What it’s really like to work remotely

As lovely as rolling out of bed and into your desk chair might sound, remote work does have some downsides. Working in your home can be distracting (think your roommate’s loud sales calls or your cat constantly walking across the keyboard). It’s also easy to get sucked into doing just one load of laundry when you know your boss isn’t going to walk by and ask you why you haven’t turned that report in yet. Plus, you don’t have colleagues sitting all around you to serve as positive peer pressure to keep working or to provide a sense of camaraderie that keeps you going. So hiring managers will want some assurance that you’ve got a grasp on how to push through the inherent distractions and distance of remote work.

When I started working remotely for Khan Academy, I rented an office at WeWork. It ticked a bunch of boxes, but ultimately work from home experience it wasn’t the right fit. It was also kinda dreary—they keep their lights dim, so there’s a perpetual 7pm vibe.

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Slack gives me license to talk to people more often, not less. Most remote-friendly companies will have a policy that every meeting room is equipped with video-conferencing software, and every meeting has a Google Hangout or Zoom session created for it. This way, remote folks can join any meeting added to the calendar without meeting organizers having to do anything special.

• It’s covered in paperwork on the one side and a mass of USB cabling, backup drives and headsets on the other side.
• Working remotely means that sometimes you’re going to feel a bit…remote.
• I was worried I’d accidentally erase all the progress I’d made on the task that day.
• Maybe you like to put up the “do not disturb” sign and get really deep into your work, turning off all push notifications until the task is complete.
• Choose a normal job, with normal working hours, enjoy that you don’t have to commute to work, do your tasks, take a few breaks, eat lunch and finish at a specific time.
• I remember when I was about a year into my career, I was working at a local startup and I had gotten myself into a big mess with Git.

After a while, you start missing people around you, people who are doing similar tasks, who share the same mindset. Just people with whom you can joke around and relieve the pressure of your chest. Being present is a not same by using the different communicating platforms with your teammates.

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Be honest about your passion and hobbies, even if you think they’re unusual. Remote work does help with a better work-life balance for most. However, things like not being able to disconnect after working hours because of the virtual nature of the work can become problematic for some.

I have a massive 32 inch Samsung display at my cowork space that I favor over my Apple cinema display at home. I also just got a Jarvis standing desk that allows me to switch between standing and sitting throughout the day. With vetted job listings, helpful articles, and a user-friendly dashboard that keeps you organized, FlexJobs became a powerful tool. Obviously, when you work from home, you’re not around as many people in contrast to working in an office setting.

How do you keep you manage your time, prioritize, and stay organized?

Ultimately, I am more productive when working from home than when commuting to an office and wasting time stuck in traffic. Think about how working from home improves your job performance. For example, working from home might help you be more efficient because there are fewer distractions from colleagues or long, drawn-out meetings to attend. Or, working from home might allow you to have a better work-life balance, which helps you be more productive because you’re happier and look forward to completing assignments.

• It may provide some comfort that you won’t struggle with working from home if you’ve done it before.
• View some examples in this video highlighting what life is like for remote workers at Dell.
• For example, an effective member of a distributed team needs advanced skills in communication, self-discipline, time management, organization, remote agile development and more.
• When it comes to your health, working from home can be a challenge.
• When I’m taking calls or doing Google Hangouts with my team, I have a comfy armchair in the corner of the spare room.
• Even if you’ve never worked at home before, you’ve probably worked with co-workers and clients that live somewhere else.
• I own a self-build standing desk with a MacBook Pro in top as well as an external monitor.

If there are multiple tasks, it’s best to prioritize the most important ones first and taper to the least important ones during your workday. If you don’t have a home office setup yet, you can let the interviewer know that you’re planning to set it up soon. Don’t let them think like you’re okay merging your personal and professional life. Whatever reason you give for taking up a remote job, it needs to have weightage and has to be valid. Refrain from anything that makes remote work sound like it’s easy, and you’re taking it up for the sake of running personal errands.