# Succeeding as a remote worker Office Optional
## Sandhills Developement ### Chris Klosowski #### CTO - Partner ![Sanshills Monsters](images/global/sandhills-monsters.png)
### My Remote Work Story
### 2010 - 2012 Software Developer @ GoDaddy Worked from the office 100%
### 2012 - 2014 Ability to periodically work from home
### January 1, 2015 Joined Sandhills Development
### 2015 - 2016 100% Remote but worked from home
### Early 2017 Started working 2 days a week from Gangplank
### Mid 2017 Family started travling 1 time a quarter
### Mid 2017 - Current Full time working remote but not at home
![Sandhills Map with pin points in each area of the world](images/wcphx2019/sandhills-team-map.png) ## 20 People / 8 Timezones
![Sandhills Team on the beach in Fort Pierce Florida](images/wcphx2019/sandhills-beach-edited.png)
![Sandhills Team In a Meeting on Zoom](images/wcphx2019/the-sandhills-bunch.png)

Full-time remote

35%
Would Change Jobs
12%
Companies offer

Part-time remote

37%
Would Change Jobs
24%
Companies offer
## Pants not required Working from home can be difficult
## Pants not required Working ~~from home~~ remotely can be difficult

Find your routine

  • What is your 'Day Starter'?
  • Lunches
  • Breaks
  • Set a stop timer

Find your ideal place(s)

  • Coffee Shop
  • Co-Working Space
  • Parks
  • Traveling
  • Home

Digital Nomad (Traveling)

Work From Home

  • Have a fallback location
  • Build your ideal workspace
  • Comfort is key
  • "Blocker Busting" activities
## Socialization

No office, No problem?

  • Professional Associations
  • Co-Working Spaces
  • Religeous Groups
  • Non-Professional Groups
## Find people outside your profession
Association for Psychological Science researchers have found that social isolation increases the risk of mortality by 29%.
If you or someone you know needs support, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text “START” to 741-741.
## Work/Home Separation
![Meme of what my friends, clients, governmnet, mom, myself think I do, and what I really do](images/wcphx2019/working-from-home-meme-5.jpg)
![The Great Divide, ASU and U of A football helmets pointing at eachother](images/wcphx2019/divide.jpg)
short term affects of bad work life balance, 50% loss time with friends family, 51% missed life events, 68% bad team morale, 41% high burnout and turnover
Long term affects of bad work life balance, 1.66x risk of depression, 1.74x risk of anxiety

66% of full-time U.S. Employees strongly believe they do not have work/life balance.

  • Be realistic…
  • Be Flexible…
  • Adjust your workspace…
  • Plan Ahead…
  • Designate an "office"…
  • Discuss it…
## Communication ### Let me count the ways
  • Slack
  • Email
  • Project Management Tools
  • GitHub
  • Trello

Synchronous vs Asynchronous

Asynchronous Communication

  • Time-agnostic
  • Historical Reference
  • Allows more than text-based
  • Transfer real-time to persistent
  • Communicate in full thoughts

Over-communicate

  • Explain challenges
  • Voice concerns
  • Be verbose

Sources

  • Gallup State of the American Workplace
  • Association for Psychological Science: Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review
  • America Psychological Association Center for Organizational Excellence: By the Numbers: A Psychologically Healthy Workplace Fact Sheet
  • Work Life Balance Stats from Small Biz Trends (2018)
  • https://linktr.ee/chrisk.io
# Questions?