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18 Comments

How do you actually like remote work?

Curious about what you prefer: Working from home / remotely or working from an office - fix location / temp space / coworking? What do you like best about which option?

The pandemic might come in quite some regions to its conclusion soon. Hence I am wondering how our future workplace will look like and how you would like to work.

Looking forward to your takes.

How do you actually like remote work?
  1. I like it alot!
  2. I like it and actually prefer it
  3. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't
  4. I actually prefer working from the company's office
Vote
  1. 5

    I'm a big fan of being able to work remotely. It's so important for quality of life IMO. With that said, the feeling of community is a really important things for us humans, and I it's easy to lose that when we're all holed up in our houses.

    I hope this freedom continues, but I'd love to have an office someday where I go a couple of times per week.

    Nothing replaces human interaction and getting out of your house from time to time!

    1. 3

      This is exactly why I started my coworking community in 2006!

      1. 1

        I've thought about doing the same many times but haven't ever done it. Kudos!

        How's your community doing? How did you get people to join?

        1. 1

          I didn't think of it as "getting people to join" - I don't believe that community is a "service" that people sign up for but a culture that people participate in and co-create.

          I spent a year getting to know other independents in my area, meeting people at events, earning trust by being supportive and curious. Over time I was able to connect those people I met with each other, turning 1-1 relationships into multi-directional relationships with common values and goals.

          Eventually the club wanted a clubhouse, and while I took the lead (and the risk) the actual process of opening the space was more like a barn raising than "opening an office." We did it together!

          The last couple of years have been tough on the business since coworking isn't really a COVID safe activity, but we've stayed afloat because we also have a vibrant online community. We shifted all of our energy from the in-person side of our operations to the online one and while it took some time to get our footing, started growing again near the end of 2020 and through 2021.

          Halfway through 2021 we cut a deal to end the lease at the location that had been closed throughout the pandemic, and last fall we started with pop-up coworking again...largely repeating the playbook from our early days except with the built in community so we didn't have to start THAT part from scratch.

          A few years ago I actually recorded an audiobook that went into detail on that playbook, and it's been really valuable for me to go back and listen to my own lessons to stay on the right path this second time around!

          We're re-launching in person coworking memberships again soon, pending the Omicron wave dying down. But no matter what our online community will stay and I expect continue to thrive. :)

    2. 3

      This sums up my feelings too. In the end, what I value is flexibility. I don't want someone forcing me to stay home or work in the office. I want to be able to decide what I want to do on a given day. If I want to go in the office, great, I'll be there. If not, catch me at home working from my couch.

      But as I stated above, I just value being able to decide for myself what I need to do for the day. And I think businesses are starting to see that imo.

    3. 2

      This is what having friends and hobbies outside of work is for

      1. 1

        Friends?

        Oh yeah, I remember what those are 😂 Maybe I should get some!

  2. 4

    There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

    It's great not having to deal with the commute both from a time and cost perspective. It's also more convenient if I need to take care of quick errands in or close to home.

    I do miss having the in-person interaction with people, though, especially when it comes to the more creative parts of the work. It's also nice sometimes to have a distinct separation between home and work environments.

    For me, the ideal situation would be to have a hybrid of some days in the office and some days remote.

  3. 3

    I am a big fan of remote work.

    When I say remote I don't mean WFH. Remote to me is being able to live and work from any location or country of choice regardless of where my company is based from.

    I recently worked remotely from Europe for a company in Australia. Hands down I was wayyy more productive working remotely then anytime in the office.

    I like the idea of going to a shared work space for a day or two a week just to mix it up.

  4. 3

    I can actually see my kids grow up now and be there for them for their activities and achievements. To me, those things are priceless.

  5. 3

    The best remote work for me is working from a co-working.

    Combines the best of two worlds:

    1. Typically a nicer environment to work than the average corporate office
    2. Typically crowded by other Entrepreneurs / Wantrepreneurs
    3. Allows for focused time without distractions compared to my own apartment
  6. 2

    I prefer working from the office. It is hard to difficult build friendships in a remote environment because it lacks repeated unplanned interactions that build the necessary familiarity between people. There is little whimsy in scheduled zoom calls.

    One of the major reasons I like my day job is my coworkers. What's the point of hiring charming people if you can't spend time with them?

    Plus, it is easy to have your community shrink as an adult if you're not careful.

    That said, I observed that people's preference for remote work is inverse proportionally to their distance from the office. If your commute is more than 20 minutes, it has a real impact on the quality of your life. If you can't escape your long commute due to circumstances, working full or partially remotely is the way to go.

  7. 2

    I like the convenience of working from home and find it's more productive. However, I do feel less connection to my coworkers and team. My relationships feel more transactional since there aren't as many opportunities to bond or have casual conversations with them. It's changed my view of my job from one that provides non-financial benefits (socializing) to one that's purely financial.

    I think I would prefer one day of the week where I'd be in-person with coworkers so we can socialize a bit more. There's some "social grease" that's lost when communicating over Zoom or Slack, which I think can create friction between team members.

  8. 2

    I've worked remotely for 2.5 years, doing software and database stuff. Cut out a 35 mile commute to an office where I would be working remotely from my team anyway.

    I'm a big fan, and don't see myself going back.

    The freedom to do stuff around the house, go biking, see my kids more, etc has been a big win.

    I think my wife is tired of me being here all day, but that's just amusing.

  9. 2

    I've been working remotely for over ten years (years before helping to start Indie Hackers), and I'm at a point of no return: I'll probably never tolerate having to work at an office again.

    Mostly this is because I've invested a lot of time, energy, and attention into optimizing my work-at-home life.

    On the flipside, I miss the constant IRL human interaction you get from working at the office.

    Neil Pasricha works at Wal-Mart. And not because he needs the money — he's an author who's written an international bestseller and commands super high rates to consult business leaders. The only reason he works at Wal-Mart is for the social connection: to be part of a team that he regularly collaborates and engages in standard small dramas with.

    Like I said, I love remote work. But I also think Neil's onto something.

    1. 3

      Same boat here, working remote for over a decade. I have two freelancer friends who work part-time at a bookstore and another at a coffee shop to fill that IRL void.

      I find online communities help to avoid the lone wolf feeling, but they're no replacement for IRL. I have to make a conscious effort to schedule lunches and in persons to avoid those days without any real human interaction.

  10. 2

    Remote work is all about flexibility for me.

    Since the start of the pandemic I almost exclusively worked from my own home. I like it but it does get boring after a while. One of my goals is to start mixing it up a bit. This could encompass:

    • Trying the digital nomad thing by working from another country
    • Going to co-working spaces
    • Working from coffee shops

    I'm not an employee but if I was, I could even see myself going to an office from time to time. However, I never ever want to be in a position again where I need to go to an office every single day.

  11. 4

    This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

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