NWR: Anyone Have a Remote Job?

I've worked remotely for three years. I LOVE it, but I am very introverted. I still need to be intentional about getting out, seeing people, and getting out of yoga pants . The time I save not driving and being able to do chores during my lunch break has spoiled me. I don't know if I could go back to an office.

I don't work remotely so not much advice to offer there, but have you thought about trying to freelance on the side at your current job? It sounds like your career would lend itself well to working remotely, and that would be a good way to test the waters before committing to being self-employed.

Other than that, I work in HR and we poach a TON of people on LinkedIn. Make your profile as public as possible and start adding anyone you meet professionally or socially. You'd be surprised by the non-local companies that will reach out, and then you can always negotiate remote work.

Good luck!

I do! I originally left my job in media to write books full-time, but I realized I'm not good at writing on a forced 9-5 schedule and I wasn't doing anything with my day. So I ended up, long story short, running a virtual executive assistance business.

My husband does! He works for a major health care company and they have a lot of telecommute jobs. He actually just went from full office to telecommute due to our move. I also looked for telecommute because I wanted to move but I ended up finding a permanent job in the new city.

I did sign up for flexjobs.com. It's helpful but be wary as some are like "be a Mary Kay consultant and work from home!" Or things that won't actually make you a living.

What industry are you in? I could recommend some companies with large telecommute workforces if I knew the industry

I will second the "intentional about going out". My husband is so social so I can see it being a bit isolating at first, being stuck at home all day. The good thing is our dog will get attention all day and be out of his kennel so we can go out and do things at night. We've been homebodies at night because we were worried about kenneling him all day and night

Ooops, you said you're a website designer. Ugh I need to read better. Are you more of a creative designer like in the art world or more in the IT world? Would you consider working for a major company and help design their website?

@NowASeptMrs: I have a MA in English, so a firm background in writing. Now, I'm mostly in the digital space, copywriting, web managing, and doing graphic design.

@Twostep: thanks for the suggestion; I've done the remote freelance thing in the past, but I hate dealing with 1099s and uncertainty of work :/

@Samantha A writing background could really help with this! That's what I have, too, and I've had some decent luck. I signed up for flexjobs.com at one point and was finding some surprisingly good opportunities.

I worked from home for a few years and loved it. I kept regular office hours (M-F 9-5) but without a commute my work-life balance was amazing. I have since moved back into the office full-time to be more visible to leadership and grow my network but I really miss telecommuting.

@Jessi: I have an awful commute and my work-life balance is awful. (Same for FH).

@Carly: I'll sign up!

I work 50+ hours a week in corporate finance, but freelance on the side as a copywriter from home. I've been doing this since 2010, when I started working for ChaCha, the old text message question and answer service, and it spiraled from there. I've worked with eBay, ask.com, RelSci, Hibu... It's been an ongoing thing for me for a long time.

I have a few different eggs (common work at home (WAH) term for jobs) right now but I usually shoot for an extra $500-800 a week writing articles, blog posts, ebooks, websites... you name it, I'll write it. My BA is in creative writing, so it's a great way to stay connected to something I love but can't make any real money doing. FH thinks I should operate my own writing company with private clients, but that's outside my interest level. I like my day job.

I currently work from home for Apple. I LOVE Apple. I HATE working from home. I am way too social and way too prone to depression and anxiety to be working in my own bedroom (especially with the weird hours i work, Tues-Sat 1-10, complete opposite of FH). So it was a great learning experience about myself and I think if I had normal hours it may have worked out but I just missed people.

As far as finding these jobs I agree with LinkedIn, that was how I found the new job that I start in a week (which isn't remote lol). Well, they found me actually but same deal. Good luck!!

I want to get a second job just for wedding expenses. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for remote jobs.

@Rachel, thanks for that input. I'm currently working freelance for an old employer, but I really want something FT :/

@CaitieMac: We live in cities, so I plan to go to coffeeshops

@Desiree: Oh yes!

FH works remote. One thing to keep in mind - it can get REAL lonely and isolating. FH is an introvert so it works for him, but I could never do it. I'd go insane.

weworkremotely.com is a good place to start looking for a full time position.

Thanks @niki, I'll check it out.

I currently work a combination. I work from home 2 days a week and from a client office 3 days a week. I'm remote from my company. And I've worked remotely before. Remote work is difficult. Especially if you're extroverted. As others have said, you definitely need to carve out time for yourself to socialize and get out of the house.

I have the problem of feeling like I need to work the commute time and work through lunch. I often will sit on my couch from 7 or 8 am until 5 or 6 pm, rarely getting up & forgetting to eat. You have to set boundaries for yourself and make sure you take breaks, if you're not the type to do it naturally.

Are you planning to move from SF to somewhere else? Have you considered asking your current company if they would be open to you retaining your position & just switching to remote work? Some companies are more flexible to that and especially being in SF, the likelihood of that is high.

@Briana We're hoping to move back east soon enough. It would be great to take my current position, but my company's dynamics are a little...abnormal.