gorachel007

I enjoyed this post, and it's not like we can say "you made that up" or "you're just trying to get fake Internet points" because it's been tried and tested. Joel's telling us exactly what he did and his awesome results. Thanks for sharing!

From personal experience I love Basecamp and Trello for project management. I've also tried Wrike but it wasn't as seamless as the other two.

I also use Hubstaff for tracking my time and getting time reports. I used to just guesstimate how much I should bill clients but that was such a headache.

I haven't used it personally but I also hear good things about Insightly.

Yeah haha or they'll bombard your info@ email account :)

I agree from a business standpoint, I recently downgraded from a paid plan to a free plan on a social media service because I wasn't satisfied with the support efforts.

Free plans make sense for new businesses that are trying to get users to test a product or service, but once it's been built and is working seamlessly SaaS companies really should start charging.

Working remotely from anywhere can be great, you just have to research the setup before you go and be prepared.

I've worked remotely from Oregon, Seattle, Singapore, Tokyo and Manila (where I am now). None of the cities except Manila caused any problems once you get around the time zone issue. The Internet in the Philippines is generally slow (averaging 1 mbps) and expensive. I'm not sure if this is due to infrastructure or a monopoly or something, but it's tough to work with a slow, expensive connection especially when you're a web developer.

I manage it by working late at night or early in the morning, when the connection seems to be faster (less people are awake and online). I also keep two different connections handy--one is my mobile data, which I can hotspot and use on my computer, and the other is a portable broadband device. That way, even if one of them loses connection (did I mention in addition to it being slow and expensive, the Internet is unreliable???) I can still work using the other one.

Even with the awful Internet I still get things done in Manila, and if it's possible here it's possible anywhere.

Here's an interesting Forbes article about what happens when you unplug for a while; http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2013/02/06/feeling-...

It's more of an issue of technology making us interact in ways that are less human. Check out their link on the study about cell users being less likely to display prosocial behavior.

To put this in another perspective; 1 gallon = 128 ounces. If you're supposed to drink 6 to 8 8oz glasses of water a day, for the same amount of water you could either remain well-hydrated for 2 to 3 days or eat a single almond.