Hi Karen!
Depending on the company you will work for, it will make a huge difference on your remote experience! There are some key pieces of info I wished I had known to ask during an interview, to help with understanding what kind of work environment your company will set up for you. 1. What will my production requirements be? Are those to be met per hour or per day (ex: 15 charts/hour). 2. What coding support am I offered as a remote coder? Is there same day assistance? 3. Is my time flexible being a remote coder, or am I expected to work within a specific set of hours?
Through my experience these are my personal pros and cons:
Pros: You can wear whatever clothing you want, you're able to flex your schedule to work around appointments, meetings, and personal things. You can use your lunch break to start laundry/dinner, and make a better meal for lunch than you would get working onsite somewhere. You obviously save on gas money and work clothes, eating lunch out, etc.
Cons: You feel like you are constantly at home, because you are!
Your company may expect more work productivity because you are at home and should have less distractions than an office setting. Coding support is often hard when the whole team is remote, additionally you can have many gaps in communication that way. You also have to be very disciplined in getting your work done with at home distractions (dogs barking, house guest, UPS delivery, etc.) I have also found it absolutely necessary to make time to get up and walk around each hour, I also use my lunch break each day to walk outside. (set an alarm on your phone) This way, you feel like you're not stuck indoors as much, and you also get less pains from sitting all day. Make it a good habit to not check your email/pc when you are off of work, it'll help to create the boundaries of not always being at work.
Overall, I really enjoy working in the remote setting for coding. With a little trial and error, you can find ways to make it work for you!
