Recently transitioned into consultant work, before that I was a silicon valley native who worked at big names and startups.
Remote work is difficult because when you are remote and care you feel pressured to do more work to make up for the missing office political presence you get from being onsite.
That human interaction is much more important than people want to acknowledge
Been there and understand that completely. I transitioned from full time on-site to a remote worker with the same organization which meant that I understood the things I needed to work to replace when I started working outside the office - that was a huge edge compared to folks that joined 100% remote.
While I don't feel pressured to do "more work" necessarily, I think where I have seen intensity increase is in making more of an effort to actually speak to other humans adjacent to your work. This might require taking time out of your day and end up causing you to spend more time.
Overall I find being remote allows you to focus more which means you can often get more done in less time (if you're on maker time) so hopefully this doesn't result in many extra hours.
If you're on manager time (which I often am) then this is a whole different challenge of course, but it's an interesting one.
Mainly I would say it's best to balance your self-pressure to do more (coming from a fellow person who cares). Doing more work probably won't help, but ensuring you have regular touch-points with the right people will go a long way toward people knowing you exist, what your value is, and providing you with context to execute effectively without guidance.
Probably saying something you already know but feels good to type it either way :)
Remote work is difficult because when you are remote and care you feel pressured to do more work to make up for the missing office political presence you get from being onsite.
That human interaction is much more important than people want to acknowledge