7 Things I learned working as a remote software developer

When I started my job as a react native developer ~2.5 years ago, working from home was the last thing on my mind.

In fact, if anything I wanted to avoid working from home because I had the notion that it is hard to focus and full of distractions, and boy, was I right.

Early March 2020 I was sent home with the instructions (or lack thereof) to work from home. The change wasn’t smooth and I had a lot of learning to do and learned I did.

Here are some of the things I learned working as a remote software developer and some lessons for those who are just starting.

1. Have a workspace (must)

Like most people, I did not have a separate home office or even a work desk at home. I tried working from almost all the pieces of furniture available to me i.e. a chair, a couch, and even my bed but all these things made me acutely aware of one thing and one thing only, I possess a back, which hurts like hell no matter where I sit.

I had to get myself a comfortable chair and a desk to preserve my back and my productivity. I set it up and I was one step closer to my home office than I was at the beginning of my work-from-home ordeal.

In other words, a separate room or a dedicated workspace in your house is a must-have, but most importantly, you need to have a somewhat comfortable table and chair to set things up without killing your back or your motivation.

2. Have a good work setup

Working from home means that you are bringing your office to your home. And one thing the office offers is better than average equipment to sustain your work and productivity.

While working from home nothing can be more detrimental to your desire to work than a lagging machine. In simple words, a dedicated machine or separate OS user will help you a lot.

Fortunately, I was able to get a better setup in a few weeks and my company helped me out too.

If you are just starting out then one thing to keep in mind is that don’t let your lack of state-of-the-art equipment frustrate you.

Make adjustments as you go to get the work done. This philosophy stands true for everything including your furniture, workspace, and even equipment.

3. Work Boundaries

I live alone in a relatively distraction-free environment, but you may not. In this case, it is pertinent to your ability to work remotely that you set work boundaries.

These boundaries are not only for others around you but also for yourself. It is easy to let the work bleed into your life so much that you can hardly distinguish one from the other. I know because I still struggle to maintain proper boundaries, but I have gotten better with time.

When I started, I was working overtime, all the time, and even on weekends and it wasn’t pretty (emotionally and physically). The key is to effectively give yourself deadlines and stop working at a certain time.

Here, forcing yourself to adhere to a typical 7-8 hour workday comes in handy. Put an alarm and get out of the workspace ASAP. Sign out from work mode and relax.

4. Get Lunch/Snacks

Working from home doesn’t mean that you won't get hungry during a rigorous coding session. But having to leave your workspace to order food definitely break your concentration.

Pre-organize lunch/snacks preferably something nutritious like fruits or nuts will keep you energized and help you stay focused during work.

5. Give yourself a day off (because of work-life balance!)

When there are no boundaries, we tend to either expand the work we already have or take on more than we can keep up with during the week.

I say this because I have worked more Sundays than I can count because I was either slacking off or because I chewed more than I could swallow. Now, I have a rule to NEVER work on Sundays. It’s off-limits! This means that I either try and get everything due done by Friday or possibly on Saturday leaving me with Sundays free.

Granted that working remotely gives you the freedom to do whatever you want, don’t forget to be a good manager/boss to yourself. It’s okay if you are just figuring things out, but eventually learning and enforcing yourself to have definite work-life boundaries is the key to productive personal and professional.

6. Managing Distractions

Distractions aren’t always external, oftentimes it’s the way things are set up or how we behave to an external stimulus like a notification or even an internal stimulus like tiredness or boredom.

To manage distractions; internal and external, you need to be one step ahead by planning and implementing rules.

To minimize external distractions, turn off all notifications except most important to avoid getting distracted by notifications from all and sundry. Get noise-canceling headphones or put on some light music as white noise. White noise/workplace background noise also helps create the right mood for work.

If you live with family, communicating with them about not disturbing you during work hours tends to be effective (most of the time).

To avoid getting tired sitting in one place, make sure you stretch every so often.

7. Make room for Learning & Experimentation

And lastly, make time for learning new things from time to time. This could be in the form of enrolling in a new course or simply reading an article about some new development in the tech world. Find blogs, courses, and people to follow and learn from and take a break from working to allow yourself to relax and learn something new.

I make this happen by contributing to an open-source project or taking part in a random cloud challenge. It keeps things fresh and lively in my home office while also helping me learn new things.

To sum things up…

Remote work, if done right can be fun and liberating, and if done wrong can lead to a tilted work-life balance.

While I have talked about a lot of routines and managing time, energy, and life, we shouldn’t forget that life is full of surprises, some enjoyable, others not so much. There’s only so much you can control.

Let this be a reminder that you can’t control everything and if you face hurdles and minor hiccups that distract you, it is okay.

Let me know in your comments what is your personal experience with remote work and how you manage the distractions.