I, like millions of others, make my living in front of a screen. For 8 to 12 hours every day, I am glued to it, information flowing from its luminescent glow in through my eyes to my brain.
Screens are my connection to the rest of the world. My teammates are scattered around the globe, in numerous different timezones, and the screen allows me to interact with them every single day.
It is my connection to the screens that allow me to do what I do. It is the very presence of these screens that have permitted me to build a sustainable business that started with just a few lines of code in my college dorm room.
The screens are a integral part of my daily life. They dictate much of what I do each day and the emotions that ebb and flow within me are largely driven by the information portrayed through their pixels.
These screens, however, need not be tethered to the tyrannical dictator that is a desk. Their glow may constantly affect my mood and my actions, but I need not stay within the confines of a desk or a chair while permitting them to do so.
Today, there is greater access to the freedom of remote work than ever before. When many consider the idea of working remotely, they imagine sitting at home on their couch or in their home office. While accurate for some, that view is far too limited for the great freedom that our remote connections grant us.
In this connected world, we have the freedom to go anywhere and work from almost anywhere. While the desire to explore this great world is not a shared desire among everyone, it is one of my desires.
Some days exploring this world means no more than taking my bike to a new part of the city in which I live. Other days it is hopping on a plane and flying to the south pacific.
Through the great connectivity of the internet, my physical location matters about as much as the color of my shirt on any given day, so long as there is a data connection for my phone or tablet where I am.
The very idea of sitting or standing in the same two foot square for 8-12 hours each day, 5-7 days each week goes against the very idea of the freedom working remotely grants me.
By grasping onto the freedom of movement that remote work gives me, I not only sate the appetite my mind and soul have for adventure, I also work to cure the ailments of a perpetually sedentary life.
Desks and their chair appendages are one of the great dictators of our age. They easily account for a monstrously large percentage of obesity and severe health problems in the world by confining us to their sedentary prisons.
It is my desire to not only be free in the terms of liberty and politics, but also to be free in body, soul, and mind from my desk.
Remote work grants me that freedom and I have chosen to embrace it.
Will you?
Love this post and yes. It’s so important to disconnect each day — I know we’ve talked about biking, walking, running etc.
Anything to just disconnect from the noise (and the signal, even) and kind of get back to things that feel a little simpler.
Good for the soul.
In the last three days I have worked from three different locations. Tomorrow will be number four! Well said Pip.
I work remotely occasionally and usually for me this means sitting in my home office. To be honest I’m a bit afraid to work anywhere else. Do you find that you’re just as productive? I feel like it would be easy to get distracted by the surroundings.
Depends on the day and location. Some places I can work better than others. Of all things I have found that helps, practice is definitely at the top. It may sound silly, but the best way to get better at working from anywhere is to just commit and start doing it. The distractions will become easier to ignore over time.