Many of us have been in that place where we are commuting at least 5 days a week in miserable weather to an office job we no longer, or perhaps never enjoyed. Potentially you’re squeezed up on another delayed subway train with someone’s armpit in your face after a long day at the office. Maybe you’re in the service industry and have had enough of serving people that know how to push your buttons, and not in a good way. There’s that moment where we all might think “I’m done with this. Time to book a ticket out of here.”
TENERIFE, SPAIN - JANUARY 19: Woman sits alone on the rocks with colorful seaweed working with a ... [+]
However, that’s not a long term solution. I used to do that service job, that desk job at an investment bank, and many things in between. There were times where I thoroughly enjoyed the jobs I did, but the common question I am asked now is how to work remotely.
Let’s be honest. Not everyone can do it. The world doesn’t need many more blogs, and it certainly doesn’t need any more Instagram influencers that simply take a picture and are not actually influential with a greater message beyond “hey, look at this pretty picture, please buy what I’m selling”—picture edits, online courses, clothing, face cream, the list goes on.
Benjamin David works on his laptop at the Kulturstrand (Culture Beach) in Munich, Germany, 28 June ... [+]
Too many people are quick to think that quitting a relatively stable job and jetting to the other side of the world to work remotely is the easy way out. It can be, by only if you find something you love, and most importantly have discipline.
Discipline to understand that working remotely does not mean you are on holiday. I’ll write that down again, you are not on holiday. I am lucky enough to have created a job that takes me around the world, but that doesn’t mean in these amazing destinations I get to see the things I want to see.
The moment that you let your surrounding control your schedule, is the moment you lose the discipline to work remotely.
WeWork is one of many companies offering shared working space for people looking to have an office ... [+]
So, first off you need to carve out your niche and understand what it is that you will do to work remotely. This may well start with a skill that you have, and potentially acquired from your previous or current job, or even something you are yet to learn but incredibly passionate about.
Persistence is key to carving out a new path along with discipline. There will be good and bad days, like with anything, but if you are essentially your own boss, you need to deal with these emotions yourself.
Once you have figured out what it is you will do and your skill you need to understand where you want to be remotely and your ultimate goal to achieve from this. You can get shared office space through a plethora of companies allowing you to hop around the world for just a few hundred dollars a month, but it’s important to keep your costs down until you build up a network and people that attest to the quality of your work.
The beauty of the present is that technology has largely made working in an office redundant. Meetings can be held remotely through video platforms, and jobs can be posted and applied for on a contractor level across many different websites such as Upwork or Fiverr. If you have a skill such as editing, copywriting, photography or almost anything right down to being a virtual assistant, these platforms will be a great starting point.
Even if you’re not your own boss directly, you can work for many different bosses depending on how much time you are willing to put in.
There are many fantastic benefits of working remotely. Largely you can work the hours that suit your schedule. Spend more time with family, less time communing and even take vacation time off-peak.
Adrián Steckel, CEO, OneWeb, left with Kit Eaton, Freelance Technology Writer, Formerly NYTimes, ... [+]
However, it’s important to remember that beyond step one of understanding your skill and niche and sticking with what you’re doing through hard times, there are difficult aspects to working remotely.
It can get lonely, potentially resulting in more limited social interactions. There are times when an office environment can be comforting. All those times coming into work on a Monday and having little interest in hearing about people’s weekends can be missed when you don’t have that in your life at all.
The overriding decision to make before taking the plunge to work remotely is whether you can be disciplined enough with your time, as well as having a skill that makes you an asset in your niche.
If you can do that, then the benefits of working remotely will offset those downsides. Just don’t make the mistake of jumping into it because you only see the positive sides of remote work externally, without the hard work that goes behind the scenes.
