3 Advantages Remote Working Software Engineers Have for Career Growth, After a Decade of WFH in Tech

Join the Remote Engineers Growth Club

Remote work is an unfair advantage for growing your career.

If done right, working from home can give you the work-life balance to sustain high performance over years.

In-office workers don't have the luxury of doing the dishes between meetings, exercising during their commute, or taking a 5-minute micro nap when their eyes hurt. You, my fellow remote software engineer, do have that advantage.

Use remote work as a super power and grow your career while having true work-life balance.

Blend the Boundaries Between Work and Home

Ask anyone how to be productive working from home and you'll get some form of "set boundaries", "have a schedule".

Nonsense.

Boundaries are too rigid, especially if you have kids.

Yes, you should have a dedicated work space so you can have proper focus time when it is time to focus. But your schedule, let it ebb and flow. Aside from meetings, how you fill the time between is up to your energy and focus level.

Let your work schedule blend into your life schedule as you balance periods of focus and rest.

I'm an early-riser. I do my best focus work at 5:30am for two hours before I do breakfast with the kids. After those two hours, I need a break. It's the perfect time to have breakfast and drive my kids to school.

When I'm back from drop-off, I've had my mind off for an hour and am ready for my first meetings.

Use the Saved Commute Time to Invest in Yourself

All returns in life come from compound interest, as Naval Ravikant once tweeted (or X'ed?).

You have on average 1-2 hours per day more time than your in-office peers. That's 5-10 hours per week of time you have to invest in yourself. Use this time, or some of it, to learn, rest, exercise, meditate, or anything you believe will better yourself.

This has been my greatest source of leverage.

You won't notice much day-to-day. But look at yourself 3 months, 1 year ago, that's how you see the tiny pockets of growth compounding over time.

Use this time to your advantage and you'll rise to the top.

Take Real Breaks

Working from home, you have the ability to be hyper-intentional with your time.

When you start hitting a wall and feel your focus waning, take a real break. In the office this might mean walking to the kitchen or checking your personal e-mail for the 23rd time. At home, this means taking a micro nap or walking your dog outsides.

Listen to your body and mind, when you need a breather, take a real breather.

Keep Slack and work apps off your phone if you can. I do, and I love it. When you are away from your desk - BE AWAY from your desk and recharge. Focus on recharging.

Blending your life and work does not mean having your life directed by notifications.

Join the Remote Engineers Growth Club

The hardest part of working remote is not being in a tech hub to meet other like-minded colleagues.

I'm going to change that.

If you are a remote working engineer and would like to grow your career, network with industry peers, and build relationships that last:

Join the Remote Engineers Growth Club.

The Remote Engineers Growth Club is a private community of senior+ ICs working in tech.

I'll be launching in February 2024, it will be free to join for founding members.

Let me know in the comments what you'd like to see from this community.