Here are my notes for the seventh section, “Life as a Remote Worker”.
- Having a routine for your day is helpful. Houston’s is catch-up work from 9-10am, daily standup, group call or pairing sessions, and then free-form time.
- Houston has a separate laptop for work, and he finds that helpful. It makes it easier to keep work data on company equipment, plus he doesn’t have video games tempting him on his work machine. Jameson works best when he has one machine to keep things simple. Most personal tasks are handled on his phone or smart TV.
- “Remote isn’t binary” (e.g., morning remote, afternoon local) doesn’t apply to any of us. We don’t feel the call to specifically leave to get work done.
- One of the sections implied you should make it difficult to move your work machine in your home office so you’re more inclined to stay in your space. This made zero sense to us because the work machine of choice is a laptop, which is inherently portable on purpose.
- Jameson mentioned before that he finds it difficult to get into the flow when he’s isolated (i.e., it’s too quiet). This may be a personal preference, or maybe because he’s used to the open office now. He feels uncomfortable speaking up when everyone else is quiet.
- Whatever form it takes — setting your chat status as “Do Not Disturb”, wearing headphones, closing the door — the team/company needs to agree on it so it’s respected.
- Regarding other places to work — library, coffee shop, or a park — the park could be interesting so long as the weather is nice and you don’t need an Internet connection.
- On motivation, the book mentions working on what you want with who you want; at some point that may not be an option. It’s unfortunate when you as a manager don’t have the agency to reassign people. Ultimately it may be best (for both sides) to part ways.
- Houston and Geoff share accountability as a motivator. Regarding procrastination, sometimes we do this because (1) the work is too big to reason about, or (2) we want to do well, so we fail to start for fear of messing it up.
- Ideally you’d have an engaged manager that’s willing to work with you on figuring out why your motivation is flagging.
- We talked about the idea of a sabbatical and were confused about how this would work logistically. Someone has to cover for you while you’re out, then there’s a ramp-up time when you return.
- On working anywhere in the world… This doesn’t work if you don’t have the money or logistical freedom to do it. Also, how do you create a routine if you’re moving around all the time? Maybe you have to have nomadic desires first, then get a job that lets you do that. Finally, you’re at a vacation destination, but you’re there to work; having those two “zones” be separate would be mentally difficult.
- Advantage of remote: I like this company, but I need to relocate for reason XYZ.
- For getting up and changing the scenery, Jameson finds this difficult as his work is done more efficiently with two screens.
- Many remote locations aren’t conducive to work. Also, the book has an implied assumption that you have tasks that you do by yourself, as collaboration via audio/visual would be difficult in a noisy coffee shop or a quiet library.
- Family time… Jameson (as he’s the only one in our group with children) said you have your own routines around kids anyway. For spouses or kids, you may not be spending time with them while you’re working. You need the time to get work done and be on calls.
- Bonus: Having time to have lunch with your significant other if they’re also at home.
- Many companies make sure you have a viable remote solution (e.g., home office, co-working space) before offering you a job.
- Local tip: Knoxville has a roving meetup (AM and PM shifts) at various places around town where you can be with other folks who work outside an office — Knox Nomads.
- The book suggests two ways to not be ignored: make noise, or do exceptional work. We think this is incomplete. Why should you have to interrupt a call to let people know you’re there? If people don’t respect remote workers, you’ll have problems regardless. Geoff said the “exceptional work” comment is essentially a tradeoff between freedom and effort: You have to compensate for being remote by giving more in other areas.
- We agreed the conclusion is heavy-handed, with the vibe of “Move over, laggards — remote work is coming for you!” Geoff suggested the authors could have struck a tone that’s not mutually exclusive. Just like document and graph databases didn’t make relational databases obsolete, remote work can live alongside on-prem work.