People see my posts working from different cities and countries and think remote work is just about freedom and flexibility. They see the coffee shop photos, the European trips, the "work from anywhere" lifestyle.
What they don't see is the years of discipline it took to make this work.
Finding and getting a remote job is actually much easier now than it's ever been. Companies are hiring remotely, the opportunities are there, the interviews happen over Zoom.
Remote work isn't hard because of the work itself. It's hard because it requires a completely different level of discipline and organization that most people don't have when they start.
Let me break down what I mean.
You need to be exceptional at communication. Not just good. Exceptional. Because when you're not in an office, nobody sees you working. Nobody knows if you're stuck. Nobody knows if you're making progress unless you tell them. You need to over-communicate in a way that feels unnatural at first.
You need to manage your own work without anyone watching. There's no manager walking by your desk. There's no peer pressure from seeing others work. You need self-discipline to actually get things done when Netflix is right there and nobody would know if you took a three-hour lunch.
Stakeholder management becomes critical. You can't just grab someone for a quick chat. Everything needs to be planned, documented, and communicated clearly. You need to keep multiple people aligned across time zones without the benefit of casual hallway conversations.
Your organizational skills need to be perfect. Files need to be where people expect them. Documentation needs to be clear. Your Figma files can't be a mess. When people can't tap you on the shoulder to ask where something is, everything needs to be self-explanatory.
And here's the thing that most people underestimate. It takes about 3 to 5 years of constant discipline to mold yourself into a great remote collaborator.
Three to five years.
Not three months. Not one year. Years of building these habits until they become second nature.
I've been remote since 2018. Seven years. And I'm still learning better ways to communicate, organize, and collaborate remotely. It's not something you figure out in your first six months.
So when people see me working from Europe or different cities and think "that looks easy, I want that," what they're not seeing is the seven years of practice that makes it look easy.
Remote work isn't for everybody. And that's okay.
It's for people who have the patience and discipline to build these skills over years. It's for people who can work independently without external structure. It's for people who can communicate proactively instead of reactively.
It's not easy. It just looks easy from the outside.
stevenalowe•2mo ago