No need to snooze for some
Monday morning is the best part of my week. Honestly. That phrase just looks wrong, doesn’t it? Not grammatically wrong, but somehow spiritually wrong. Business blasphemy. Monday morning? As in “smack your alarm clock with malice aforethought and psych yourself up for another 8 hour slog toward a paycheck?” I must be nuts.
But that’s not important right now. Monday morning I wake up smiling. I say to myself, “Self? You’re living the dream.” Then I roll over and go back to sleep. I set my own hours, and I firmly believe that there is only one 6 o’clock allowed in any given day. I get to do that because I have a remote job.
Who can work remote?
Staggeringly, there are even better reasons for remote employment than the chance to nap through rush hour. Remote jobs are perfect for people with commitments at home, such as single parents – really any parents; parenting is super hard, guys – and people who can’t work conventional nine to five 40-hour weeks.
In particular, remote opportunities are vital for people with disabilities, a path to the kind of financial independence that until just a few years ago was often unavailable to people unable to work a conventional week in a physically demanding environment.
Over the last decade, remote employment has gone from novelty to a fundamental component of global business.
It’s what 21st century professionals need to be: active, self-motivated, never missing a chance to excel.
It’s the future in a nutshell.
Where to find it
Here are five ways to find remote work.
1. Indeed
Indeed has rapidly become the best job board in the business, and it’s no surprise employers looking for remote help go there first. Just search the word “Remote.”
2. Flex Jobs
For my fellow night owls, inclined-to-sleep-inners, and anyone else with a reason not to work 8-5, FlexJobs is the Holy Grail. No matter how weird your schedule is, you’re likely to find a good match here.
3. SkipTheDrive
It’s just what the name says it is: all remote, all the time.
4. We Work Remotely
Same MO as SkipTheDrive and every bit as valuable. Especially fitting for opportunities in the tech sector.
5. Third party recruiters in your area.
Recruiters often know about opportunities not on the big boards. Even if the recruiter can’t help immediately, they’re a great networking contact. They might not have had something for your first meeting, but keep in touch, and when that job does come in, you’ll be the first phone call.
6. Facebook groups
We operate a digital jobs community on Facebook, and one group that is a spinoff is “Remote Jobs,” where you can tap into all sorts of jobs that aren’t smarmy or work-at-home scams. Join that group and use Facebook groups as a way to keep your remot work pipeline filled.
7. BONUS – This list of 200+ startups hiring remotely in 2016, put together by Remotive.io for just this occassion.
Remote work works
Remote work isn’t a curiosity anymore, and it’s not just an excuse to work in your pajamas.
It improves work/life balance, encourages innovative thinking outside the office environment, helps working families, and empowers people too often excluded from the workforce simply because they can’t be physically present at one particular time of day.
Remote work works, and it straight up makes the world better. Besides, it really is a great excuse to work in your pajamas.
#WorkRemote
Matt Salter is a writer and former fundraising and communications officer for nonprofit organizations, including Volunteers of America and PICO National Network. He’s excited to put his knowledge of fundraising, marketing, and all things digital to work for your reading enjoyment. When not writing about himself in the third person, Matt enjoys horror movies and tabletop gaming, and can usually be found somewhere in the DFW Metroplex with WiFi and a good all-day breakfast.

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