Going fully remote

In 2022, I saw a job offer that really interested me, it was combining everything that I loved back in the days :

• cryptography
• software engineering
• speaking english

However, it had a very frightening specificity: it was a fully remote job. I have to admit I was stressed to do the step forward for this only reason. I was used to work remotely, sometimes several days a week, but I always came back to the office, to gather some hardware, sync with my manager, or just feel like I had real coworkers.

After reading the internet a few times, I realized that I was clearly lacking good advices on what decision to take... Is WFH for me? How should I organize myself and what should I expect?

This blogpost is a modest attempt to provide my personal answers to that vague yet stressful question.

Before accepting

You just had an offer, you're happy of the terms and conditions and now only your signature is missing from the paperwork ; how can I know if I'll thrive in that position?

First, let's adress the elephant in the room :

Work From Home doesn't suit everybody, and that's fine

Work from home has a significant number of inconvenients people usually tends to hide behind the advantages. For instance, it reduces the social aspect working in an office brings, it will implicitly make your performance metrics differ from if you were working in an office, and it will require from you a lot of work hygiene / discipline. Try to be aware of these cons before mentionning the pros, as I believe that it's significantly more important to be fine with the cons compared to be happy of the pros.

If it fits you, it won't be effortless anyway

As I just mentionned, WFH has cons, but it obviously

After accepting

Here a some advices I would have loved to be taught.

Self discipline is key

I know it sounds like a cocky shaolin monk advice but there's truth in that quote. Working alone, on the long term, will rely on your habits and self control. As I assume that you consider yourself serious and that you will actually work, the real danger is introducing polution to your workplace / work habit that will hinder your work quality.

For example I remember having a very fun conversation with my wife about the clothes I planned to wear on a daily basis. I didn't really care and really planned to wear whatever would be available in my wardrobe (rugby jerseys, sweatpants, normal clothes), but she believed that it wasn't a big effort to be correctly dressed up everyday, and that just making this effort everyday would bring consistency, as that consistency is key on the long term when alone.

To a more generic extend, anything you'll do on a daily basis will either become a sane habit or a bad habit. Do you think allowing yourself to consult your personnal phone can be kept under control with an acceptable amount of time, that you would consider acceptable too if it was in an office space where you can be seen consulting it ? How much of personal related interuptions can be part of a sane and efficient work-from-home environment, such as an invasive cat (my cat is invasive for example but I consider the few minutes he insists for cuddles to be okay and cool), an child staying home or some workers working in your house.

Finally self discipline does also work in the opposite direction, if you have workaholic tendencies, WFH might also have a very negative impact on your personal life, as you will be the only one to decide when you stop working, when you stop answering Slack, phone calls or mails.

Sanctuarize your office and your work habits

As any habit is either sane or bad, forcing yourself to always do what is necessary to keep your efficiency the same should be part of all your decisions. For example, one advice I saw on the internet, that I believe was a very good advice is about the location where you work.

I'm a software engineer, therefore I have one way or another nerding spots where I can nerd for hours home. For some it's a gaming computer, for others a bookshelf, for me it's my music instruments. As soon as I accepted my offer, I knew that I had to have my drumkit, guitars and hardware away from the room where I work in if I wanted not to feel the temptation of grabing a guitar while some compilation was going on, for then considering normal to play music on my working hours... and so on.

As a consequence, I try to control whatever happens in my office, I don't have my music instruments, I try not to have my phone with sound on in order just to be available for emergency calls. As a corrolary, I also force myself never to allow my workphone or my work laptop to leave the room. Therefore, this room is a place of work, and the rest of the world is not a place of work.

I know it looks extreme, but I'm the kind to take habit, no matter if it's good or bad ones. So in doubt, I try to only stick with the good. You obviously don't have to be that extreme if it's not a concern for you.

Remote work is a communication bias exacerbator

As you'll be alone, the only communication you will expose to your company will be what you explicitly talk or write about. There will not be any implicit, between the lines, pieces of informations that will be made available from you if you don't make them explicitly available by yourself.

For instance, do not expect anything to be guessed from what you say/write in PRs or messages, if there's the slightest limitation on the feature you've been working on, any remark to add, it has to be written somewhere where it will be read by the people requiring to actually read it. Remember that what you will communicate about will be the only showcase of who you are for some people. Any lack of clarity will immediatly showcase you as unclear, even if you're not. As a corrolary, if you always ensure to be sharp and precise, you'll be showcased as sharp and precise, even if you're not too.

Your relationship with your manager will be different

Finally, something interesting about remote work is that it shifts a responsibility usually onsite managers have directly to you : your motivation. As the communication bias tend to reduce the communication, your manager will most likely ignore about it. So, try to either communicate your lacks of motivation to your manager, or act on your environment to get motivated again.

Have fun

Finally, have fun. Work from home should be fun, it is supposed to remove all the non fun parts from working, such as commuting, eating outside from home or having very precise working hours. If you're not having fun in a work from home, at a job you used to like or love in an office, then it just means that you're not thriving working at home, and, as a reminder, it is perfectly fine.

Cheers