As a passionate Linux programmer and a responsible family member, my current situation demands that I work from home. While the prospect of remote working day offers a certain degree of flexibility, it also presents unique challenges that I have learned to manage over time. A typical day in my remote work routine involves a careful balance of family commitments, project deadlines, and effective communication with my team members. In this article, I will describe how I navigate these challenges and maintain a productive work-life balance while working from home.
I usually wake up at 6am to study or work on my own. 7am will be the time when I go back to the bedroom to wake the kids up and urge them to brush their teeth and go to school.
I finish breakfast at 8 o’clock, I usually start work right after.
Around 12 pm, I will go to lunch and rest for a while.
12:30 I will have a meeting with the client. Due to foreign customers, they have a different time zone with Vietnam, it is around mid-morning for them.
After 1 o’clock meeting, I will take a 15 minute nap and get up to work again. Although I sleep for 8 hours at night, I don’t understand why if I don’t sleep in the afternoon, I will be tired in the afternoon.
After taking a nap, I will continue to work until about 4:30 or 5 am to finish the job. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to do until 6 o’clock.
At the end of the working day, I will take a shower and then go to the bar next to my house to drink iced tea and wait for my wife to call me for dinner.
In general, since switching to remote work, I find myself working much more efficiently. The work is basically unsupervised, the time is completely proactive. Therefore, I always think of a way to work so that it takes less time but still has good quality. Feeling quite enjoying working as a remote now.
What are the benefits of working remotely?
1. Less than an hour and a half of commuting on the road every day. Hanoi is currently very congested, traveling on the road a lot makes me feel tired.
2. Accommodation at home is more comfortable.
3. I work more proactively. Because time is not managed, you always have to think about how to work effectively, and you have to be self-disciplined with your work. In addition, the Linux kernel is an area where there is a huge disparity between people with more experience and less experience. Later, if I get used to the new project, maybe my time will be even more free.
4. In terms of health, I feel much improved.
How do I find a remote job?
Actually, right after the covid period, when there was a tendency to work remotely, I planned to find a remote job. On the IT side, there are also many foreign companies that set up branches in Vietnam to recruit remote workers. Actually, finding a remote job is not difficult, but getting a good salary is another matter. My English is not very good, so I signed up to learn English communication with my teacher 3 times a week for about 1 year. In the morning, the two students will study from 6 am and finish at 7 am. After studying English, I often go to linkdlin to search for jobs with high requirements on Linux kernel. When you see a suitable job, then apply.
Remote work in my opinion is also very suitable for those who live far from Hanoi. Then you can stay in the countryside, receive a high salary with a low cost in the province. No need to worry about buying expensive houses in Hanoi. If you want to find a remote job, English is a must, because only foreign companies with European and American culture will accept it. Professional requirements in these companies are not really high, unless you apply for high-paying jobs.