Remote Work Sucks Sometimes

And that's ok

First: For all freelancers and wannabe freelancers, I’m doing a webinar on kickstarting a freelance business and closing new clients in 30 days. It’s free, plus the first 50 registrations get a free copy of my ebook Empathetic Sales (we already have 40 registered, so act quickly!). 

Today: As I write this, I’ve just published an article on the countries that have remote worker visas. The tagline of the article was about escaping COVID, since the countries in question have very low case counts. But that got me thinking: for all the freedom of remote work, good god can it suck sometimes. To think that remote work is now a mechanism to escape a deadly virus is both cool and harrowing to me. Cool that it’s an option that exists. Harrowing that it needs to exist as an option at all. 

I frequently write about the benefits of remote work - and there are tons. But like all good things, it’s not perfect. And too much of a good thing can make you feel tired, bored, exhausted, burnt out, and any number of things we don’t want in our lives. This happened to me this week already, and I published a mea culpa for it on Tuesday.

If you’re also feeling a bit down and out - perhaps it’s the politics, perhaps it’s the weather, or perhaps it’s that tacky invention called daylight savings time - I dedicate this newsletter edition to you.

In the interest of mental energy for all of us, I’m keeping this short (for folks who are new to subscribing, you’ll find that this is an anomaly and I usually go very in-depth, like my manifesto of My Five Fucks).

Here’s what I really want to say: shine a light on all the negative and bad in your life. But don’t do it to focus on it. Do it to illuminate it. Do it to make nagging issues clear so you can take action. Do it for your own peace of mind because the anxiety of not knowing is far worse than the nuisance of dealing with the knowledge. 

If remote work sucks for you right now, start asking why. Get to a diagnosis beyond “it sucks” and toward “this part of it sucks.” When you know the “this” in question, you can take action. Or at least you can sturdy yourself and push through if that’s what’s necessary. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

And if you’re interested in a deeper read, I recently interviewed two successful entrepreneurs that survived the 2008 financial crash and are now navigating COVID. They had some wonderful insights to share.

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