The Impostor Syndrome and how it helped me go the way of working remotely
If I were to tell you that 3 months and 2 weeks into my first job I realized that it won’t be long term, you’d think I was lying.
If I were to also tell you that I once quit a job because of a song, you’d think I was crazy. But both these stories are true.
The Impostor Syndrome is a pattern in which a person believes they are unworthy of their success.
They believe they’ve conned their way to their position. However, I firmly believe that there is another side to this. And that side is the feeling of not belonging to your current career or position.
Which brings us to the first tale of this story.
When I was but a young software developer, starting off in a boot camp-like program, I didn’t know much. But when I started working on my first project, I realized it wasn’t for me. It took about two daily meetings to figure it out and 6 years later, the statement still holds true.
First impressions matter and they matter a lot.
Of course, at that time I didn’t exactly know why I felt like that, I just knew I did. It took a few years to fully understand why I felt that way and two years ago I finally understood that I needed to change something. So I took a few weeks off of work in order to understand what exactly was causing me this burnout. And I finally understood what it was: I couldn’t bear with going to the office 5 days a week, force-feeding myself every morning and constantly having to wake up so early.
Luckily, I was able to negotiate a 2-day-a-week work from home schedule. However, despite good results on my part, being the odd one out at work became a burden. And that’s because my managers were afraid of this schedule.
I honestly don’t know why, but maybe it’s like Carmin Falcone said in Batman Begins: people fear what they don’t understand.
People don’t understand that you can actually be productive while working from home. And managers fear that employees will mess around at home and not work.
And in 2019 I finally decided to take the leap of faith and pursue freelancing opportunities. And while it is harder than a regular job and in the beginning, projects are scarce, it was a very liberating sensation, for me anyway. No more rush-hour traffic or crowded subways or waking up at unnaturally early hours.
Is freelancing or remote work for everyone?
Probably not, but if you have a gut feeling that your current schedule is not working out for you, there’s a very good chance that you are correct. You might want to listen to it!
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