How to Transition to Remote Work in IT After Having an Office Job

From 2019 to late 2022, the share of remote workers in the U.S. grew from 8% to 26%. During the same period, hybrid workers increased from 32% to over 50%, while on-site staff decreased from 60% to 24%.

Companies deliberately hire remote workers with little or no experience in order to:

• Cut down on expenses associated with extra office space
• Have a more productive team, as it’s been proven that remote professionals tend to perform better than their office counterparts
• Nurture you from scratch according to the company’s culture

Many professionals dream of switching to working remotely in IT because they want flexibility, growth opportunities, and a competitive salary. However, they aren’t sure if they can cope with such a career change, as it’s so different from what they’re used to.

In this article, we’ll address the most common fears of people who’d like to start working from home in IT and suggest ways of overcoming their doubts.

How will I be able to stay in touch with the team?

To organize remote teamwork, IT professionals use dedicated solutions. Here are the examples of the most popular ones:

• Google Workspace or Microsoft Office 365 — for editing documents collaboratively (texts, spreadsheets, slide shows, and so on)
• Dropbox — cloud storage service for file sharing
• Slack or Discord — for communications within the team
• Asana or Trello — for task management and project tracking: these help everyone to work productively
• InVision or Figma — a collaborative whiteboard for designers

If the chosen collaboration software allows you to update your statuses, jump on this opportunity! Inform your colleagues that you’re “working on the ABC product”, “available for new tasks” or “away on holiday”.

It’s useful to publicly commit to working on a task: by doing so, you’re more likely to work diligently and finish the job quickly. Plus, it will be easier for others to decide when and how to assign new tasks to you.

How will I be able to establish communication with colleagues?

One of the first rules is — never hesitate to ask questions if you fail to understand something. Communicate openly with the other team members. You might be afraid they will find you ill-suited for the job because you don’t know anything. However, the truth is quite the reverse: your coworkers are far more likely to respect you for your honesty and your commitment to clarifying all the details.

There will be an experienced manager in the company, who knows how to supervise remote teams. When they accept you into the collective, they will rely on rules and procedures that have already confirmed their efficiency.

How will the employer onboard me?

During the onboarding process, they will share with you the links to the company’s policies and other important documents. Here are a few examples of the questions that you can ask at your first meetings with the manager:

• Which communication channel is used for receiving performance feedback from managers, and how frequent and thorough will it be?
• What should I do if I need to take a sick day?
• Should I obey the dress code for video calls?

You’ll explore these documents on your own, then ask the manager questions if you have any.

The manager will introduce you to the other team members in a chat or by email. It’s ok if you feel shy about actively joining the group discussion right away. Keep reading it to stay aware of what others say and get used to the communication manner of each person.

You’ll most likely be assigned a dedicated mentor, with whom you’ll be able to ask technical questions. And the manager will be on hand to answer any organizational ones you may have.

What if I feel lonely and disconnected from the team?

Apart from groups and chats to discuss work-related issues, most companies have chats where their staff can talk about anything. If your employer lacks such a chat, you can suggest creating it. It will be your chance to get to know your colleagues better and have fun.

When the employer organizes online and offline events, it would be a good idea to attend them even if it’s not mandatory. These can be webinars, presentations, psychology sessions, games, parties, and so on. Don’t hesitate to suggest your ideas for organizing such events, for example:

• Coffee Roulette. Team members of all levels are randomly matched for coffee meetings.
• Cutest Pet Pic Competition. People showcase photos of their pets and vote for the best one. 
• Time Traveler. Participants of this game tell the others which historical events or places they would have visited if they had a time machine.
• Bucket List Challenge. Everyone shares with the others three accomplishments they hope to achieve in the future. 

Thanks to these events, you’ll get to know your colleagues better and strengthen your emotional connection with the team.

What if I feel lazy?

There is nothing wrong with being lazy, laziness is an integral part of human nature. You’ll be able to find dozens of books and articles with tips on overcoming it. Here, we’d like to share our top recommendations that we’ve tested ourselves.

Efficient time management is the best way to prevent laziness. Ensure you get seven to eight hours of sleep at night to prevent daytime fatigue. If your working day officially stops at 6 p.m., close your laptop at 6 p.m. Exceptions can be made if you’re working on an important task. But when this task is finished, don’t start new ones.

