You can be terminated from a remote job tomorrow, even if you are a good employee. The thought of losing a high-paying job and not being able to find a replacement quickly could make one anxious, and I sure had trouble falling asleep worrying about my performance and potential termination. That sucks, but there are practical ways to alleviate this worry.
There are many causes of this anxiety, but let's start with the fear of losing identity. The more you are attached to a position and salary, the more pain you will suffer once the job is gone. The more practical identity is of a temporary contractor. Sometimes you have work, and sometimes you don't. Your pay is wary from client to client. You are like a freelancer, but you don't need to put that much effort into acquiring clients because you usually work with one client for a few months. Also, if you are working on side projects besides your day job, call yourself a bootstrapped founder when you don't have a regular job. You have the power to choose identities and use them wisely to empower yourself instead of creating anxiety because of a stupid job.
While identity issues may cause problems for some people, the most common fear is running out of savings and failing to pay the bills or provide for the family. Let me share how I approached this problem. When I got my first remote job, I was a student living in my parent's investment, a tiny apartment on the edge of Minsk that you could rent for 200$. I was spending maybe 500$ per month while using a taxi to go everywhere. And the tax back then was like 3%. So I've saved 90% of my paychecks, creating eight months of runway every month. I lost this job after one year, but if I chose to stay in Belarus, it would give me eight years of runway. Instead, I went to Georgia and bought my first apartment to live rent-free in a new country. The moral of this story is that as a remote worker, you can go to a cheaper country with fewer taxes while maintaining your quality of life. I've never been to New York but is it that amazing that people are ready to live paycheck to paycheck, paying 3k in rent and giving half of their salary to taxes? The bottom line is you have a few variables to optimize. You can reduce spending, taxes, and the amount of money you burn due to inflation while increasing the inflow of money. To learn more about it, check out my video about the simple money model.
Once you have a good amount of savings that could last you a few years, you won't be that worried about a long job search, especially when it's a bad situation in the market. However, being confident in yourself and your ability to find another source of income will further reduce the fear of losing a job. First, being interested in your line of work, tinkering on the side, and building your projects or making content will help you stand out among other candidates. If you hate your profession, start working towards a better career. Second, have a strong knowledge and skillset in a specific area. I can do back-end work, make content, and have a feeling for a good UX/UI, but I'm a React front-end developer first and will look for a senior front-end position rather than a junior back-end job. Third, get good at talking and writing, speak English well, and try singing classes to fix your accent. Fourth, make your resume sell you, watch my video on how to design a resume for remote work.
Technology accelerates, and the way knowledge workers make money changes. More people are remote, and while some figured out how to have three jobs at once, others struggle to get into the industry because of high competition. Artificial intelligence is getting better, and before you notice, it will be a powerful tool making a team of five people replaceable with one expert who can leverage AI. Don't get complacent, and stay relevant by improving your work habits and getting the most out of your time with the productivity toolkit at increaser.org.
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