Prior to the pandemic, I hated working remotely. While my employer at the time offered a generous work-from-home policy (basically I had free reign to work from home, except when there was an in-person client meeting), I avoided using it.
I found myself far less productive whenever I worked from home – felt myself distracted from work by the things in the house, and I didn’t have a dedicated space from which to work comfortably.
After basically being forced to work remotely for the past 2 years, I can safely say I hopefully won’t be going back to an office anytime soon1I recognize there is a lot of privilege in being able to make this choice..
Things that helped me realize this:
Probably obvious – but once you sit down and think about how much time you spend commuting, it’s hard not to think about that. I was commuting one hour each way. This impacted my life and my partners life. She would often be stuck with the task of getting dinner started at home while I sat on the train back to our neighborhood.
As an introvert, there is a constant tax that comes with going into an office everyday. For me, it wasn’t so much the in-person meetings but instead the in-between, unplanned social interactions – while you’re grabbing lunch or a snack, just randomly passing someone in the hallway – that take a lot of energy. While these interactions are mostly fine and manageable, there are some days they are not. Working remotely enables me to better anticipate social interactions and mediate my level of involvement in them (for example, I can turn chat software off, or keep my camera off during meetings).
What I’m able to do now instead:
With more available time as a result of no longer having to commute, I’m able be more thoughtful about how I spend my mornings: waking up at a more reasonable time, exercising, reading, or watching a TV show.
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