I have an option to choose a fully remote position, big motivation is the savings on commute time ~2.5 hour for every day that I need to get to work. I would like to hear experiences from people who chose a remote position but regretted it later. I crave interaction but have loved wfh the past year but I'm wondering if it was because I knew that everyone was in this together. The team I'm moving to is split across two locations already, if this info helps.
Isn’t that enough reason for remote? The 2.5 hour commute.
My current team will likely do a 2 days a week in office. So I'm looking at a 5 hour saving/week with the new team, which is great I agree. I'm just gauging if people who have already done this have regrets.
I transitioned to a 100% remote role. I LOVE not having to worry about ever going into the office, being flexible in terms of where I live. BUT, a few downsides: 1. I tend to get a bit more lonely not going into an office and physically interacting with people 2. Remote means more screen time, which has bothered my eyes pretty bad. They are always dry and red. (In office I would more often be in meetings where I don’t need a screen)
Thanks for the detailed response. What do you do to address the loneliness/missing interaction with people? I have some ideas like joining clubs etc but those are just that - vague ideas.
I am not the person to ask 😂 I have not done well with this.
Not having to commute, having more time to do personal things, no regrets whatsoever. Best opportunity to come up.
I took a fully remote position a year ago for FB. Has been amazing, not too hard to get social interaction outside of work
Leave partner?
Damn yeah sorry to hear that. I would firmly argue with my partner if this was my case. I can’t get work done by doing chores all day. Hope the return to office relieves this issue.
contributed to being sedentary and felt lonely now i prefer flexible where i can go maybe once or twice a week, also working at a cafe helped
I still love working remotely. I made a few changes to my setup after the first year of our offices being closed: moved to a bigger place with outdoor space and lots of parks around, have a dedicated work space, started exercising more to make sure I’m still getting movement since I’m not commuting and physically running around to meetings, I am getting more intentional about socializing outside of work and last, I sign-off by 5pm and usually go out for a walk to mentally separate my work day from home life.
This - the being intentional about socializing - do you mean just hanging out with friends more or actively seeking opportunities to meet new people?
Both! Lots of people to catch up with in my personal life after being quarantined and not really able to travel last year so have had my plate pretty full with catching up but since I moved to a new area I have also been intentional about meeting new people (not including dating) , mostly tied to interests I have outside of work. I try to plan at least one social thing a week in general and specifically two social things a month with people I didn’t already know. Next year I plan on traveling more — while working. Being remote does not mean you have to sit in your house all day every day.
It’s great when the rest of your team is also remote. If you’re the only remote person and everyone else is in the office, it’s not ideal.
I'll echo this response. When you are remote and others are in the office you naturally get left out of conversations that happen on the fly and so you have less influence. You also have to work at making sure your contributions are recognized by doing some self promotion which will make your teammates think you're bragging too much but without which your boss may not give high marks come review time. Out of sight, out of mind. I've worked either hybrid or full time remote since 2014 and I think there are a lot of people who are going to be unpleasantly surprised at how much different WFH becomes when it's not the entire company doing it.
Been remote for about 6 years. Never looking back.
Do you miss not being able to meet the team in person and how do you make up for it? Do you think your career progression is impacted by it?
I've had 3 different jobs in these 6 years. My teams have been always distributed and we would meet up once maybe twice a year. That was enough. I don't think my career has been negatively affected by it.
Best thing I ever did.
How do you deal with the missing interaction? Assuming that's important for you
What kind of interaction will you need? Its usually just coding and kanban... Slack should be enough. If you want to become a schmoozer get into product management