Four things you should know about working remotely, and they aren’t mojito, sun, palm trees, and beach
Laying on the beach, sipping a mojito with your laptop in direct sun, Instagram conveys this image of remote work. Maybe you same as me had the impression that to work remotely, you have to sell all your belongings and move to a sunny country.
With the rapid spread of COVID19, many of us have found ourselves suddenly in a remote role. For numerous companies, remote work is business as usual. But what happens when you need to make a switch from in-office to remote from one day to another?
This situation motivated me to research the topic and revisit my opinion about remote work. Here are four points you probably didn’t know about this working style.
Remote work is not just for digital nomads
While the sun and beach sound like an attractive office to me, the majority enjoys a remote working style while preserving their place of residence.
Remote work allows you to work for the companies located in another city or state, without moving away from your family and friends, changing school for the kids.
I had a talk with one of my ex-colleagues, who is working remotely for years. She wanted to move back to her home country, where she did not have so many job opportunities, and she was happy with his current employer. For both sides, the remote role was the solution.
Remote work gives much flexibility, and many travelers use the benefit of it, but remote working is not a working style reserved only for them.
Remote Work is here to stay
Remote work is not only a new trend but a shift that will be more and more present in the future.
Independent from the present crisis with COVID 19 spread, analysis done by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics shows growing trends in remote working. In the past five years, an increase of 44% in the US. Additionally, 99% of participants said they would like to work at least some of the time remotely for the rest of their careers in Buffer’s annual report: The State of Remote Work.
Opportunity to mix in-office work and remote is not only a job perk some employees expect. It is a new norm that is influencing the decisions about a career path.
Increasing numbers of companies are moving away from a traditional work environment. While companies also have their benefits from it, many are instead answering the expectations of more and more professionals that are not willing to get back to in-office work after they have made the shift to a remote. These are some of the indicators showing remote work is not a temporary fashion, but a new working style that will continue to expand.
If you already struggle with unplugging after work, remote will only make it more difficult
Unplugging after the working day is for this working style, the number one struggle based on the Buffer’s annual report: The State of Remote Work.
While this is a problem for remote workers the same as for in-office workers, achieving physical separation is especially difficult when your office is nothing more but a laptop and a phone.
Leaving my laptop in the office is one step of my unplugging strategy. It is noticeably more difficult to separate myself from work when working from home. While my computer is hanging there, it is easy to jump back in and write one more email or finish one more task.
Remote workers usually have a separate room or corner they use only for working time, to disconnect easier. If leaving work behind after working hours is already an issue for you, remote will make it even more challenging.
You decide when to start, end or take a break
There are many advantages of remote working experience, but don’t expect your employer will cover your coffee costs.
Enjoying the flexibility remote work offers is what draws the majority to it. Having a flexible schedule was reported as the number one benefit for remote work, published in the Buffer’s annual report.
I spoke with a father of two, who said that having the possibility to spend morning commute on jogging instead and have the evening free for the family is what made him switch his working style.
Work, family, friends, staying fit, hobbies, balancing between them can cause much stress. Being the one who is deciding on your schedule can lower the pressure caused by a need to arrange many things for you or your family.
Finally, remote is not just a different way of working
The spread of COVID19 brought remote work to many of us but together with isolation and social distancing, which wakes up negative feelings towards this working style.
Maybe you feel after the crisis is over, you are ready to become a digital nomad, will work, travel, and pose with a mojito and a laptop from every corner of the Earth. Or you are one of those who are happily waiting to get back to the office, spend 45min each morning on a train, and enjoy every minute of the commute.
No matter in which group you fit, current experience is unique. You would never get the opportunity to test the remote work as you did now. You can use this time as a prototype to learn if this is something you would enjoy.
Take the time to practice methods helping to overcome challenges of being remote. For example, how to better disconnect after work or how to better communicate with your team. By doing this, you are also preparing yourself for the future, because the number of fully remote companies is growing.
One thing struck me the most while being in this role for a while, researching and hearing about people’s perspectives on this topic. Remote working is not merely a different way of working but a different way of living. It may include mojito, sun, palm trees, and beach, but also may make a difference to your lifestyle no matter where you decide to live.
