A Life Lived Remotely: Being and Work in the Digital Age

by Siobhan McKeown

If work is hell, then what is working from home?

What happens when we take our lives online? How are we being changed by immersion in the internet? How do we know the difference between work and life when one seems to blend into the other?

Part memoir, part theory, A Life Lived Remotely tells the story of a transition to the digital age. It follows the author's journey through remote work, framing it within the exponential growth of the internet and the rapid spread of neoliberalism. It examines how we are being changed by the internet, how we experience that change, and at the anxieties and issues that arise. A moment's pause in a world of fast-paced communication, it provides a critical reflection on what it means to come of age along with the internet.

Genres: Nonfiction

291 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2018

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

One thing I cannot accept in a published book is typographical errors and this is littered with them; it’s as if they couldn’t be bothered to proofread the latter chapters. In this day and age there is really no excuse but it illustrates the standard and how just about anyone can publish a book these days. At one point Mckeown states that she wrote this book jumping from one thing to the next and it really comes across like this. It’s as if she had so many ideas and instead of considering how they formed a logical progression just decided to flit from one thing to the next. It’s really just a mind dump of all her own experiences of remote working and she comes across as someone incredibly unconscious to her own behaviour and self-importance. She makes some excellent points about human behaviour and society but just never delves into the depths portraying her own limited ability to understand her own behaviour. I find it very odd that she spent so long attached to a computer and neglected her own life and connections with other people; she would rather speak to someone online than to her own husband sat right next to her. How can you go about life like that and not understand the reason for your own loneliness? She makes reference to things like mindfulness and then makes sweeping statements such as this is in response to societal problems but then doesn’t develop her analysis or argument any further. It truly is in the style of a memoir with very little substance and an informal writing style that lacks critical analysis or artistic flair. I think more than anything I’m disappointed as the points raised are interesting but they just failed in their delivery; that said her audience is likely to be those people who are like her, unconscious to their own behaviour and do not understand the value of working and contributing to society in a standard way; always seeking a way to make money in a quicker and more convenient way. She broaches the philosophy of standard work and how it actually provides us with routine and social connections that are beneficial to our psychological wellbeing. There is this idea that we’ll be happy when we retire but research shows this is not the case; we decline cognitively, we die earlier and we feel far lonelier; work is good for our mental health. She also is a working example of the reasons why you shouldn’t let work take over your life as she clearly had very little of one.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing rich with perspective. I was pleasantly surprised by how much it resonated.

[Shera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book. It's a great discussion, not only on working remote, but on the affects of our overly-connected society... mainly the result of the internet and our amazing cell phones. I'm not agains the connectedness, heck it pays my bills, but I do think it's good to take a step back and realize what exactly we are dealing with. Just because it feels "free" to be online, it's still being orchestrated. Also, I needed the reminder to be quiet and still with myself - away from distractions. AND - it's okay to do things purely for ourselves, for our own enjoyment, without trying to figure out how to monetize it or justify it. I needed to hear this... I think we all feel the pressure to turn our hobby or joy into our job. Something that is not necessary and does not guarantee happiness... it's okay to have a hobby just for the sake or your own enjoyment. Lots of good nuggets in this book!

[Kelly]

Unfocused and uneven, this didn't really inspire anything in me as a remote worker except the insight that I'm not the only one who always feels the need to be available when, in fact, I am allowed to turn off work when I'm done. It could have talked about setting those boundaries, as McKeown talks about figuring that out in the end, but instead, there was an abundance of pages on the differences between backpacking travelers and digital nomads which served no purpose.

The performer on this wasn't engaging or interesting, either. Despite the accent, I don't think the British say "D.I.Y' as "die."

Skippable.

[Jenny Beaumont · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title only scratches the surface of this social, economic and political treatise on the way technology, and the internet in particular, has and will continue to impact and change us. Thoughtful, personal and insightful, this book is not reserved for the remote worker or digital nomad. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the changing world around us and the choices we make in interacting with it.

[x · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful, especially those who work remotely and/or freelance. There was captivating dialogue covering topics from economics to emojis to travel to loneliness, but there was also repetition and a failure of thorough editing.

I picked up this book at a local bookstore and read it 3 months later, after covid has forced me indoors. This work was written in 2017 but resonates especially well now.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my full review on www.charlou.com.au