What I've Learned About Remote Work

Insights from (almost) 5 years of working from home

True Prosperity

No need to live in SF. Can, and won't knock city life, but imagine what want materially -- are you anywhere close to it there?

True Flexibility

Workplaces may advertise flexibility, but this is flexibility to the extreme. Not just about working hours. Also about optimizing for when you have energy. There's such a spectrum of how intense or relaxed you want to make it!

Burnt-out on a Friday and want to ride your bike or play with a kid? Go for it! You can "commute" to your desk the next morning early (no security to go through) to get the thing done.

Health

I've found working from home to be very good for my physical health. For my mental health, not so much.

To Thrive, You Must Be Intentional About It

Remote work is kind of like being single or married -- it's better to be happily married than happily single, but worse to be unhappily married than unhappily single.

Remote work has a crazy high ceiling, but also can end up isolating, demoralizing, and career-killing.

Thus you have to be intentional about a few things, particularly:

Intentional about Community

With no physical office and no coworkers nearby, it can be hard to have a sense of belonging. Moreover, it can be hard to feel that you are contributing to society when the contributions you're making are done virtually, from a virtual place.

Benefits matter more. Because things like gym, community service, etc are not going to come naturally from an onsite office, so you have to go out and seek out those things.