Before I started my first full-time job, I had it in my head that I would prefer a hybrid work set up. Some time in the office and some time at home. This of course was in 2022 when work from home was very much the norm in tech spaces.
I think I got the idea of wanting to be hybrid from hating online school so much. That one year of being completely online during college was one of the darkest, unproductive, and just isolated years of my life and I believed it would be the same if I went fully remote for work.
I guess I also wanted to be able to have my outfits planned out and be able to meet new people again.
After about one week, on the job that attitude completely changed. I had come in to the office on my own accord and found the space pretty much abandoned. It was cold, eerily quiet, and again, empty. I didn’t see the value in it so I just stayed home unless there was a planned get together with my team. This is the ideal set up for me, fully remote but come in for a structured day at the office.
Whenever I see articles about how ‘we need to return to the office’ I instantly roll my eyes. I mean how could not know that that ship has for sure sailed. Who would give up the benefits that working remote provides for us? For example,
Time freedom or flexibility - going to appointments or arranging childcare, etc.
Not needing to pack a lunch a day before
Not being in rush hour traffic everyday
Sleeping in
Working on my own schedule — if I work better at night, I can move my hours then
Time to focus due to no coworker distractions
You can work from literally anywhere and get a change of scenery
Of course, the main opponent to work from home is that you miss out on face-to-face collaboration that an office provides. I can see this being an issue for certain industries like maybe design where someone working alone is not ideal. However, I do think that for those industries a 100% return to the office is still unnecessary. Having one day out of the week or maybe 2 dedicated to collaboration would still get the job done.
Besides, my job is fairly collaborative and our teams chat is very active. A quick meeting with a shared screen gets the job done in probably less time than in an office.
I do think it’s important to get some real-life interaction though. Not going into an office deprives us of some of that built in interaction. It is so easy for me to go an entire week having only left my house to get groceries. So, outside of work be sure to be involved in your communities, stay active, and check in on your favorite people. Feel the sun on your face!
Anyways, I am a fan of work from home and can’t imagine ever working in an office full time ever again forever.
What do you think about remote work?