How Becoming a Dad Made Remote Work Mean More to This Node.js Developer

The first screen Michał Prokopowicz ever stared at wasn't a smartphone. It was a Windows PC he can still describe by parts — built in a time when his dad had also just bought a book on Visual Basic 6.0 and curiosity was the only curriculum he needed.

That same curiosity carried Prokopowicz, a Node.js developer based in Poland, from a Microsoft FrontPage hobby page for his primary school's European Union Club all the way to production code used by hundreds of thousands of people daily. He has been working with X-Team for just under two years. In 2018, he crossed a threshold no architecture decision can prepare you for: he became a father.

In this story, Prokopowicz reflects on how a natural pull toward computers became a profession, how remote work gave him something an office never could, and what he wants to leave behind — in code and in life.

A Childhood Obsession That Never Let Go

Prokopowicz did not choose software development so much as grow into it. "It came to me naturally," he says. "I was passionate about computers from an early age."

The starting point was hard to pin down precisely, but a few memories anchor it. His father's Visual Basic 6.0 book. Early experiments with web design in FrontPage 2000. And a concrete first milestone: a webpage for the European Union Club at his primary school, built entirely in FrontPage — 100% WYSIWYG — and published for others to see. The first bug he ever encountered turned out to be a formative one. The page looked different on other screens. Cross-browser rendering was his introduction to the idea that software exists in the world, not just on one machine.

The first project he remembers with real pride came shortly after: a word game called Gra słów, written in VB6, submitted to a local competition at his computer teacher's encouragement. It was the first thing he built that did not just end up on his hard drive.

Decades later, at X-Team, the stakes are different but the core satisfaction is the same. "It's fantastic to write code that is then used by hundreds of thousands of people," he says of his current client. "We had to deal with a massive scale, and I have an opportunity to work with some great minds, and still, I can have ownership of my code."

The Year Fatherhood Rewrote His Routine

When Prokopowicz looked back on 2018, the professional milestones were real — but one moment outweighed them all.

"2018 is an exceptional year for me because I became a proud dad," he says. "That is an indescribable feeling, but also a challenge, especially when working remotely."

The challenge was not technical. It was rhythmic. A new baby reorganizes every hour of the day, and doing that while also being a productive remote developer required building an entirely new structure from scratch. He names that process — developing a new routine and a sustainable work-life balance — as his most significant personal accomplishment of the year.

What remote work gave him in return, though, was something no commute could compete with. He can eat breakfast and lunch with his family. He can take his son for a walk during a break. He is present for the small, unrepeatable moments — the ones that stack up into a childhood. "Thanks to my remote work lifestyle I'm able to spend quality time with my boy and wife and still be productive," he says. "It wouldn't be possible if I'd have to go to the office every day."

Beyond the IDE: Cycling, Books and What He Wants to Leave Behind

Not every hour Prokopowicz has belongs to Node.js. Road cycling and popular science books fill the margins — and X-Team's Unleash+ budget makes both easier. Books he wants, he can buy. For cycling, the community structures help: X-Team's Fit Quest program and its internal #cycling-club channel with a weekly contest provide a motivation boost that he says keeps him consistent about getting out and moving.

His current favorite author is Yuval Noah Harari. It is a fitting choice for someone who thinks about what he is building — not just in code but in life.

When asked what lasting impression he wants to leave on the world, Prokopowicz draws a line between two communities he cares about. The first is his family and friends. "I hope to be recognized as a person that was always there when needed," he says. The second is the open source community. "I want to be an active contributor because it's phenomenal what people around the whole world can create together."

Those two ambitions — presence and contribution — run through everything he described: the childhood curiosity that led him to FrontPage, the ownership he still feels over his production code, the routine he rebuilt around a newborn so he could be home for all of it. For Prokopowicz, remote work is not a perk. It is the architecture that lets him show up fully in every world he belongs to.

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