Remote work is not as simple as “working from home.” It is a deliberately designed way of working in which communication, trust, and the work environment are all different from an office.
My Interpretation (Wisdom)
I have worked fully remotely since 2019 and run a small team distributed across different cities. My biggest realization after seven years is that the core of remote work is not tools, but trust. Monitoring software cannot replace trust; it can only be built through transparent workflows and clear communication.
Digital nomadism sounds romantic, but at its core it means “the ability for one person to complete work independently.” If you need someone watching over you to get things done at an office, working somewhere else will only make it worse. Three questions can tell you whether remote work suits you: Can you be self-disciplined? Can you express yourself clearly in writing? Can you accept solitude?
Strategy and Methods (Knowledge)
Asynchronous Communication
- Situation: Day-to-day collaboration in a remote team.
- Method: 80% individual focus + 20% team coordination; replace most meetings with a document culture. Use meetings only for real-time decisions, brainstorming, and major milestones.
- Example: Raymond’s team uses Notion as its documentation hub and Discord for real-time communication. Most things do not require a meeting.
Remote Interviews and Evaluating Candidates
- Situation: Recruiting remote teammates.
- Method: Look at portfolios and actual output, rather than degrees or interview performance. The trial period matters more than the interview.
- Example: Raymond’s methodology for interviewing video editors remotely.
Work-Environment Design
- Situation: Build an effective work-from-home space.
- Method: Invest in a good desk and chair, monitor light bar, and noise-canceling headphones. The environment directly affects work quality.
- Example: Raymond’s infinite-desk setup.
Related Content (Information)
Articles and Newsletters
- 2023-10-10: Asynchronous communication is a skill everyone should learn: the key to regaining focus at work, not only for remote workers
- 2025-03-10: How to evaluate remote-work candidates: interview preparation and materials
- 2024-10-05: Is remote work and digital nomadism right for you? A three-question quiz and seven years of freelance experience
- 2023-09-11: Portfolio work is not about work–life balance, but integration
- 2023-09-10: Looking back at notes from my first remote team and student internship program seven years ago
- 2026-02-12: I paid bonuses for 20 months: discussing compensation design for remote teams
- 2020-03-04: A conversation with a freelancer: how a chemical-engineering student became a remote worker without properly studying the major
- 2023-08-23: Notion Projects use case: project management, work-hour tracking, and meeting tracking for a fully remote team, with Chinese template
- 2021-07-24: Infinite desk: a remote content creator’s home-workstation setup and three key tools for productive work
- 2026-02-18: Who is Lannuo? From photography freelancing to living in New Zealand: identity change after dissolving a 10-person company and taking semi-retirement
- 2023-03-28: How to choose a café to work in: remote work and digital-nomad experiences of a software engineer — interview with Conch, Digital Life Atlas #16
- 2023-04-11: Canva product designer and education entrepreneur: finding long-term collaborators and keeping a remote team motivated — Digital Life Atlas #17
- 2022-12-29: How a quiet, introverted person can gain a manager’s trust and exceed expectations in a fully remote workplace — interview with Hanyu, Digital Life Atlas #06
- 2026-03-20: Issue 176: Four sources for learning AI, Notion AI bonus livestream, automation requires a business first — Raymond Weekly
- 2026-03-13: I spent 21 days using Claude Code to build a complete AI double assistant: a record
- 2026-03-01: Building a paid membership community for five years: a full record of Lifehacker Island and its subscription service
- 2026-02-26: Issue 174: AI double at work, in-person Notion classes, repricing my own salary — Raymond Weekly
- 2025-08-05: How I started freelancing and increased my rates: highlights from Raymond’s interview with Lufan
- 2024-03-18: ChatGPT tutorial: learn these prompt principles to use AI tools; the TRIRO prompting framework
- 2023-10-10: How to follow trends and build your own service or product: meet these supervisors earning more than NT$400,000 per month
- 2023-10-03: How to escape a poor mindset: my biggest regret from university and two years of costly lessons
- 2023-09-25: What remains when you remove your job title? How to design distinctive labels and keywords for yourself
- 2023-09-11: How to become a freelancer: a business-model map and positioning checklist for freelance work
- 2023-03-14: The choices not made along the entrepreneurial path: the real life and underlying logic of a serial entrepreneur — interview with Lawrence Lin Yiru, Digital Life Atlas #15
- 2023-01-09: Every experience becomes part of you: moving from sociology to user-experience design — interview with A-Mao, Digital Life Atlas #11
- 2026-04-05: Digital nomad’s everyday-carry list: minimalist gear for traveling with one backpack
- 2025-09-03: Who is Paul Millerd? Giving up a US$200,000 salary to self-publish the bestseller The Pathless Path
- 2024-05-30: Today is a day off: let my feet rest while taking care of a few work items _8289870964361048
- 2023-06-10: I have experienced several serious team traumas _6885365934811565
- 2024-06-24: Lately I have been in my second most confused and anxious period since starting my own business _8413205605360916
- 2024-06-29: Ten experience points and one test to debunk digital-nomad myths and illusions _8441664655848344
- 2023-08-13: Six years ago at university I launched remote-work and independent projects; after graduation I experienced 996 internet-company culture and… _7111171915564298
- 2026-08-30: Issue 186: Featured on the App Store, a trip without a laptop for the first time, an AI Agent course that keeps growing
- 2025-06-24: Things no one taught me back then, now I’ve put them into a course for you
- 2022-01-01: Rain Island Hostel seven-person room review: a perfect space and four days and three nights of nomadic work in Keelung
- 2021-09-29: Not just an online course, but the beginning of changing online learning
- 2021-06-10: What is Markdown? An essential writing technique and a guide to immersive-editor tools
- 2021-03-22: Interview with Lin Feiyang: from intern to vice president; how a post-90s professional used old-school methods to innovate and break through
- 2020-10-29: What is a product? Good products are like curation: five principles for setting boundaries
- 2020-09-02: What is a company of one? The free association of free people and the Raymond Thirty community of independent operators
- 2020-08-27: Sick with a fever and cough in the middle of the night during week two, ER visit and rapid COVID test: what happened?
Social Posts
(To be tagged using the Facebook post curation tool.)
Data
- Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, Remote: Office Not Required — a classic on remote work.
- Cal Newport, Deep Work — the theoretical foundation for deep work and asynchronous communication.
Related Concepts
Super Individual, Communication and Expression, Time Management, Career Development