A Guide to Working Remotely in China

A Guide to Working Remotely in China
Dec 06, 2018 By Degen Hill , eChinacities.com

For many of us, the work we do can be done without actually needing to spend 40 hours a week in an office. If no more office time sounds like a dream come true, here’s how and why you should consider working remotely in China.

Why:

Isn’t it obvious? By working remotely in China, you’ll not only get to choose where you work, but also when you work. This will no doubt have a positive impact on your mental health and give you more time to pursue your hobbies and other interests/commitments. Working remotely in China is easy, especially with the amount of cafes with free WiFi, the growth of shared office space and ability to send files and quick messages instantly through WeChat.

By working from home, you’ll be able to take care of small stuff throughout the day, such as laundry, washing the dishes or going to the gym, while still being able to do your job (if you’re disciplined). There’s a lot of ‘downtime’ in an office where you might aimlessly play around on your computer or chat to your colleagues. If you’re working at home, this downtime (and your commute time) are eliminated, giving you more time for work, and everything else.

How:

Start slow. If you’re already in gainful employment in China, you’ll likely have a fairly strict office schedule. However, if your work can be done from home, try asking to work remotely once a week, explaining the benefits it will bring to both you and your employer. If you can prove that you can still get the work done, or better still that you’re even more productive from home, you can ask to work remotely more often.

If you’re yet to find a job in China but want to work remotely if you can, rest assured that there are tons of roles that can be done on a computer from any location. Such jobs include editing, writing, graphic design, voice recording, consulting, social media managing, and many more.

But how can you find these jobs? First, think of what can be done on a computer and then what skills you have. Loads of websites in China, including ours, have job postings in a variety of fields that require zero office hours.

You could also take on a few part-time or freelance jobs, and then make an online portfolio of your work and a list of your services, allowing potential clients to contact you directly. Be warned though, working as a freelancer in China is problematic, as most work visas will only allow you to work for one company.

The logistics:

When you’re in your own environment, with no-one leaning over your shoulder, it’s easy to get sidetracked. To combat this, you need to be rigorous in your time management. Setting up a schedule, where you concentrate on nothing but the work at hand for a set amount of time, can really help. For example, work a few hours in the morning, take an hour for lunch, work another two hours, maybe go to the gym, then come back and work two more hours.

Even when working remotely in China, remember that you’re working for someone else, and keeping them happy is the key. To ease your boss’s potential worries about you working from home, perhaps email them first thing in the morning, letting them know you’re at your desk. You can also track how much time you spent on each project.

If that’s not enough, you can offer to come into the office for meetings and face-to-face chats. While this might sound like it defeats the purpose of working remotely, it’s a nice compromise compared to spending 40 hours a week in the office.

Do you work remotely in China? Tell us about it below!

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Keywords: working remotely in China work from home in China

3 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

maximilian

good experience

Jan 15, 2019 05:25 Report Abuse

carl.arias

is there a visa for this kind of jobs? I doubt it.

Dec 09, 2018 14:35 Report Abuse

Nikwestside

Why yes, of courses there is. It's called a work visa.

Dec 10, 2018 09:47 Report Abuse