Reading Time: 3 minutes

Read this funny and inspiring story of Dragica, to find out if remote work is right for you.

Would remote work be good for you? Like everything else, it can be the best thing ever, or it can be downright disappointing. It depends on what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Here, we are not talking about freelancing but about being a part of a company and having a long-term contract with them. When you work remotely, you just don’t get depressed from the cubicle life (or office life). The magic is that you can do the work from anywhere, anywhere that you want. Not the getting depressed part. The getting-the-work one. So, let’s examine what is it really to work remotely in the next few paragraphs.

We’ll share the story of Dragica, a Serbian developer, working remotely for a British company. Of course, this is not her real name but c’mon: we have to follow the GDPR rules or else some remotely-employed-by-the-government people in black suits will come knocking on our door. 😊

Dragica lives in the capital Belgrade. She graduated in ICT Engineering, likes coding and has a cat, which likes sleeping on her keyboard. The cat is called Pas. Like so many graduates these days (see for yourselves) Dragica wants an exciting workplace, where she can apply her programming skills, and learn new ones. However, even when living in a capital city, this isn’t so easy. Therefore, she opts for working remotely for the said British company. After negotiating her salary, she swipes Pas from the keyboard and starts working. Halfway in the first week of her contract, Dragica rapidly finds out the pros and the cons of her new way of working.

Pros:

1. Every day is Caturday! Instead of visiting the cafeteria every once in a while, Dragica can take a couple of minutes to take care of Pas, thus proving that having a cat means that it owns you and not the other way around. She can also brew her favorite cinnamon coffee without compromising her taste buds with the lukewarm brown water that the office vending machines usually spew out. The same goes for lunch.
2. Commuting to work is commuting from the bedroom to the living room. In Belgrade (and its metropolitan area) there are almost 2 million people. Commuting early in the morning and getting back in the 5p.m. traffic jams is an endeavor, far from desired by any of the Belgradians. Instead of going through this, Dragica can just stay on her balcony at 5:00 p.m. and smugly smile at the human ant pile below her, because she works from home and she just finished her daily tasks.
3. Being with loved ones is becomes possible. Branislav, Dragica’s boyfriend, is a full-time Twitch streamer, meaning that he rarely leaves his apartment. So, if Dragica gets lonely, she can just take her laptop, leave some cat food to Pas and work from Branislav’s apartment. This way they can be together while doing their jobs.

Cons

1. Communication can be a nightmare. Dragica’s supervisor is in the Philippines and also works remotely. The time zone difference makes it hard to get in touch with him in real-time. So, they have to exchange tasks and other information through emails and Slack. However, once getting used to this asynchronous communication, Dragica becomes totally independent and can work flawlessly.
2. Distractions are not fun. But this doesn’t mean they don’t happen. Like when the neighbors suddenly decide to drill at noon because this seems the perfect time for installing new shelves. To cope with her neighbors’ urge to fix things with a power drill, Dragica decided to find a co-working space, where it is quiet and cozy. But Pas will surely miss her.
3. Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated. Some days you just want to see the world burn and burning it by working yourself off is just not the right way to do it. Dragica, of course, has her own similar days. It can be hard to stay motivated and give your 100% every single day, especially if your boss isn’t breathing down your neck. And this is how Dragica discovered that she likes kick-boxing. Being there for an hour every day turned out to be great for motivating her to do her job faster so she can hit the gym.

So, there you have it. Dragica’s story can easily be yours or your friends’ story. You know the benefits of working remotely. More free time for yourself and the ones close to you. Scheduling your day as it fits you best. And so on. The crucial things, however, are the cons of such a lifestyle. Are you able to combat them effectively, as Dragica did?

If you can, be sure to register your profile with us. We at remotemore.com have created a marketplace where remote developers and companies connect about remote jobs.