Why remote work didnt work for me

Why remote work didnt work for meWhy remote work didnt work for meSure, remote work is a lifesaver for working moms, employees who are caring for loved ones, or for people who thrive in heads-down work all day long. As someone who lives in Los Angeles, enduring a daily commute can shave years off your life. When you read reports that82 percent of telecommuters report lower stress levels, it really hits home.Working remotely does have huge benefits. It can improve your health, your monthly transportation bills, and your happiness at work. However, there are some drawbacks. I will, no doubt, read this article in five or ten years and say, Caileen, you fool but for now- right at this moment- remote work is not the best vorkaufsrecht for me. Let me tell you why.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreFace-to-face interactionWhen my previous company went remote, I was not too happy. I had ju st gone through a horrifying breakup and I simply needed menschenfreundlich interaction. Its not that my coworkers were my best friends in the entire world, but they were people- people with whom I spoke, ate lunch next to, and communicated with on a daily basis.So, when I found out my company wasgoing remote, I was a little horrified. To me, face-to-face interaction is an integral part of work life. My bosses did take great care to set up weekly Google Hangouts, but was that enough?For me, not so much. While it worked for a long enough time, it soon became old. Evenas an introvert(maybe especially so), human interaction- daily human interaction- is crucial for me. Without it, I slowly became disengaged in the work. Its difficult to replicate the excitement, camaraderie, and the hustle when youre in the office section of your studio apartment.For me, the lack of human interaction was my first suspicion thatremote work wasnta good fitfor me- and I was right about that.Career developm entI was about a year into remote work, when I really felt like I hit a wall. I didnt hate remote work the entire time. There were huge perks to working remotely. Since I started earlier in the morning (sans commute) I was able to get a ton of extremely focused work done before I ever would have been to work in a modell office. I evenwrote an articleabout how much I loved working remotely.The biggest reason thatremote workdidnt work for me was (and is) my desire to work in a live, moving environment. When my position and my entire company went remote, I had a cushy job title- but if I am being honest, I didnt have the skill set I wanted to have for myself.Online learningis amazing- you can learn entirely new skill sets through online courses, in-depth articles, and by following experts in your own field. However, there are things you will not learn from anything else other than hands-on experience. Sure, I can watch one thousand videos on how to tie my shoes onYouTube, but I will ne ver know how to do it unless I tie my own shoes.This is something that began to weigh heavily on me. I thought, the longer I stay here, the more opportunity I am missing out on. I wanted to be face-to-face with clients, to work through problems in real-time, and to experience day-to-day life that simply wasnt happening in my apartment.The biggest drawback was a stalling inmy own professional development. A huge part of building your career is paying attention to the gaps in your own skill sets- and filling them in. It became increasingly apparent that, in order to truly earn a director title, I needed to be directing IRL.Personal discipline while working remotelyThis is a reason many people cite for not being able to work remotely. In truth, you will learn to build better personal discipline. Depending on your companys remote policies, you may even be able to make your own hours. This allows any employee to work at herpeak productivity- during her most productive times. We arent all robots- as such, we are not all wired to be at our highest efficiency between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm.In this way, remote work can be excellent. You can ride your own productivity waves- whenever they arrive.If you have real doubts about building any sort of personal discipline, remote work probably isnt for you. Sure, its great for activities like writing or pulling data- where you need dedicated time and limited distractions, but it can be detrimental when you are working on a project with a team- which brings me to my next point.Heads-down versus heads-togetherHeads-down work is crucial- in any position. For heads-down tasks, remote work is optimal. There are no distractions- nobody is coming to ask you a quick question. You can set your away message on Slack and toil away at your heads down work.Unless you are working heavily in data analytics or complicated coding projects, not all of your work is heads-down work. For work that needs to be completed by ateam working togethe r collaboratively, remote work is not the greatest. This is what I like to call heads-together work. This is the kind of work that no FaceTime, no Hangout, and no video call can replicate. Believe me, I have tried. It may sound cheesy, but there is no way to fully replicate an in-person brainstorm meeting.For example, when we hold our editorial planning meetings here at CC, we get together in a room with colored markers and a whiteboard- and we go off. As we fill the weeks with content that excites and motivates us, the energy really builds. This heads-together work is crucial to the mission of your company. I am trying really hard not to use the word synergy here, but you get the gist, right? Heads-together work, to me, is invaluable.Traveling remotely isnt that greatBut you can travel wherever you want- and work from anywhereOk, koranvers. The truth about traveling when you work remotely is that its tough. First of all, before you go anywhere, you are going to have to make sure yo u have reliable internet. In working remotely, you learn quickly that your local coffee shop probably doesnt have wifi strong enough for your Google Hangouts. That coffee shop in Miami? You wont know about those wifi issues until youre there- literally sweating because you cant join the marketing meeting youre supposed to be running.The second problem with traveling remotely is other people. I love you family, friends, and loved ones- but you all made working remotely while traveling a real struggle. In my experience, those who havent worked remotely wont (or cant) take it seriously. As a result, when youre traveling with others, they are constantly trying to pull you away from work. Okay, maybe its my fault- I can tend to be a people pleaser, so this was a huge point of stress for me.Traveling, especially for any type of enjoyment, is not that great when youre working remotely. Seriously. You will likely miss out on happy hours, kiteboarding, midday pool lounges, Aperol spritzes, a nd countless other events.Is semi-remote the future?Heres the part where I contradict everything I have said so far.Remote work can havehuge benefits- and I think its part of the future. Companies that allow a remote Friday or that are open to semi-flexible schedules are going to see huge increases in employee efficiency and satisfaction.For me, for now, completely remote work is not a large part of my immediate future, but maybe it is for you.This article originally appeared on Career Contessa.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people