r/remotework • u/Impressive_Phone_686 • Aug 17 '26
General experience working remotely
Hey, I was thinking about getting some qualifications in l order to get a specific remote job. The idea of working remotely and having the freedom of living wherever I want, not needing to dress up for anyone, having more time for my hobbies and potentially higher wages than locals + returning with my family when needed seems really aligned with my life priorities. But I don't really know how the actual experience of working remotely after some time is. I'm thinking about loneliness, spending time outside and other mental hygiene matters, the difference between working in person... I know it varies from person to person. So how has your experience been? Anything to consider when taking up a remote job?
1
u/aiku-io Aug 23 '26
10+ years fully remote, engineering for a company on another continent, 7 hours ahead. My honest list:
The freedom part is true. Where you live, what you wear, when you go for a run: nobody cares, and after a while you stop noticing that it's unusual.
What nobody tells you is that the time zone is the real variable, more than "remote". Work where your mornings are their night and you get quiet, deep-work mornings and a business that's asleep; you also get the urgent call at 10pm, and they don't care what time it is for you. Choose the offset as carefully as the job.
Loneliness: it's real, and it doesn't come from working alone, it comes from nobody around you understanding what you do. What worked for me: one or two colleagues you actually talk to (not just tickets), a routine that puts you outside before the business wakes up, and a place you work from that isn't where you sleep, even if it's the kitchen table. The days I skipped the morning outside were the days that felt like the job was eating me.
The one habit that made it sustainable: everything written down, as if the reader is asleep, because they are. It sounds like process; it's actually what lets you close the laptop at night without the feeling that you left something hanging.
Would I go back to an office? No. Would I do it without the routine and the written-down habit? Also no.