[dvt]

Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument. It's also rife with dubious claims:

> I’ve been working remotely for four years now, and I know that working alone can make you lonely..

I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex-coworkers (that may also be fully remote), etc. I hear it a lot, but this argument honestly falls flat on its face as long as you're not a weird hermit that only works from your house. In fact, that main reason I wanted to work remotely is because I get to meet people (particularly women, as I'm getting to an age where marriage is starting to become a priority) that I'm more interested in than in the myopic circles that are commonplace at large tech companies.

> I like the idea that you can earn money while you sleep, but are those businesses fun?

Yes. Because it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. And freedom is fun. I mean, passive income is basically free money -- I'm not sure I'm getting what author is saying here.

> I imagine working on your own thing full time and on the side are definitely not the same; it’s scary, to be frank. If my side-project became my full-time work, might my passion for my project dwindle and become yet another job? How would it differ from my current job?

I don't see how working for your own business could ever become "just another job" -- you're acutely invested in the venture, your strategic decisions guide it's success (or failure). Working for a corporation is the definition of "autopilot" for most above-average employees (engineers or otherwise). This could not be more different when doing your own thing.

[iherbig]

>Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument.

The post opens with:

>This is more of a brain dump or an internal monologue. I don’t intend to prove any point or convince you to start your own thing. Neither do I want to reassure you that working for someone else is the best option for most people. My goal here is simply to get my thoughts out so I can think clearly again and rationalize this thing that’s been nagging me.

[dvt]

Missed this, mea culpa. Speed-read through the first few paragraphs, as they seemed to be an extended introduction.

[keiferski]

"When people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.”

[celticmusic]

I didn't actually read the article too thoroughly so I missed that quote, but that was essentially my thought when I read the other poster's complaint. "why is that a bad thing?".

[Insanity]

When I told people I took a full-time remote job at my previous company, they all asked me if I was going to miss seeing people.

And that just confused me - I do sports so I hang out with people, I take language classes outside of work, and on top of that I am married and we have a pretty active social life.

If you only see people at work - I think that's a red flag. Get a hobby where you see people, it's good for you. :P

[Tade0]

I hear it a lot, but this argument honestly falls flat on its face as long as you're not a weird hermit that only works from your house.

Having worked remotely for close to five years now those who worked in coffee shops and not from the comfort of their own homes were usually the weirdos.

[Xcelerate]

I work in an office currently but did the coffee shop thing in grad school. That would be my work environment preference honestly; something about the ambient background noise / environment and knowing none of those people will interrupt you. (Actually, my office has a coffee shop within in and that is indeed where I sit most of the day when I’m not in meetings.)

I am an extreme introvert though and could go just fine for weeks without interacting with anyone, so if that’s what you mean by “weird”, then yeah, I guess so.

[whytaka]

As a near daily regular of a cafe to work on my own projects, I’m curious why you think that. I won’t take anything personally. :)

[Tade0]

This is just my experience so far.

For some reason those whom I worked with who were choosing to work in such places usually were also not overly sociable. I have, of course, at least one example of a person who works at home and is self-admittedly antisocial, but the correlation is still there.

I have this one friend who only really uses his tiny apartment for sleep and other basic stuff. He works at coffee shops and doesn't cook even though he's good at it. Getting to know this guy was a lengthy and laborious process.

[daxfohl]

I think the rambling was basically the point. He wasn't sure. I found it kind of refreshing.

[hunter-gatherer]

Paraphrasing, but he said early on that he wasn't trying to convince the reader of anything and that it was just a brain dump of his thoughts.

[just_myles]

I thought that was a bit odd. If it was for the author's own rationalization and is not trying to convince the audience of a any kind of point, then why is the author publishing this publically? Why can't the author write this out in notepad or on pen and paper(Like I do.) and leave it at that? Vanity?

[v64]

His brain ramblings may be useful to someone else out there having similar experiences or thoughts.

[unishark]

Well as for entrepreneurs, limited ability to meet people is a common complaint. There's even a TED talk about the issue. We had a successful founder speak to my class when I was in school, and this is one of the downsides they discussed. Most people meet friends through work, and meet significant others through friends.

[Nimitz14]

I think his points are valid. Speaking as someone who has spent the past 18 months doing my own thing.

> I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex-coworkers (that may also be fully remote), etc. I hear it a lot, but this argument honestly falls flat on its face as long as you're not a weird hermit that only works from your house. In fact, that main reason I wanted to work remotely is because I get to meet people (particularly women, as I'm getting to an age where marriage is starting to become a priority) that I'm more interested in than in the myopic circles that are commonplace at large tech companies.

It shouldn't be controversial that if you decide upon a path in life where 8 hours of it you spend by yourself, you're going to meet less people than if you were working in a team at a company. Also, some people do not live in the same place they went to school and/or university for example (unlike you).

> Yes. Because it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. And freedom is fun. I mean, passive income is basically free money -- I'm not sure I'm getting what author is saying here.

If you want to make money, you cannot do whatever you want, you have to do what earns you money. And sometimes what makes money is not what is fun.

> I don't see how working for your own business could ever become "just another job" -- you're acutely invested in the venture, your strategic decisions guide it's success (or failure). Working for a corporation is the definition of "autopilot" for most above-average employees (engineers or otherwise). This could not be more different when doing your own thing.

Passion can dissipate. Doubts will set in as you question yourself whether it's all really worth it. If you want to make money you will inevitably have to start doing things which you would rather not do (because you would rather do something else), and that's when you start to question the whole project, because if success is in doubt then why spend your time doing stuff you don't enjoy if you have the freedom to do something else [which is fun]?

That all sounds quite negative, so let me balance it out by saying I really enjoyed working autonomously, but if trying to create a business with a product I would definitely aim to do it with a cofounder or two. Consulting by oneself is fine though.

[archagon]

> I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex-coworkers (that may also be fully remote), etc.

This reads like “I have a social life.” I’m sure the author has a social life as well, but it’s way harder to casually chat to people throughout the day when you’re working on your own. (Source: also self-employed/solo for four years.)