April 26, 2013 at 14:04The practice of remote work: an inside look
Look at the search results:
Interestingly, does the search results in pictures really reflect the opinion of most people about remote work or is this a stereotype firmly established on the Internet? Or maybe it's just me working 8 hours a day, five days a week, though at a distance of more than 1000 km from my place of work?
I do not want to debunk anyone's dreams and do not seek to break stereotypes. I just want to talk a little about the practice of remote work on the part of the employee.
I work as a copywriter in Zelenograd web-studio "Internet Client". At the same time I live in Krasnodar. At the moment, in the studio I am the “oldest” employee, not counting the director, so I tried all the nuances of the udalenka in all its manifestations. So, in detail.
Skype, email, Google Talk, the Vkontakte internal group and the phone are enough for setting goals, discussing their implementation and putting projects into action. Jira and Bitrix 24 are generally mega-convenient services that allow not only working quickly with different tasks, but also taking into account the time spent. There are quality standards, there are instructions available. Programmers, always ready to come to the aid of “crooked hands”.
There is a minus. In the office, one way or another, without even listening to the conversations and not participating in the discussions, you are still up to date: who is the customer, what he wants, what offers, what options, what can we do ... But when I get a project, sometimes it’s completely nothing I don’t know about him, and I am beginning to taunt everyone who has something to do with him. Or carefully study the news on the company's website. Well, my colleagues are patient and over 4 years of work no one has ever sent me anywhere.
I know that there are people who perceive the house only as a place to relax. I am not one of them. At home I work much more efficiently than in the office. Measured. Firstly, because silence. No one distracts with gossip and phone calls, discussion of projects and suggestions to staff. Secondly, I can work in almost any condition. A mild attack of gastritis, a cold or a leg in a cast is not a problem. Lying in bed, I work with text just as quickly as when I am sitting at a table. Thirdly, my workplace is arranged exactly as it suits me. The laptop was bought in accordance with my needs, the table is selected in height, a hard chair for my beloved back. Well, and the sofa, of course. Work in a comfortable environment is undeniably easier. Home-grown, trained over the years of freelance and udalenki, listen to music on headphones, watch TV in the kitchen, move in a whisper. With extraneous questions during work do not pester. The exception is older relatives. But there is a separate discussion about them. A big plus for a woman is a child nearby. This is even more important if the child is a series of "electric broom." In a situation where I am calm, it is convenient and comfortable for me, the printer does not make noise and the scanner does not creak in the office, new tights or a harmful client are not discussed, work is more fruitful. It is a fact.
Perhaps this is a controversial statement, but personally, remote work allows me to dive deeper into the project due to greater efficiency and involvement. I usually face several tasks (or several dozen tasks), among which priority ones stand out. It is over them, not being distracted by side tasks, that I can afford to concentrate. The effect of immersion is especially noticeable when there is a large volume of projects of the same subject in work: furniture and interior, construction and building materials, fashion and style. An independent choice of projects makes it possible to take on the task exactly for which there is now a mood and readiness.
The working day is clearly agreed. If necessary, I can move it for a couple of hours back and forth. However, my relatives produce at least 8 working hours. Although in the spring, when the sun is shining outside the window and the smell of strawberries is heard from the garden, it is very difficult to work. In the office, by the way, is not easier. You look, and outside the window there are crowds of smart students, a series of cars, ladies with packages from the shopping center - a complete upset.
I sincerely do not understand how it is possible to experience difficulties with self-discipline and the need to do what is needed today, and tomorrow's deadline to pass tomorrow? Well, this is my pure opinion, since I personally know people who can only work in a specially equipped office, with a dress code and in the neighborhood with the boss.
I do not push in the mornings in minibuses. I do not stand in traffic. I don’t wear high-heeled shoes all day and don’t suffer with a dress code. By evening, my face does not itch from the ink flying around the office from a poorly fitted cartridge and I am pretty much saving on lunches. For lunch, I manage to cook borsch, check my daughter's lessons or hang out the laundry to dry.
