remote. office not required - jason fried

[...]... design-firm corner, saving rent and enjoying the hassle-free setup, for close to a decade! Now we have thirty-six employees and a West Loop Chicago office we helped design It’s got a small theater for presentations and a ping-pong table, and on any given day ten employees work there Is it worth it? We think so, but we wouldn’t have said the same thing ten years ago, and probably not even five Is it required? ... planet: check, check, check Not all or nothing Embracing remote work doesn’t mean you can’t have an office, just that it’s not required It doesn’t mean that all your employees can’t live in the same city, just that they don’t have to Remote work is about setting your team free to be the best it can be, wherever that might be Across companies, large and small, flexible remote-working strategies can be... spend at the office emailing someone who sits only three desks away People go to the office all the time and act as though they’re working remotely: emailing, instant messaging, secluding themselves to get work done At the end of the day, was it really worth coming to the office for it? Look around inside your company and notice what work already happens on the outside, or with minimal face-to-face interaction... quality of life, about getting access to the best people wherever they are, and all the other benefits we’ll enumerate That it may also end up reducing costs spent on offices and result in fewer-but-more-productive workers is the gravy, not the turkey Though our suggesting that remote work benefits both employer and employee may sound overly chipper and have you thinking of the sentiment expressed in... Absolutely not, but we’ve earned it It’s a luxury, not a necessity—although it sure is nice that a few times a year all our employees can fly in for a company-wide gathering, and we have an awesome space to meet For other companies where the trappings of success are an important part of the image—for example, advertising agencies or law firms or C-level recruiting outfits—having a showy office may... prediction: The luxury privilege of the next twenty years will be to leave the city Not as its leashed servant in a suburb, but to wherever one wants The new luxury A swanky corner office on the top floor of a tall building, a plush company-provided Lexus, a secretary It’s easy to laugh at old-money corporate luxuries But the new-money, hip ones aren’t all that different: a fancy chef and free meals, laundry... the Chicago office And even that can be a tad too frequent if our goal is to really blow it out on the free-riff idea ramp! But what about those spur-of-the-moment rays of brilliance?! First, few such rays actually warrant the label “brilliant”—more likely they’re mere rays of enthusiasm (and not to be confused with a priority) Second, you’d be amazed how much quality collective thought can be captured... what about the family men and women who choose to work from home? It’s not always easy to set boundaries Kids will be kids, demanding your attention right now, and your spouse, just like a coworker, might not realize that an interruption to show you the Internet’s latest hit meme is not what the productivity doctor ordered The key is not to think of any of this as exclusively good or bad Rather, you should... belongs to those who get it Do you think today’s teenagers, raised on Facebook and texting, will be sentimental about the old days of all-hands-on-deck, Monday morning meetings? Ha! The great thing about technology, and even working remotely, is that it’s all up to you It’s not rocket science, and learning the tools that make it possible won’t take that long either But it will take willpower to let go of... tomorrow, just because you like skiing Some people do that, but there are many possible in-betweens as well Could you go there for three weeks? Just like working from the office, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing The new luxury is the luxury of freedom and time Once you’ve had a taste of that life, no corner office or fancy chef will be able to drag you back Talent isn’t bound by the hubs If you . Wants “Leave your office at the office. Lose the soul-sapping commutes. Jettison the workplace veal chambers and banish cookie-cutter corporate culture. Smart, convincing, and prescriptive, Remote offers. playing field One-on-ones Remove the roadblocks Be on the lookout for overwork, not underwork Using scarcity to your advantage LIFE AS A REMOTE WORKER Building a routine Morning remote, afternoon. which remote work increases both quality of work and job satisfaction. Office not required isn’t just the future—it’s the present. Now is your chance to catch up. CHAPTER THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR REMOTE