Readme.md: Abstract
This article delves into one of the most critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of sustainable careers in the IT industry: work-life balance, specifically through the lens of 100% remote work. Drawing from a personal three-year experience and supported by relevant psychological studies, it explores the hidden costs and subtle dangers that can erode well-being and productivity when the boundaries between professional and personal life dissolve. This piece serves as a cautionary tale and a reflection on finding sustainable working models. If you wish to avoid potentially losing years of productivity and focus in your career and being totally consumed by IT, I invite you to continue reading;
Fetch: Acknowledgement
Special thanks to Kevin Ryker of https://coderlegion.com/ for the invitation to contribute this online venture. While this article explores the personal and psychological dimensions of remote work in IT (with sources, for advised further reading), a more technically focused article exploring specific industry challenges will follow soon - as promised...
Commit: Work From Home in the IT Industry
As a British Expat in the Philippines and as someone who "never looked back" after relocating to the Philippines, I spent three consecutive years working 100% remotely for a SME tech firm. This article isn't primarily about pandemic-induced remote work, but rather a candid examination of the psychological impact of sustained, full-time WFH in the technology sector – an environment where, as studies suggest, self-governance becomes paramount to survival. Early research, like that by Charalampous et al. (2019), highlighted the potential benefits of telework, such as improved job satisfaction through autonomy, setting the stage for its broader adoption.
Clone: The False Promise of Digital Utopia
When I first transitioned to a fully remote position, it felt like hitting the jackpot. The mental calculation was immediate and compelling: no commute meant saving two hours daily and reducing transportation costs. My home office would eliminate workplace distractions, allowing more focus time for complex system architecture. Flexible hours promised more quality time with my family, improved fitness routines, and the freedom to work from anywhere in the Philippines while maintaining my UK salary. These initial hopes align with findings reported by Oakman et al. (2020) on improved work-life balance and the desire for flexibility noted by Bonin et al. (2022) as a key driver for remote preferences.
The reality that unfolded over those three years, however, tells a markedly different story.
Untracked Files: Hidden Costs
The money I initially "saved" quickly found new avenues of escape. Without the physical separation between work and home, I found myself ordering takeaway several times weekly – a convenience that became habit rather than exception. The isolation, a feeling echoed in the concept of "home fever" described by Sepanta et al. (2023), fed impulsive online shopping behaviors, with packages arriving almost daily – mostly items I wouldn't have purchased had I been required to physically hunt them down in stores. Perhaps most concerning was how easily trading platforms became my perpetual background tab. What began as casual investing morphed into compulsive checking of stock positions throughout the workday, further blurring the boundaries between work and personal activities – a breakdown of the very separation Walsh et al. (2018) linked to mental well-being.
Origin: The Workload Paradox
The promised efficiency of remote work quickly succumbed to the reality of expanding responsibilities. Systems became more complex, integration challenges multiplied, and my team grew larger as our organization adapted to distributed operations. Remote management required more documentation, more check-ins, and paradoxically, more meetings than office-based work ever did.
Without physical boundaries between work and home, my laptop remained perpetually open. The flexibility to work anytime became an obligation to work all the time. Emergency notifications, which I could never quite bring myself to silence, created constant vigilance that prevented true disconnection. This erosion of work-life boundaries is a significant factor contributing to burnout, as identified by Meyer et al. (2022).
Stash 'Family': Sidelining Connections
Perhaps the most painful transformation was how my perception of family interactions shifted. My wife and children, once the primary beneficiaries of my remote arrangement, gradually morphed in my mind from loved ones to interruptions. Every knock on my office door triggered not joy but anxiety about broken concentration on critical tasks. The guilt this created formed a vicious cycle – I'd work longer hours to compensate for perceived inefficiency, which further reduced family time, increasing both their need for attention and my irritation when they sought it. This scenario directly reflects the work-family conflicts and emotional exhaustion highlighted by Bani-Melhem et al. (2018), particularly for those juggling domestic responsibilities alongside remote work. What had begun as an opportunity for connection became a source of constant tension.
Stale Branch: 'Leisure': Downtime Abandoned
The promised abundance of leisure time proved entirely illusory. Even during designated "off" hours, my mind remained locked in problem-solving mode. System architectures, integration challenges, and code refactoring followed me on evening walks, interrupted meals, and haunted quiet moments. What's worse, the psychological ability to truly disconnect evaporated completely. The systems I managed required constant oversight, and even when technically "off duty," I found it impossible to silence the internal monologue cataloging potential failure points and solutions. Taking an actual holiday became unimaginable. Not because it wasn't allowed, but because the mental work required to prepare for absence and the anxiety while away – potentially linked to the increased anxiety reported by Nelson et al. (2023) among remote workers due to factors like isolation – outweighed any potential benefits of the break itself. The lack of structured breaks, which are crucial for preventing burnout, became the norm.
Force Push: Sleep, The Final Frontier
The degradation of sleep quality marked the final blow to my remote work fantasy. Without the structure of office hours that Walsh et al. (2018) found beneficial for routines, my work schedule expanded to fill available time, gradually pushing into the night. Critical issues that arose during APAC hours meant late nights, while coordination with UK teams required early mornings.
This erratic pattern demolished any semblance of a healthy circadian rhythm. My sleep became fragmented, interrupted by both work alerts and work-related anxiety. The promised rest never materialized, and chronic fatigue, a symptom potentially linked to the lower work ability in prolonged WFH scenarios, became my baseline state.
Checkout --track origin/hybrid: Adopting Balance
Having experienced the full spectrum from office-bound to fully remote work, I've become a strong advocate for hybrid arrangements. A 4:1 or 3:2 ratio (days in office: days remote) provides the structural benefits of workplace interaction while preserving flexibility. This balance maintains critical face-to-face collaboration while allowing focused deep work at home, reflecting the widespread preference for hybrid models identified by Bonin et al. (2022). It seems to offer a way to capture the autonomy benefits highlighted by Charalampous et al. (2019) and Salas-Vallina et al. (2018) while mitigating the isolation (Sepanta et al., 2023; Nelson et al., 2023) and boundary issues (Meyer et al., 2022).
Reset --hard HEAD~: Re-Prioritizing Fundamentals
As the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca observed, "Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart." The institution of family remains our most fundamental support system and source of meaning. When work – regardless of location – begins to erode family connections, we've lost sight of what truly matters. Confucius perhaps put it best: "The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home." In our rush to embrace technological freedom, we must not sacrifice the very relationships that give our work purpose and meaning. No career advancement or technical achievement can compensate for the loss of harmony within one's family. After three years of 100% remote work, I've learned that the office isn't just a physical workspace – it's a psychological boundary that protects what matters most - the Ones you love.