I think of myself as being mostly introverted, so I was a little surprised at how well I can relate to many of those suggestions. It's good to remember that the introvert-extrovert thing is a tendency with many levels rather than an absolute. I do need and enjoy lots of alone time, solo projects, and low-intensity social interaction (ahem ahem, internet forums like HN...). But I also need some amount of actual in-person social interaction, including the types of things the author describes.<p>I also wonder sometimes just how introverted people who say that they're introverted really are. I tend to think that true introversion is genuine pleasure at being alone, and discomfort from being in social situations is not necessarily a consequence of that so much as not having learned social skills. Enjoying being alone is perfectly okay and not something that can be or needs to be 'fixed'. Social skills can be learned and improved at any time, though, just like any other skill. If you don't care to, that's perfectly fine, but you could be missing out on a lot of things you might otherwise get.
As an introvert, it's fascinating to me how there are people who look forward to those awful team lunches and office birthday cakes. I feel exhausted just thinking about those things.
The key thing to remember when working remotely, or even at home, as the two are always the same thing, is to make regular visits out to see people.
Having worked remotely for a three year spell. I found a certain quota of face to face time is a minimum requirement to stay normal, sane, and most of all, grounded.
As an introvert who works in an office (and works remote in binges), just being in the vicinity of people is good for overall mental health. You don't have to interact with people to be energized by them (all the better, of course if you do). Like walking down a busy city block, energy can be absorbed by just being near people.<p>Open plan workspaces tend to get a bad rap on HN. My challenge to developers here is to stop relying on the headphones to block out noise to focus. It can be done. You don't need to be in a "monastery" to work well.
This article is beyond awesome - I was actually starting to think I'm in some kind of burnout stage since I didn't feel productive at all and I was blaming it on the fact that I've grown from a developer role into a more managerial one. I'm quite an extrovert working full time fully remote and some days just seem like they last forever.<p>/me is off to find a coworking space nearby.
Not really related to being an extrovert; finding ways to deal with the incongruity of working remotely in a world that assumes your workplace offers a social experience is something introverts need as well.
The recommendations in the post sum up to building a surrogate workplace and surrogate colleagues. That is great for attending to the need for active feedback of human interaction for the extrovert, but it is not the context in which the work is actually being done. Does that discontinuity present any obvious problems?<p>Due to the absence of any discussion of telepresence robots, do they miss the mark in addressing these needs, or, has the writer not learned of them?
Question for remote employees: Do you get to join a co-working space as an expensible perk? I am considering asking for it but I was wondering if it is culturally out of the norm for companies to pay for it.
These are some great suggestions. I worked remotely for two years and almost went crazy. It's hard to overestimate how much information you miss out on when you stop sharing a room with people.