Escape by negotiating a Remote Work Agreement.

The fastest way to location independence is through a remote work agreement with your current employer.

Previously I spoke about finding consulting clients to cover your basic costs of living. With that covered, you are free to build your own business without the stress of finding rent money.  But even easier than this is to negotiate a remote work agreement with your current employer. This is especially true if you follow my hacking advice of hiring students or outsourcing the work.

After finalizing a remote work agreement, you should be able to maintain a reasonable level of income for very little time.

Not being in an office increases productivity

You likely spend 8-10 hours everyday at work.  Whether you like it or not, and whether you are busy or not.  So how much of that time is unproductive?
If you are employee minded and your only goal is to get through the day and have a beer at the pub, then wasted time is good.  It means you got the same amount of pay for less work.  You showed the man!!

But if you are tyring to build a business and engineer your escape, then wasted time is the enemy!  Once you start coming up with business and product ideas, you quickly find that you do not have enough time to do everything you want.  All of a sudden that watercooler chat is eating away at your productivity – postponing your future!  In my experience, at least a quarter of every day is wasted by an extended lunch, watercooler talk, and impromptu chats on the shop floor.  Neither is this benefiting your emplyer nor is it contributing anything to your future. The biggest productivity gain you will expereince is in removing that chitchat from your daily routine. Now, if your boss was happy with the work you accomplished before, don’t feel obligated to spend this time on their projects. No, you just found 2-3 hours per day of lost time and you should spend it on your own projects. This increase in productivity will be very obvious if you start to work at home at all. Spending one day per week is the first job hack you need to learn. The first step towards a remote work agreement is to take this one day per week at home, make it extremely productive, and make sure your employer sees how much more value they receive when you are working from home.

Test by working at home

As I said above, this is the first step in developing a remote work agreement. For one month, have your boss agree to you spending one day per week at home. Do not make it a Monday or Friday because the chances of distraction are much too great.  No, you should aim for a Tuesday or Wednesday to ensure that your time at home is productive.  Of course during this time you are being watched very closely and they will be analyzing your results.  Make these initial at home days the most productive ever.  Put in extra hours if you have to, but I count this will be necessary.  No, with removing the commuting time and idle office chit chat, you should have 3-4 extra working hours during the time that you would normally be away from home.  Make them count!

To properly set up a on day per week test, you should plan to be a little bit less productive while in the office as well.  Nothing drastic and obvious, just a little to skew the results.  Perhaps you have more meetings that accomplish nothing, a longer lunch, and more coffee breaks.  Again, don’t sandbag it to the point of making it obvious.

Ask for a salary reduction

Of course you don’t want to lead with this tactic. But if your boss is having a hard time deciding to allow a remote work agreement, then it’s time to bring out the big guns.

How many bosses would refuse this?  You promise to do the same amount of work, but agree to a 25% pay cut.

Unless you are living right on the edge, you should be able to make ends meet, even when only earning 75% of your original salary.  Plus, if you are really looking to escape the ‘normal’ life, you have likely downsized your needs, started an on-line or off-line business, found multiple consulting clients, and maybe even taking advantage of economic arbitrage by living cheaply in a foreign country.

If you are still having trouble convincing your bosses of the value here, you could possibly go lower.  I don’t recommend you accept any less than 50% of your original salary.  However, this will require more drastic lifestyle changes or accelerated entrepreneurial endeavours.

Outsource

Success is defined as being able to negotiate a remote work agreement.
If the salary is enough to cover your living expenses & add a little to yoiur savings, and you’re happy with that, then congratulations!

Now, that you are no longer burdened by being in an office or bosses looking over your shoulder, you are free to pursue multiple sources of income.  All the while having the consistent income from your employer – now that’s a win-win situation.  But what to do when you really do start getting a lot more work?   Do you just work 80 hour weeks?

Ha, no.  Now you outsource or hire employees.  I have not yet done any outsourcing, so I can’t comment on that here yet.  But I will soon.

But I have hired engineering students multiple times before.  I have to say this is one of the best uses of funds that you can do. Engineering students are typically smart, keen, and motivated to work long and hard.  You have to pay them more than minimum wage, and much than foreign outsourced labour, but are amazing value.

I will provide more tips and tricks on outsourcing here on this blog later.

Above are some ideas more making the best use of a remote work agreement.  Successfully negotiating such a deal could be a very pivotal moment in your engineering escape.

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Tags: Beginner, Freedom, Income, Location Independence, Remote Work Agreement