99 karma · joined April 16, 2021
I think OP said he was in debt, and needed money to come out of it while supporting his family.
So here's the result of the game called "society".
It's not very clear as I can't really see it in front of me, but it's in my head, and there's a different kind of "seeing" happening...
One evening I asked my 5yo daughter that when she imagines something in her head, does she see it almost like in real physical 3d? She said yes. I wouldn't say yes to that question. But again, it's so subjective...
But when you say "extremelly stressing work," I guess you're not enjoying it. :)
And well, I felt physically OK for 3...4 years. Psychologically not OK, but physically OK.
Until one day, I wasn't anymore.
... but burning out can really destroy your life. I know it destroyed mine. It took me years to recover, and I'm still not 100%.
I started working for an early stage startup right after school when I was 19yo. I didn't sleep. I didn't eat properly. Our team was small. Responsibilities super high. And I burned out.
Oh, I have so many stories from this time... like when I hadn't slept for 3 days and my body shut down when I was driving home from the office – I was so tired that my body went to sleep behind the wheel.
I wrote about it here: https://remotehunt.com/blog/4-day-work-weeks-in-remote-compa...
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Edit 30m later: I went for a run after writing this comment (you know, to be outside and be less stressed out), and while running, I remembered that I once had a "pop" in my head too. My "pop" could have been different from the author's, of course, but I would describe it as a "pop."
I went to the ER immediately, and they did some basic blood pressure tests, etc. Then concluded that I probably had an anxiety attack (they get this often). Docs gave me some pills that took my anxiety away, and I was fine afterward. It was another sign for me to slow down.
But it's hard to slow down when you're already far down the burnout road. In debt, but a family to support, etc.
If I hadn't had a family at the time, I would have probably just quit the whole society game. Moved to a small hut somewhere near the beach. Alone, without a phone to reach me.
But when you have 50? 100? Who is going to buy and prepare the laptop for the new sales manager? As a minimum, you'd probably need a separate IT person for this, possibly more depending on the team size. And when something breaks, you need to organize the transport, fix it and ship it back.
So for me, this seems like an incredible product.
Founder Chris Herd is super active on social media. It's cool how he has built a very strong following that helps him to promote his company.
And he's also very vocal about remote work, with strong opinions. Like "Any company that forces everyone back to the office full-time will not make it through this decade".
Statements like these are strong and provocative, but they work getting people's attention. And most of the stuff he says is probably true :)
But hours can pass by like this.
And I’ve learned that I need to start with something small. Even a tiny improvement/fix I spend my first 15 minutes on gets me going and into the flow state!
But I haven't found an icon lib that I like as much as emojis.
What's the idea behind this tool then? Name implies it's for using emojis as icons, but I can do that anyways without the <svg>?
Luckily, there are other big co's who embrace remote, like Twitter who says: work remotely, permanently.
And I'm not saying that hey big co's, close your offices. I'm just saying that please give the option for your employees to decide themselves.
For me, it's about freedom, really.
But where's the freedom when Google says that you'll have to formally apply for up to 12 months of remote work in “the most exceptional circumstances."
And I feel that currently we still have the window open – remote work can come out of the niche into the mainstream as we just had the catalyst as a COVID outbreak.
Opportunity like this may never come again... or at least for a very long time.
/rant over
PS. I actually wrote about this "niche to mainstream" movement here in more detail just a few days ago: https://remotehunt.com/blog/big-tech-is-killing-remote-work
But for companies like GitLab it’s quite hard to keep it updated. So many locations!
A possibility opened up for remote work to come out of the niche into the mainstream.
But I’m sad because I see how big tech corporations are already forcing (maybe a bit strong word here, but it seems like this from what I see in the news) their employees back to office.
What can happen, if people have the courage, is that these people who want to work remotely but their company won’t let them, will change their job.
And here’s my small contribution—a tool to choose a new company who works remotely.
I’m curious about your thoughts on big tech corporation remote policies?
This is what I would do:
I'd pick out some companies where I'd love to work at. I'd then spend time understanding their product and business. And then I'd write them to say that I'm very much interested in joining their team. I would also say how I could be helpful in their team. Maybe even some specific ideas. That's it!
Here's my list of remote companies, hope it helps you! https://remotehunt.com/remote-companies
– Robert
Very cool!