These unspoken 7 Things nobody tells you about working remotely

If you have ever been stuck in tremendous rain waiting for your delayed train after a long and extensive day at work, the chances are pretty high that you have fantasised about working remotely.

Remote work seems to be the perfect arrangement for many in dozens of industries. Companies which encourage and support remote work often reports much higher levels of employee retention, engagement, satisfaction, increased productivity and many more of other benefits. Of course saying that we cannot forget that there are plenty of advantages for employees too, that will include better work-life balance, improved control over the working environment, ability to organise your day the way you want, to name just a few.

Unfortunately, as with anything else in life, there are some drawbacks to working remotely too – these just don’t get much hype about them.

Here are 7 things every potential telecomutter should consider before taking a plunge and became a remote worker full time.

1. You WILL feel left out time to time

You may miss work events including ones where new person is hired or someone is made redundant. An announcements are usually made within the office and you may consider yourself lucky if you are informed about any changes which don’t affect your working environment. You will most likely miss any work meetings or even gatherings. Your bond with coworkers and employers might be weaker because of that but working hard and giving them awesome results I’m sure they will be more happy to withdraw that social flaw.

This is just an example of how working remotely can lead to feeling left out. Sure, you have tools such online chats, Skype, various messengers, FaceTime and so on, which can indeed help you bridge the gaps between your distributed team as well as in-house staff, but there will be times when you miss out on news circulating around your company – whether it’s important update you wasn’t aware of, or just latest gossip about your boss or coworkers.

2. Networking is a trouble for remote workers

Just sit back and think about the last time you heard about anything truly interesting. It sure could be something you read in internet or heard in TV but you must admit that most of the stuff you hear from your colleagues at work. You may be seriously and unpleasantly surprised by how difficult is to network with other people when you are remote to them. Things may be more difficult to even learn of new opportunities at growing companies in your field, or which firms are worth keeping an eye on. Even if you follow news in your industry religiously, it’s all too easy to miss any updates and announcements that could lead to profitable relationships in the very near future.

3. Productivity Expectations will differ

There is this one complaint I hear over and over again from people who works remotely – wasting time, often people dropping by your desk for a quick chat and the myriad other distractions that are part of working in office life.

By working remotely you do not have these problems. Your time now is dedicated to work at hand and your coworkers are “willing to type a message” away. This would mean you will most likely became better organised, more productive and less wasting time person, this is all fabulous and I’m sure your boss will be impressed but you are actually showing that you are a work machine with no feelings meaning expectations of you will rise up. This isn’t always a good thing as you may find yourself doing twice as much work for the same pay.

4. Sometimes, it’s simply gets lonely

I’m more of an introvert person myself. I’m not very good at small talks, have fair difficulty maintaining that eye contact without feeling intensely uncomfortable, and I’m absolute fan of personal space, I would much rather be left alone to my own devices than socialise with even my closest friends. Saying all that, I get lonely as a remote worker time to time.

This aspect of remote work is among the least discussed ones. If you mention that you work remotely to many people, the feedback you will get is that you most likely answering emails in your night clothes, talking on the phone with your potential clients but realistically no one really knows that you are left to your own. The loneliness is a double edged sword. On one hand, solitude can increase your productivity, where on the other, constant isolations can quickly become its own terrible distraction. If you feel a need that you are missing out socially, try to consider working from coffee shops, these can and do make excellent workspaces. Alternative to that would be a gym, hotel or club reception as well as co-working space.

5. Self learning suddenly becomes crucial

Even if you are lucky enough to work for a firm that actively invests in its workplace, you will still have to be very proactive when it comes to learning as well as acquiring new skills. These days many organisations wants people who have multiple skills so to be and stay attractive you must continually improve your skills as well as getting new ones. Expectations are rising every time so you want to be the person who is seen going forward. Simply treat this as a benefit, we all like to evolve in our own way, we want to become better than we are.

6. Remote work is an actual skill

If you are responsible of HR department in your company you know that hiring for remote work is a skill by it’s own – and truly that is the case.

Working remotely forces you to become a more skilful communicator. It also forces you to be more resourceful, especially when you are working from area with limited internet connectivity. You have computer problem – well, you are the IT guy now, there is no electricity? – you need to make sure that your batteries are charged as well as having some power banks. You need to do problem solving as quick as you can in order to work with no destructions.

7. It isn’t for everyone – and it is OK to admit it!

Let’s face it, this might be a dream of many but this isn’t for everyone. I was closely observing some of my own colleagues and some of them simply cannot focus on a single task when working remotely, it is right to admit that this type of work is not for everyone. Some people lack the discipline it takes to focus in an entirely newly distracting environment, especially if the person in question is working from home. Others simply cannot work without being in busy office environment seeing other people and looking how they are working. Whatever the reason, not everyone is suitable for remote working but I truly believe that everyone should try to see if this is something you can implement in your life as you may discover, even by accident that you are great at it.

What are your flaws of working remotely? Let me know in the comment section below.

All the best,
Lucas