
When you work from home, the line between work and family life becomes blurry. This is especially true if you work in different time zones; Blanda says it’s “easy to feel low stress” when you’re not looking at email or Slack because it makes you feel “missing out.” I also often find myself working on things outside of office hours, which makes it seem like the day is not over.
Make sure you set boundaries for yourself and clearly set the “end of the day” moment. I like to walk around the block and then make myself a cup of coffee with my computer closed. If you have a boss who usually tells you that you’re on duty, start responding by thanking him and saying that you’ll look at him “tomorrow” or when normal business hours begin.
Reach out to other people
Working remotely can be lonely as hell. Some people don’t like communication very much, so this is ideal for them. For me, working all day from home can really upset me if I don’t force myself to go out and talk to another person. Make sure you make time with friends, attend group classes, explore a hobby with a social dimension, or join a workspace so you have somewhere to go to work away from the bedroom. There is no reason to become a hermit just because you work where you sleep.
Of course, after an hour on the train during rush hour, never seeing another person again probably sounds good.