Conclusion

One last thing: keep a positive mindset and enjoy all the benefits of remote working. Being a remote worker can be frustrating sometimes, but it’s worth it!

I started by taking some days away from the office to prepare events and presentations. Then I moved to a more structured remote working environment. Then when remote working was offered as an option, I signed all the documents required by Italian law and by our contract, and spent three years before the pandemic working mostly from home.

I had good days, bad days, and days that I needed to go to the office to meet someone not because of business, but because I was feeling alone. I had days when I went to the office because the bandwidth at home was shockingly low, days that I was extremely happy to work from home because I was extremely productive and present with the family at the same time, days when I was looking outside the windows and it was snowing really hard, and I was at the PC still in my pajamas.

I had days when I worked from the lakeside, and days that I finished early at a customer’s site. I went to the sea and worked three hours from a terrace, then I had a wonderful dinner, and I came back home.

What gives me hope for the future is the ability to start the “real remote work” again after the pandemic, being able to do what’s now restricted or limited. Remember, remote working during a pandemic is a restriction; remote working when you choose to do so is something that will change your life. You won’t live your office life in the same way once you’ve successfully worked remotely.

Keep a positive mindset, even when your child is crying during a call. The benefits of remote working, if you embrace it, are much greater than all the downsides!

I wish you a successful remote (or hybrid) work life for the future!

A special thanks to my colleagues Erica Barone, Massimo Bonanni, Roberto Filipelli, Vito Flavio Lorusso, Matteo Pagani, and Guenda Sciancalepore, and to my manager Stefano Alini, for their help, patience, and support.