Fine-tune your brain and nervous system for work by composing an enjoyable morning routine for yourself. Avoid rushing to the computer in pajamas as soon as you wake up. Instead, have breakfast and take a shower to prepare your mind for work.

Do you want to wear a comfy T-shirt while working from home? Then, let it be a dedicated t-shirt and not the one that you use for jogging or cleaning the apartment. Otherwise, some part of your brain will push you toward sports or household chores.

Detect your peaks of productivity. Do you feel the most active after 3 p.m.? Then, plan the most demanding tasks for this part of the day.

Avoid multitasking to eliminate distractions. Break down large tasks into smaller ones. When you finish a small task, you’ll feel fulfilled and motivated to keep on working.

What if my family members disturb me too often?

Your managers aren’t the only ones setting policies — you also have to set them with your dearest and nearest. Make sure to let them know that — just because you’re home, it doesn’t mean you’re available. Decide together when and why you allow them to disturb you. 

Each case is highly individual, so there is no one-fits-all recipe here. Explain to your beloved ones what you do when you’re working and why it’s so important. Patiently answer their questions. Promise your family members to regularly find time for them — and of course, fulfill this promise.

Watch this short video to see how a real-life mom organized her day during her IT online studies!

What if I get bored?

The risk of boredom runs high when you’re constantly working from home. Take your laptop and go to a coworking space or a cafe! Feel free to complete routine tasks in an unusual location. Leave the most challenging tasks for your home office because you should be able to concentrate better there.

Take frequent breaks during the day. One of the most well-known time management techniques is called the Pomodoro. It suggests that you should take a 5–10 minute break after every 25 minutes of work. Let your fourth, eighth, twelfth, etc. break be longer, 20–30 minutes. Such an approach is superb for dealing with small and simple tasks.

It’s not always convenient to set up a timer for breaks. What if it goes off when you reach your peak of creativity? It’s ok if you don’t want to stick to a rigid regime. Just take a break of around 10–15 minutes after around each hour of work.

During the break, you may stay at your desk and watch funny animal videos. Surprisingly enough, it might boost your productivity! However, it would be better to engage in physical activity — such as going for a stroll, doing simple exercise, or even walking to the kitchen to make coffee.

Take regular vacations. People who do so report greater job satisfaction. Those who spend over 10 days on vacation are 30% more likely to get a pay rise.

Do I need to create a full-fledged home office?

At most, you’ll only need a computer with a stable Internet connection with a speed of around 100 Mbps. 

It’s not necessary to invest large funds in your home office. However, it’s essential to separate the areas where you relax from those where you work. If you allow your work to occupy 100% of your home, you increase the risk of burning out.

In this video, IT professionals share their experiences of working from home — feel free to watch for inspiration!

Ideally, you should set up your home office in a room with a door that you can close. If you lack space in your house or apartment, find a corner in one of the rooms and set up an office there. A good home office ticks the following boxes:

• Enough privacy
• A lot of natural light
• Not too noisy

Think about the background for video calls. Declutter the room and adjust the light. Make test calls to your friends. Experiment with different setups: move furniture around, change the curtains, and try to work in various rooms. You’re bound to find the ideal option after some experimentation.

If you’re self-employed in the US and work from your home office, you can be eligible for a tax deduction. You may be able to save money on house repairs, rent, mortgage rates, and utility bills. We won’t go too deep into details in this article — but we’d like to inform you about the opportunity. Click here to get to know the details.

Are there any other pitfalls of remote work?

A sedentary lifestyle leads to cognitive decline and drives up the risk of heart disease. Remote professionals spend more hours working than their in-house colleagues, so their risks are higher. (In the office, you at least need to walk up and down the stairs, let alone commute there and back.)

To prevent health issues, it’s important to do sports. Plan physical activities for the end of the day. If you work out in the morning, you might get tired prematurely. Besides, evening fitness sessions will motivate you to finish work and disconnect on time. You’ll have a good night’s sleep. If you don’t like working out, go for a stroll every evening.

Give yourself time to adjust

When you begin to study IT online, you’ll get a notion of remote work. You’ll organize a cozy workplace in your bedroom, you’ll need to thoroughly plan your day and set policies with your family members. By the moment you land an IT job, you’ll already be used to your new lifestyle.

During your first weeks of remote work, you might experience conflicting emotions and feel a bit lost. There is nothing wrong with that! Simply try to organize the chaos. Keep experimenting with setups and time management. Your dream has come true, it’s time to enjoy it!