I had mixed feelings working as remote web developer couple years ago; I was both motivated and bored at the same time. Are you currently working remotely or considering doing that? Let’s dig deep into its pros and cons to see if it is a good fit for you.
A flexible schedule is the biggest benefit to remote work.
A decade ago, it was almost impossible to find a remote job because the tech infrastructure wasn’t mature enough to streamline working flow.
Two years ago I was sitting on my couch coding like crazy for clients from Europe, the experience was awesome, I had maximum freedom on time and space, the payment process was flawless, the compensation was over satisfied compared to tech market in my country.
More of my friends are quitting office jobs to work remotely fulltime. There are tons of sites posting remote jobs out there like remote.co, remoteok.io or weworkremotely.com.
Working remotely as a digital nomad has become a trend recently. This was made possible by today’s emerging tech and inclusive culture; some companies have fully remote teams, while other companies allow their employees work remotely once a week. This trend is only expected to grow.
Before, most remote workers belonged to technical or marketing industries. Solutions for remote working are becoming more powerful, and expectations are changing. These help remote working become a reality for more industries.
Remote work has been challenging to implement in some industries, such as training, architecture, science, library, and social services. The future is likely to bring increased opportunities for these sectors.
Have you ever felt jealous seeing your friends on Instagram working and playing in Bali, Bangkok and many cool cities here?
The digital nomad lifestyle has become so tempting and made possible in combination with remote working or indie making. I can be an exceptional experience you’ll never forget.
This lifestyle may come with some stumbling blocks like inability to concentrate, sleep and insomnia, not enough working hours, cultural differences, financial shortage or loneliness.
But don’t worry too much about those difficulties, I can guarantee you that the experience outweighs everything else. With a little bit of foresight, planning, and consistency, you can give yourself the best chances for sustained success in the location independent lifestyle and ensure a long future of freedom.
Flexible schedule — Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Yes it’s the ultimate goal people looking life. How awesome it is to work whenever you want, wherever you want, whatever you want and no one is observing you.
Working from any location — No more stressful commutes and time-wasted office activities. Most of the time you devote your time on working and working, you can achieve very high productivity in short amount of time.
Having time with family — Since you set your own hours, you can devote time to spend with loved ones, friends, family and even pets. You are likely to feel happier and less stressed out knowing that you still manage to spend quality time with them while getting work done.
Income differences from different markets — It’s a huge advantage if you’re living in low-cost countries (less than 1000$ per month) and working for clients from developed countries (income at least 5000$ per month).
Loneliness — You are on yourself, all alone, literally all the time. Loneliness is a major block you must overcome from day one. Learning how to cope with loneliness is something you must prepare before applying remote jobs.
Unplugging from work — Too much freedom leads to temptation of working all the time and burning out. It’s not just about you setting time schedule to work, it’s about the situation that other employees think remote workers must be available all the time via chat channels. You are expected to response to requests swiftly.
Collaborating and communication — Working hours are more ambiguous when you work remotely. Folks are in different time zones, with different preferences for when they like to be responding to messages an requests.
Staying motivation — No pressure comes with lack of discipline. Learn to control yourself or you’ll end up in a mess.
Distractions at home — Many think you are not working! You need to have a conversation with your family a couple of times to make them understand or they may disturb you occasionally.
Being in different timezone than teammates — This leads to difficulties in sleeping and communication.
Finding reliable wifi — This is really a pain in the neck to a digital nomad.
Working remotely, you really have to work for yourself. There is no one to hold your hand and constantly tell you what to do or stop slacking off. A remote position isn’t necessarily fitting for people who work just to get the work done and get paid. I enjoy the reward of seeing websites I create come to life.
The tricky part of remote work is that you fully control your time and you have to be very cautious how and what you spend your time on. Distractions can happen all the time, working on time management is necessary to be productive.
Self motivation play a big part in the life of remote web developer. Getting things done in style and enjoy your life. There are many ways to organize your day in life, what works for me may not work for you, try to see what works and stick with it.
Remote workers may have location flexibility, but they love to stay home.