Hello. I'm Scott Dawson. I’ve worked remotely, from my home office, since 1998. I worked the first fifteen years remotely at a Fortune 100 company and most recently at a Fortune 500 company, both in New York City.
I live and work 5 hours outside of New York City in a small town outside of Ithaca. I’ve built a custom home there, live a fit lifestyle and have raised two wonderful children with my wife. I classify myself as a web designer and developer, but even more so as a really effective remote employee. When I tell people about my situation, they usually say they could never work remotely; that it would take too much discipline. Then the intriguing questions start:
How do you stay motivated?
How do you stay connected?
How do you avoid staying “out of sight and out of mind”?
I’ve answered these questions, and many more, for friends and colleagues who are interested in starting to work remotely. Most recently, one of my colleagues asked me for some tips in a very poignant instant messaging thread. He was a new father at the time, and had just started off working remotely. He was struggling, and it was clear to me after a few messages that he wasn’t venting about the traditional distractions of housework and proximity to a full pantry. That messaging thread turned out to be the catalyst for me to start writing this book. He was having a lot of trouble ignoring the distractions around him. He needed help.
I started writing with the goal of completing a book, and also started a #RemoteChat on Twitter that went on for 250 episodes. I hope you find this site useful and engaging, and I look forward to connecting with you at one of the weekly chats! If you want to learn a bit more about me, I have a personal web site at scottpdawson.com and you can find me on Twitter @scottpdawson.