BUT! Close to amenities, pitfalls all the time.
Leaving the office, even if it’s only a 10-minute walk to the house, the brain manages to throw thoughts about work and focus on the house to the threshold. The distinction between work and home in this case is not difficult. It doesn’t work out here. Breakfast and dinner are held behind the monitor. What if I urgently need someone?
Going down to the kitchen in the evening, I am still immersed in a complex text or am tormented by the selection of topics for tomorrow's post in the social group. A computer that is not turned off in the evening with skype turned on provokes a prolonged working day and finish what has been started. Moreover, sometimes at 20 pm one of the late colleagues decides to puzzle me with something interesting. The head is disconnected from work tasks for a long time and is difficult. Sometimes the process of information processing is delayed at night. Nothing good. But I can’t manage to clearly distinguish between working and personal time in the conditions of remote work from home. The result is busy with working thoughts until late at night, pondering over the difference in approach to the Vkontakte and Facebook audience, in the morning I wake up in a state of thrice frozen and thawed fish. By Thursday, no performance.
And here are the solid cons.
Firstly, if the working week is busy, but there are a lot of household chores, then I creep out on the threshold of the house only by Thursday! By this day, I have a persistent thirst syndrome of human faces. And I literally enjoy the sight of people on the streets. Just like in the popular joke about the gynecologist and pathologist: “People, people! Faces, faces! ” This is treated with a daily promenade, which is not always possible to organize in view of the previous paragraph.
Secondly, as a woman, I simply do not have enough male attention. Before the dense inclusion in freelance and the transition to remote work, I had to work in men's groups. This is just a fairy tale what it is!
With remote work, you very quickly cease to feel like a woman, beautiful and desirable. It is also treated, but already in the gym. As a rule, a two-hour dose of a gym with a ratio of M and M 10: 3 is just enough for a week.
Thirdly, the opinion of others. This opinion doesn’t really bother me, but 30% of my friends think that by using remote work I cover up my dependent position on my husband’s neck. Another 30% are sure that the udalenka is something illegal and illegal, most likely a pyramid or a computer game, in which I do nothing, but only collect money from others. About 20% of friends think that I spit on the ceiling, once per hour I knock on the keyboard and for this I get a monthly salary. The remaining 20% understand that I work, but do not understand by whom and how. And therefore, they can afford to call at any time in order to fuss, because "you still sit at home." Particularly distinguished are the close relatives of the older generation who constantly suspect me of gambling. In any case, the vast majority are of the opinion
And I have absolutely no one to talk about my work with. And this is rather unpleasant, because in most conversations girlfriends and friends share their work difficulties and exploits. Only two people in the world know exactly who I work with and can at least somehow discuss working days with me: a husband and a daughter. The daughter, who spied on the progress of work on a project of a tour operator in Oceania, writes in a school questionnaire: "Mom writes about beaches and the sea." And the husband ... The husband says about the same, only a little more expanded: "She writes about concrete, dressers, tours to Fiji and all that stuff."
My pay is average. So, to the skeptical surprise of my friends, I don’t rake money with a shovel, but I get it in about the same amount as the average office worker in our city. An employment contract is simply forwarded by mail, as are vacation applications, orders and other bureaucracy. Twice a year, we exchange these pieces of paper with the accounting department of the studio without any difficulties.
This article was written on the table, but the idea to put it on the network came to my mind after it happened to help with the placement of the “Internet Client” vacancy on many large HR portals. To her surprise, she noticed that most of the web-studios and many companies that need designers, programmers, copywriters, content managers and SEO-specialists, require a presence in the office as a prerequisite. And rereading my notes on remote work, I still could not understand why people in a number of professions need to work in the office? Do employers share the common stereotypes about remote work illustrated at the beginning of the post?
