On working remotely
After 6 months, yes, 6 months, I decided to snap out of my inertia and get back to writing
Truth is, at the beginning of the year I was still mentally recovering from the super hectic end of 2014, and right after that my energy went into the CSS Conference Brasil.
I was thinking about writing a technical post, but since it’s also been 6 months since I started working remotely, and a lot of people are curious about that, I thought it would be cool to cover this topic.
As most people who follow my site or social networks probably know, I’m currently working remotely at Filtro. I even talked a bit about it in the previous post (in Portuguese), but this time I’m going to be a little more thorough.
Productivity and organization
Lots of people dream of working from home, it looks like paradise (and it really is :p). But it’s not for everyone.
If you have trouble focusing, working alone, or going all day without interacting with other professionals, your productivity can go out the window.
On the other hand, if you’re absurdly focused, the problem can flip. You might end up working more than you should, losing quality of life and consequently quality at work, and believe me, this problem is more common than you’d think.
Like almost everything in life, balance is key.
It’s important to have a quiet space away from interruptions, and a well-defined routine every day also helps a lot. Breaks to eat and rest are essential, but don’t go overboard… They shouldn’t last more than 10 or 15 minutes.
I also try to finish all the issues planned for the day and never leave work for the next day. That goal helps me not lose productivity and stay focused until the end of the workday. We use Jira to delegate priorities and manage issues.
Honestly, working from home makes me feel even more obligated to deliver the best work possible. I’m pretty hard on myself about that.
Even though in theory you can work from anywhere, needing only a laptop and internet, the ideal is to try to work in a place with the best infrastructure possible and only work in other conditions occasionally.
Besides that, I subscribed to Spotify, which helps me stay focused all day.
Schedule
Just because nobody is directly supervising you doesn’t mean you’ll go to sleep at 5:00 AM and wake up after 12:00 PM.
The ideal is to adjust your routine to the other people on your team.
I work at Filtro, which is a New York agency. The time difference from here isn’t big. So I work regular business hours, between 9 AM and 7 PM, depending on when I started.
But by default, I always try to start around 9 AM. I wake up a bit earlier, turn on the laptop, and go have coffee, brush my teeth, take care of my Agnes, and do the other things everybody does in the morning.
Then I take a look at email and social networks and start working.
Lunchtime is another important moment. I like to cook at night, so I have lunch ready and, for the rest of the break, I go to the market or take a nap :).
If you need to leave early or take care of something during the day, it’s important to let the team know so they don’t wait around for you in case they need you.
I use Jira Timer to track my work time and how much was spent on each task.
Interactions
I’m very talkative, so I figured this would be the part I’d adapt to the least, but so far it hasn’t been an obstacle.
Of course I miss having someone to talk to at lunch. But the rest of the day I can stay focused without any trouble.
I talk to other developers almost every day, study, and read articles, which keeps any sign of stagnation out of my way. And I usually organize the CSS Meetup once a month with Rapha Fabeni.
As a plus, I think I’ve kept in touch with my friends more now than before, since I have more time to grab a beer at night and I’m more rested on the weekend.
The interaction with the folks at Filtro is spectacular, we stay in touch all day on Skype. Communication and organization are fast and efficient. Having a great team working together is essential.
Finances
There are several ways to be hired for remote work, including CLT (Brazil’s standard employment contract).
But the most common is PJ (contractor), where you have a CNPJ (a business tax ID) and provide services to the company you work for.
The terms of that service, like workload, salary, vacation, etc… should be well aligned between both parties to avoid frustration.
Remember, you’ll pay taxes, hire an accountant, your electric bill will go up, you’ll have to cook lunch or eat out, pay for health insurance… All of that has to be factored into your gross salary.
And speaking of that. It’s essential to know that you no longer get FGTS (a severance fund), unemployment insurance, and other things guaranteed by the CLT regime, so besides building it into your salary, you need to know how to organize yourself financially for emergencies.
Conclusion
Working remotely has been an incredible experience. My productivity is absurdly better, since I’m happier and more rested.
I’m working with amazing professionals by my side, and I feel that besides maturing as a professional, I’ve raised my technical level a lot from last year to this one.
I’m passionate about web development. All my stress was caused by external reasons, like nights of bad sleep and traffic. By removing those things from my routine, I feel totally fulfilled. On top of that, there’s more time to study and especially to rest, whether playing some FIFA, drinking a beer with friends, or watching a movie, it doesn’t matter. The change in quality of life is immeasurable.
As I said in the post, focus and professionalism are essential in this way of working, but I imagine it will become more and more common in the coming years.
Be prepared ;)