I've worked from home for ~2 years now. Mostly in Pittsburgh, but for the last 5 months I've been working from rural Vermont. I'm not afraid that my social skil

I've worked from home for ~2 years now. Mostly in Pittsburgh, but for the last 5 months I've been working from rural Vermont. I'm not afraid that my social skills are decaying. Actually, I think they may be improving. The biggest change I've noticed is that I have more social energy to spend with people I choose. Before, I'd exhaust all of my social energy at the office. For me this is great - I feel richer for having more interaction with people who aren't techies. Small talk isn't about the newest javascript framework or crypto currency. I have to work harder to clearly explain what I'm working on and why it's important and why it's interesting. Good social exercise. I still spend plenty of time communicating with my co-workers. I feel like I'm less likely to fall into the office group-think now that I have a chance to tune out and think though problems independently. I'm more likely to say what I mean and ask for what I want. I think I speak more clearly now that I need to pump my thoughts through a narrower conduit (email or video chat).