Interestingly, does the search results in pictures really reflect the opinion of most people about remote work or is this a stereotype firmly established on the Internet? Or maybe it's just me working 8 hours a day, five days a week, though at a distance of more than 1000 km from my place of work?
I do not want to debunk anyone's dreams and do not seek to break stereotypes. I just want to talk a little about the practice of remote work on the part of the employee.
Remote work from the inside: not illusions
I work as a copywriter in Zelenograd web-studio "Internet Client". At the same time I live in Krasnodar. At the moment, in the studio I am the “oldest” employee, not counting the director, so I tried all the nuances of the udalenka in all its manifestations. So, in detail.
Communication
Skype, email, Google Talk, the Vkontakte internal group and the phone are enough for setting goals, discussing their implementation and putting projects into action. Jira and Bitrix 24 are generally mega-convenient services that allow not only working quickly with different tasks, but also taking into account the time spent. There are quality standards, there are instructions available. Programmers, always ready to come to the aid of “crooked hands”.
There is a minus. In the office, one way or another, without even listening to the conversations and not participating in the discussions, you are still up to date: who is the customer, what he wants, what offers, what options, what can we do ... But when I get a project, sometimes it’s completely nothing I don’t know about him, and I am beginning to taunt everyone who has something to do with him. Or carefully study the news on the company's website. Well, my colleagues are patient and over 4 years of work no one has ever sent me anywhere.
Efficiency
I know that there are people who perceive the house only as a place to relax. I am not one of them. At home I work much more efficiently than in the office. Measured. Firstly, because silence. No one distracts with gossip and phone calls, discussion of projects and suggestions to staff. Secondly, I can work in almost any condition. A mild attack of gastritis, a cold or a leg in a cast is not a problem. Lying in bed, I work with text just as quickly as when I am sitting at a table. Thirdly, my workplace is arranged exactly as it suits me. The laptop was bought in accordance with my needs, the table is selected in height, a hard chair for my beloved back. Well, and the sofa, of course. Work in a comfortable environment is undeniably easier. Home-grown, trained over the years of freelance and udalenki, listen to music on headphones, watch TV in the kitchen, move in a whisper. With extraneous questions during work do not pester. The exception is older relatives. But there is a separate discussion about them. A big plus for a woman is a child nearby. This is even more important if the child is a series of "electric broom." In a situation where I am calm, it is convenient and comfortable for me, the printer does not make noise and the scanner does not creak in the office, new tights or a harmful client are not discussed, work is more fruitful. It is a fact.
Perhaps this is a controversial statement, but personally, remote work allows me to dive deeper into the project due to greater efficiency and involvement. I usually face several tasks (or several dozen tasks), among which priority ones stand out. It is over them, not being distracted by side tasks, that I can afford to concentrate. The effect of immersion is especially noticeable when there is a large volume of projects of the same subject in work: furniture and interior, construction and building materials, fashion and style. An independent choice of projects makes it possible to take on the task exactly for which there is now a mood and readiness.
Discipline and schedule
The working day is clearly agreed. If necessary, I can move it for a couple of hours back and forth. However, my relatives produce at least 8 working hours. Although in the spring, when the sun is shining outside the window and the smell of strawberries is heard from the garden, it is very difficult to work. In the office, by the way, is not easier. You look, and outside the window there are crowds of smart students, a series of cars, ladies with packages from the shopping center - a complete upset.
I sincerely do not understand how it is possible to experience difficulties with self-discipline and the need to do what is needed today, and tomorrow's deadline to pass tomorrow? Well, this is my pure opinion, since I personally know people who can only work in a specially equipped office, with a dress code and in the neighborhood with the boss.
Conveniently
I do not push in the mornings in minibuses. I do not stand in traffic. I don’t wear high-heeled shoes all day and don’t suffer with a dress code. By evening, my face does not itch from the ink flying around the office from a poorly fitted cartridge and I am pretty much saving on lunches. For lunch, I manage to cook borsch, check my daughter's lessons or hang out the laundry to dry.
