Why Remote Work Makes Me a Better Employee

6 min readJun 23, 2023

Monaco (left); Copenhagen (centre) & Rome (right)

My girlfriend & I have lived nomadically for 2 years. We’ve lived in 15+ countries, in 100+ cities/towns, across Europe, Asia, Africa & America. It has been a completely life-changing experience. Beyond being a fantastic, enriching, experience — it has been GREAT for our employers.

Why Remote Work Makes us Better Employees.

Warsaw, Poland (left); Stockholm, Sweden (centre); Seoul, South Korea (right).

Critical Efficiency

Travelling while working makes you efficient out of necessity. If you’re hiring candidates that will do the bare minimum, that’s on you and it’s not going to change wherever you put them. The opposite is also true.

When you’ve only got a few days in a new city, you better believe you’re motivation to get on top of everything (to allow time to explore) is at an all-time high. Fostering a Zero Waste mindset, we are always looking to maximize our output. Wasting time on pleasantries is not an option, everywhere becomes an office, and working late hours/early morning to accommodate excursions becomes the norm.

Work sessions, reading papers, writing code, and meeting clients in Bali (left), Athens, Greece (centre) & Cape Town, SA (right). We have worked in cafes, on trains, on buses, on subways, on planes, in hotels, and everywhere in between.

These aren't just self-assuring claims, we track our work time and find that on average we work MORE hours while travelling. Statistically, significantly, more. Time is so scarce that work becomes a default mode whenever there’s a gap, & the standard working hours ++ add up.

Delete the Comfort Zone & focus on getting things done.

Our jobs are based in Europe/SA, so we work Central European Time, with occasional meetings with USA clients. As such, when in the East we work strange hours (afternoons/evenings). In South Korea (a culture obsessed with work) we gradually started our day earlier and earlier, yet continued to finish work with our European/African colleagues, clocking up 12-hour days — which of course is not sustainable. Remote workers often work more hours, not less.

Deepened Sense of Responsibility & Ownership

Our employers do not resent us. Perhaps they understand that work isn’t the ONLY thing that matters in life (something CEOs of large companies seem to miss)? They trust us and believe we should take the opportunity while we are young. We know that works both ways. We are committed to the mission and love our jobs. We have something to prove, given a unique opportunity and you better believe we’ll do what we can to not let them down.

We take on more responsibility than ever, knowing we owe it to them to keep their trust.

We feel more committed to work and they get more out of us.

Some of my favourite swims. Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France (left); Lake Thun, Switzerland (centre); Nusa Penida, Bali (right);.

True Sense of Urgency

Travelling perpetually is a great catalyst to execute plans.

Your goals (personal & professional) cannot be lofty.

You are constantly working backwards from the target. You are constantly thinking“I have x number of months left in place y, what would I like to achieve by then? How do we break that down further”.

Everyday life can become monotonous & repetitive and objectives can be lost in the ether, this framing provides way more focus. It also translates directly into professional/work planning. “We want to launch this product by this date, what are the mission-critical steps to meeting spec?”.

Self-Imposed Burnout Management

Many people suffer from burnout. Remote working worsens this, failing to separate life & work leads to unsustainable hours (illustrated above). There is always more work to do & you have to set your own boundaries.

Travelling 24/7 is exhausting and managing burnout becomes a huge part of your flow & decision-making, this keeps performance high in the long run.

Lyon, France (left); Copenhagen, Denmark (centre); Milos, Greece (right).

Become Inspired!

We are happier, more worldly & engaged. We are privileged to experience so many beautiful and unique places. We are able to immerse ourselves in different cultures, extracting lessons from all over the world.

In a more direct sense, we also meet professionals everywhere. It’s incredibly insightful, educational & collaborative.

I have met scientists & engineers from all over the world, and learn about their workflow and technologies. These connections & insights are invaluable.

When are you at your best? When are you inspired? Where do you draw ideas from? When engaged or captivated, or when stuck in a small space that hasn’t changed in a decade?

Value Office Time

All this said, we both truly value office time. Our (limited) exposure to in-person events with our teams always goes a long way! A check-in every few months is more than sufficient to keep the connections strong.