The advantages and disadvantages of remote working

Probably everyone has thought about it at some point: Remote working. Working comfortably from a hotel room/apartment or even a camper van, working when you want and from whereever you want. To a certain extent, this is indeed the case. I have been working mostly remotely since November 2021, and I can say that I now have a pretty good idea of how it works. I find it incredibly enjoyable and feel blessed to be able to work remotely (this likely wouldn’t have been possible not too long ago!), but I also see the downsides. I would like to highlight both sides in this blog post. So, are you a (future) remote worker or just curious about my perspective on remote work? Read on!

First things first: how exactly do I work? I think it’s relevant to indicate how I have worked remotely over the past 3 years. There are countless ways to work remotely, and the way you do it is important background information, I think. I started as an entrepreneur in September 2021 and have been working partly remotely since November 2021. My girlfriend is from Hungary and she started her PhD in the capital, Budapest. We wanted to live together, and Hungary is a very affordable country (quite handy for a starting entrepreneur!). I worked remotely from Budapest for 1 year and 10 months, returning to the Netherlands every 4/5 weeks to meet clients. From September 2023, I started working fully remotely. We have traveled through Slovenia, Italy, Romania, England, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. From January 2024, I have been living in Reykjavík, Iceland for half a year, as you can read here.

In summary, I have been working fully remotely since September (I hardly ever return to the Netherlands), and before that, I worked hybrid, spending short periods in the Netherlands every few weeks. One last point to mention is that I am active as a freelancer, which obviously means I have a high degree of autonomy in organizing my work.

Advantage 1: Traveling & Working

By far the biggest advantage for me is being able to travel and work simultaneously. I absolutely love discovering new places and being on the road. In a regular job, this is only possible during vacation periods or long weekends. Right now, I am essentially traveling full-time. I am currently staying longer in Iceland with a fixed address, but we still travel a lot! We have been able to see and experience so many places in recent years, all while working.

Advantage 2: Efficiency

Honestly, I didn’t necessarily see this one coming beforehand. But efficiency is a huge advantage of remote working. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy being in the office occasionally (and I miss it too, as you’ll read later in this piece!). But the absence of distractions allows me to fully focus on the tasks I need to complete. It is crucial, however, that I have a clear priority plan, as well as work structure and discipline. Without these three aspects, it is difficult to work remotely. I struggled with this initially but have since mastered it. It also helps that I have few to no appointments during the week. This gives me a lot of time to be as effective as possible with sourcing, recruitment marketing campaigns, and other aspects of recruitment. Lastly, I have little to no commuting time. I like to choose places that are close to where I live so that I don’t waste much time on commuting.

Advantage 3: Autonomy & Flexibility

A big advantage that might not only apply to remote workers but also to a larger group of freelancers. I have no boss, so I am not required to work a certain number of hours per day or week. This means I can occasionally take a day off (for a road trip through Iceland, for example!) or stop a few hours earlier to play a game of squash, for instance. I really enjoy this freedom. However, it is up to me to ensure that my work gets done. I find this autonomy very pleasant in the life of a remote freelancer.

Is it all positive then? No, it’s not. I also see some downsides to this way of life.

Disadvantage 1: No real-life contact

Fortunately, nowadays we can do a lot via Teams and other tools (this is, of course, one of the big reasons why this way of working is possible!). But this brings a downside, namely that I see few people in real life with whom I do have a lot of contact. I have many friends, colleagues through my clients, many customers, and many members within the business club I am part of, whom I rarely or never see or have seen in the past years. I sometimes find this a bit challenging. People who know me will know that I am very social and like to be in contact with people. This is sometimes difficult for me and is probably the main reason to work more hybrid in the future (when we are over our travel phase😉) so partly at the client’s location and partly remotely. This also plays into another disadvantage I experience:

Disadvantage 2: Difficulty with entrepreneurship

Of course, I became an entrepreneur because I want to create and discover new things. And that has certainly happened in recent years. I have been able to develop considerably as a recruiter, both in commercial and corporate areas. However, I notice (especially now that I work 100% remotely) that there is a downside. In my experience, remote working thrives best if your activities are clear. The less consultation required and the clearer the procedures, the better. Working with a small number of colleagues also fits in well with this. I have now managed to complete a number of assignments where this is possible. However, I notice that I really look for clear and structured work. These are the types of activities that I would avoid in the past (before my time as a remote recruiter)!
I notice that I am less concerned with developing new ideas here remotely than when I am at home. In fact, as soon as I get home, ideas pop into my head. And when I sit down with fellow recruiters, customers and colleagues, it gets even better. One idea after another comes flying around my head and I feel that entrepreneurial drive again that made me decide to become an entrepreneur. That entrepreneurial drive fades away slowly as soon as I start working remotely again. I have been thinking about how this can be done for some time and I think this is due to the fact that remote living is already quite a challenge. Travel, new countries, cities and languages. This all takes energy and adaptability. I think it is very natural that I look for more stability in terms of work in such an environment.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, people! The remote life suits me very well. I have a very exciting life, and we experience so much. We meet new people and cultures, and I see places I never thought I would see. But especially recently, I increasingly see that by choosing one path, you temporarily leave the other behind. “Choose your battles,” it is sometimes said, and I think I have chosen the right “battle.” I still have many years to further develop as an entrepreneur, and no one can take away these wonderful travel years from me. But it’s sometimes good to reflect on what is going well and what is not. I hope you found this an interesting piece. If you would like to discuss this with me, feel free to message me or comment below. I am very curious if others look at it this way too. Thanks for reading!