BUT! Close to amenities, pitfalls all the time.
Leaving the office, even if it’s only a 10-minute walk to the house, the brain manages to throw thoughts about work and focus on the house to the threshold. The distinction between work and home in this case is not difficult. It doesn’t work out here. Breakfast and dinner are held behind the monitor. What if I urgently need someone?
Going down to the kitchen in the evening, I am still immersed in a complex text or am tormented by the selection of topics for tomorrow's post in the social group. A computer that is not turned off in the evening with skype turned on provokes a prolonged working day and finish what has been started. Moreover, sometimes at 20 pm one of the late colleagues decides to puzzle me with something interesting. The head is disconnected from work tasks for a long time and is difficult. Sometimes the process of information processing is delayed at night. Nothing good. But I can’t manage to clearly distinguish between working and personal time in the conditions of remote work from home. The result is busy with working thoughts until late at night, pondering over the difference in approach to the Vkontakte and Facebook audience, in the morning I wake up in a state of thrice frozen and thawed fish. By Thursday, no performance.
Social aspects
And here are the solid cons.
Firstly, if the working week is busy, but there are a lot of household chores, then I creep out on the threshold of the house only by Thursday! By this day, I have a persistent thirst syndrome of human faces. And I literally enjoy the sight of people on the streets. Just like in the popular joke about the gynecologist and pathologist: “People, people! Faces, faces! ” This is treated with a daily promenade, which is not always possible to organize in view of the previous paragraph.
Secondly, as a woman, I simply do not have enough male attention. Before the dense inclusion in freelance and the transition to remote work, I had to work in men's groups. This is just a fairy tale what it is!
With remote work, you very quickly cease to feel like a woman, beautiful and desirable. It is also treated, but already in the gym. As a rule, a two-hour dose of a gym with a ratio of M and M 10: 3 is just enough for a week.
Thirdly, the opinion of others. This opinion doesn’t really bother me, but 30% of my friends think that by using remote work I cover up my dependent position on my husband’s neck. Another 30% are sure that the udalenka is something illegal and illegal, most likely a pyramid or a computer game, in which I do nothing, but only collect money from others. About 20% of friends think that I spit on the ceiling, once per hour I knock on the keyboard and for this I get a monthly salary. The remaining 20% understand that I work, but do not understand by whom and how. And therefore, they can afford to call at any time in order to fuss, because "you still sit at home." Particularly distinguished are the close relatives of the older generation who constantly suspect me of gambling. In any case, the vast majority are of the opinion
And I have absolutely no one to talk about my work with. And this is rather unpleasant, because in most conversations girlfriends and friends share their work difficulties and exploits. Only two people in the world know exactly who I work with and can at least somehow discuss working days with me: a husband and a daughter. The daughter, who spied on the progress of work on a project of a tour operator in Oceania, writes in a school questionnaire: "Mom writes about beaches and the sea." And the husband ... The husband says about the same, only a little more expanded: "She writes about concrete, dressers, tours to Fiji and all that stuff."
Financial and organizational issues
My pay is average. So, to the skeptical surprise of my friends, I don’t rake money with a shovel, but I get it in about the same amount as the average office worker in our city. An employment contract is simply forwarded by mail, as are vacation applications, orders and other bureaucracy. Twice a year, we exchange these pieces of paper with the accounting department of the studio without any difficulties.
This article was written on the table, but the idea to put it on the network came to my mind after it happened to help with the placement of the “Internet Client” vacancy on many large HR portals. To her surprise, she noticed that most of the web-studios and many companies that need designers, programmers, copywriters, content managers and SEO-specialists, require a presence in the office as a prerequisite. And rereading my notes on remote work, I still could not understand why people in a number of professions need to work in the office? Do employers share the common stereotypes about remote work illustrated at the beginning of the post?