My thoughts on working remote as of 2024

Before I ever had a job working remote, I always aspired for it to be my dream job! I looked forward to the days when I would no longer be doing the rat race, driving to and from an office every day, spending ridiculous amounts of money in gas, time, stress, Pandora subscriptions, just to go to an office to be distracted by mindless coworkers that were there just sapping up the free paycheque and socializing all day.

I just wanted to get my work done and to be a good employee. However, being distracted all day with countless "Hey, can you look into this?" and "So, at my daughters ball game last night..." was not only a drain on my time, but also my productivity.

After working the industry for some time, gaining experience and schmoozing with the right folks, I finally found my dream role: Working remote! I loved the position not only because they made use of my full skillset, so it was a nice mental challenge. They also helped pay for regular trips to the office. So at least once a quarter, I had an opportunity to see everyone with whom I worked to maintain that human connection. I really enjoyed the role. I also worked that role for five years before COVID. So by the time COVID came around, I was already accustomed to the things everyone else was adjusting.

After that, I worked for a company overseas. They were not as fortunate with the funding. So, for three years, I worked exclusively remote. While I did enjoy not having to go into the office regularly, I have to say: I found the other end of the spectrum. This was shortly after COVID where I found myself at home almost all the time and I have to say: I have discovered the importance of human connection. Sometimes its worth it to go into the office and just kick the can with coworkers every once in a while and brainstorm in front of a whiteboard or lunch.

My thoughts on working remote are this:

• There's benefits to both sides.
• • The company gets a decent amount of dedicated deep-thought work from the associate if they are granted work-remote time. Everyone knows how distracting the office can be. Companies and managers should be aware by now of the time required in front of the keyboard typing all the work out, testing, reviewing, etc and the time required to think through complex problems. Being able to work from home means I am more capable of providing millions of dollars in value for the few hundred thousand I get in exchange.
• • I get a sense of accomplishment because I see my solutions complete, better tested, and less like spaghetti code from the constant interruptions in the office.
• There's a balance to be struck: I think it depends on the individual. For my personality type and style of work, I probably do best with at most frequent monthly to bi-weekly visits to the most sparse at once a quarter to twice a year. Any more frequent or sparse than that and it becomes a challenge to either maintain work-life balance or to maintain a basic level of human connection.

Overall, my thoughts on working remote haven't changed -- I still enjoy having the quiet needed to be thorough in my work and manage my personal time accordingly. It doesn't affect my executive function because I have learned how to master motivation. I have created a space in my home for my work. I've also learned I just can't be the type who "doesn't work" even if I tried. A balance must be had because I put a lot of value in my work. Traveling to the office daily takes away from that quality and endurance over time. As intelligence becomes more valuable, I have to continue to sharpen the blade. I can't be getting rusty around all these AI minions getting smarter around me, after all 😉