Working from Wherever

Recorded at 360iDev 8/27/2014 - http://vimeo.com/105080107
Version with presenter notes: https://cloudup.com/cu9AdHPlRhX

What happens when you love where you live but really want that perfect job that happens to be in another city or maybe even country? Move? That’s so 2002.

Being a remote worker in the technology field is continuing to be a common occurrence when employers are looking for talent. Some companies, like Automattic (WordPress), are nearly 100% distributed and everyone works from wherever they want, whenever they want.

There are challenges surrounding working for a company remotely that is a traditional business as well as working for a completely distributed organization. Not everyone can work remote and there are issues surrounding staying motivated, inspired, and feeling like you’re part of a real team. I’m going to share some of the challenges I’ve gone through as a remote worker and walk you through what I’ve had to do to cope and change as a person.

Desk sharing: http://www.sharedesk.net/

Transcript

1. Working from Wherever Make Work Less Stabby
2. Who I am • Aaron Douglas • Milwaukee, WI USA • Mobile Maker for Automattic Inc. (WordPress.com) • Prior life Enterprise Java • @astralbodies
3. You Want to Work Remote
4. Remote where you are now
5. Convince the Boss
6. Convince your Coworkers
7. Don’t Become Second Class
8. – from Remote by Jason Fried “Feeling like a second-class worker doesn’t take much. Case in point: a roomful of local people and a shitty intercom system that makes it hard for the remote worker to hear what’s going on and even harder to participate. There’s also the annoyance of having every debate end with “John and I talked about this in the office yesterday and decided that your idea isn’t going to work.” F*** that.”
9. Remote at a new place
10. Job Boards
11. Word of Mouth
12. Remote with Travel
13. Remote 100% Distributed
14. Trust
15. Why work remotely?
16. Location / Relocation
17. Distractions
18. Commuting
19. Home
20. Flexibility
21. Ability
22. Challenges
23. Information Overload
24. Attention
25. Loneliness
26. Visibility
27. Communication
28. Synchronous
29. Asynchronous
30. Virtual Watercooler
31. Attention
32. Keeping Yourself FOCUSED
33. Disorders
34. Workspace
35. Ergonomics
36. Employers should invest
37. Look at New Options
38. Over-spec EVERYTHING
39. Plan For Downtime
40. Back Up Twice
41. Combatting Loneliness
42. Coffee Shops
43. Coworking Spaces
44. Desk Rental
45. Libraries
46. Meetup
47. Health
48. Food
49. Exercise
50. Burrito Friday
51. Iterate
52. Questions?
53. Aaron Douglas ! @astralbodies ! http://astralbodi.es ! ! @ Automattic Inc. pssssst we’re hiring!!