I have been working remotely since March 2020 and transitioned to a fully remote position. Initially I was anxious about taking advantage of the flexibility. However as I have trialed working from coffee shops, hotel rooms, and even a train, these are all pretty productive.

Why It Matters

If you think that remote work means you need a full desk setup and can only work from home or a co-working space, you’re not taking full advantage of it. With the right tools and mindset you should be able to work from almost anywhere.

What Makes a Difference

• TED sent me a Verizon Jetpack hotspot which is usually good enough to surmount the poor WiFi in many places.
• The long battery life of Apple Silicon laptops makes working away from an outlet less perilous.
• Apple AirPods Pro makes it easy to tune out distractions around me wherever I am.

The Hard Part is Meetings and Collaboration

Taking a video call on a train or in a coffee shop is not the best experience for me nor the people around me. I can do plenty of coding work, but collaboration is harder. Especially with screen shares where have my 27” monitor is helpful.