What Not to Do - The Worst Advice About Remote Work
Published: 2020-05-28 22:56:59

We’re several months into the COVID-19 pandemic – times are strange, and advice is everywhere. We spoke to seven developers about what they think is the _**worst advice**_ they’re hearing right now and why. We’re considering this our **what-not-to-do guide**.


> “That you should have a super strict work-life balance, work from 9 to 4:30 and have a shorter lunch. I think in today’s world, you have the opportunity to make your daily schedule work better for you. Ask yourself what times during the day you are really in flow or psyched to work. In my case, I’m really excited to write code after dinner. 

> I think the pandemic allows us a new way to envision the work-life balance that could make us all happier and more productive. Companies should realize there are potentially huge gains to be seen here.”

- _**Michael Kennedy** is the founder and host of Talk Python to Me, a weekly podcast about Python and related software developer topics. You can learn more about the Talk Python to Me podcast at [talkpython.fm](https://talkpython.fm) and follow Michael on Twitter at [@mkennedy](twitter.com/mkennedy)._ 

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> “That employers should be spying on their employees who are now at home to make sure they are working. People will always find a way to screw around on the job and no amount of mandatory web cameras or keyboard loggers of spyware on computers is going to change that. What is an employer going to do if I decide to go to the bathroom at home and bring my phone with me to play a game or do some other "non-work-related" task?”

- _**Chris Hartjes** has been building and testing web applications of all shapes and sizes since 1998, with a focus on best practices and how to use testing as an effective development tool. He is a senior test engineer at Mozilla and owner of [Grumpy Learning, Inc](http://grumpy-learning.com/)._

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 > “Setting the expectation that everything is normal at work because we’re privileged to be able to work from home is bad advice. It’s not normal. Forget about the absence of social interaction. What about all the daily habits that have been disrupted? How about all the different living situations? Parents at home? Roommates suddenly together 24/7? You might be comfy in your home office, but your co-workers might be living entirely different experiences. It’s not normal. Acknowledge that.”

- _**Michael Lopp** is the author of “The Art of Leadership: Small Things Done Well,” which uses stories from his professional experience at Netscape, Apple and Slack to present a series of small but compelling practices to help readers build leadership skills. Read Michael’s blog [here](https://randsinrepose.com/) and follow him on Twitter at [@rands](https://twitter.com/rands)._

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> “Hearing people talking about pushing always-on camera feeds strikes me as misguided. Though there is virtue in trying to replicate the onsite experience of knowing someone is there and hearing the chatter and gaining context from the things happening around you, pressure to be on camera all the time feels authoritarian and runs counter to the remote-first ethos of interacting via chat and escalating the communication-medium bandwidth for interactions that need it. For remote work to function optimally, people need to feel trusted in that they are going to get the job done and that they are treated as adults.”
 
- _**David Rael** is a software developer and host of the Developer on Fire podcast, which tells the stories of some of the amazing people in software. Learn more about the Developer on Fire podcast [here](https://developeronfire.com/episodes)._

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> “I feel like there are a lot of people who just really want things to go back to the way they were – I see this on social media a lot. I think the reality is that things are never going to go back to the way they were before – there’s a new normal, and I think we just really have to accept it. The first few weeks we were on lockdown, I lost motivation and didn’t get a lot of work done. But about a week or two into it, I had a mental shift and just accepted that things are going to change both in my own life and at a macro level. Since then, I’ve been able to focus a lot better and move on. It’s important to accept that this isn’t business as usual, and things are going to change. We can’t go back to the way it was.”

- _**Laurence Bradford** is the creator of Learn to Code with Me, an online resource and podcast for beginners learning to code. You can learn more about Learn to Code with Me [here](https://learntocodewith.me/about/)
and follow Laurence on Twitter at [@learntocodewithme](https://twitter.com/learntocodewithme)_

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> “I see people who are starting their journey into software get so much advice about what to learn, in what order, and how quickly. I think we really risk overwhelming people when they start with the amount of different technologies they have to choose from. I think (maybe controversially!) it doesn't matter that much how someone gets started, or what language they pick to learn. Pick one, and dive in!”

- _**Jack Franklin** is a frontend engineer at Google and a blogger who writes about JavaScript, React, software development and more. He is also co-host of the web development podcast, Fish and Scripts. Read Jack’s blog [here](https://www.jackfranklin.co.uk/) and follow him on Twitter at [@Jack_Franklin](https://twitter.com/Jack_Franklin)._

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> “The worst advice I hear is that remote work, especially across timezones, is not efficient.  In my opinion, the extra time is spent setting up software contracts, writing more documentation and tests, and working more methodically.  These are all processes that we should be following anyways.”

- _**Jason Gauci** is a software engineering manager at Facebook AI where he leads ReAgent, a team that uses reinforcement learning to do automated marketing for billions of people. He is also the co-host of Programming Throwdown, a podcast that educates computer scientists and software engineers on a cavalcade of programming and tech topics. Learn more about Jason’s podcast [here](https://www.programmingthrowdown.com/) and follow him on Twitter at [@NeuralNets4Life](https://twitter.com/NeuralNets4Life)._

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**Read the full [Dev Bites series here](https://www.hoss.com/blog/dev-bites)**