3 ms·

It's difficult for me to give a true assessment of what remote work would be like in normal times. Since I live alone and social events are cancelled I feel li

It's difficult for me to give a true assessment of what remote work would be like in normal times. Since I live alone and social events are cancelled I feel like I'm craving social contact and definitely missing that aspect of work. I also don't have any space in my apartment to work from so I'm set up on the kitchen table. I do wonder if the exceptional circumstances of the current sudden shift to remote (lack of other human contact, unplanned setups at home) will cause a backlash against remote work.

blktiger 6y ago
I'm guessing there will be a mix of people who had a bad taste because their companies weren't really setup for remote work and they don't have the ability to get out of the house, and some people who find that they are more productive working from home, are able to use the extra hour or two in their day to get other things done, find that the documentation enforced by remote work provides a ton of benefits to their team, etc. To be fair, remote work isn't for everyone and for outgoing people in particular they need to learn how to get in an appropriate level of social interaction (bad right now of course); but as noted by this survey a large portion of remote workers won't even consider going back to work in a co-located office.
shred45 6y ago
There may be some backlash, given how painful the transition has been for a lot of people. I think a lot of people are conflating "remote work" with "social distancing". The later is the cause of a lot of your feelings of loneliness. The former can significantly increase your flexibility to maintain quality relationships. As someone who works 100% remotely, this has been an especially lonely period for me as well. Right now, many people are still getting used to working from home, and many I suspect consider this to be a temporary measure, which has prevented them from getting settled. In a real switch to remote work, you would be properly invested in setting up a long-term productive environment. The beauty of remote work is you would have the agency to experiment and find what habits and schedules makes you the most productive, without the added constraints of the office. This process would probably take several months, and for a while you would miss the structure of the office, but I think it has the possibility to increase your productivity and quality of life. For me, remote work does not mean that I work alone, it just means I work with a group of other remote workers that I consider to be close friends. I think it has the potential to increase quality social interactions while working, not decrease. In a society where more people are working remotely, I think the ability to forge relationships outside of work will only increase.

blktiger 6y ago

I'm guessing there will be a mix of people who had a bad taste because their companies weren't really setup for remote work and they don't have the ability to get out of the house, and some people who find that they are more productive working from home, are able to use the extra hour or two in their day to get other things done, find that the documentation enforced by remote work provides a ton of benefits to their team, etc. To be fair, remote work isn't for everyone and for outgoing people in particular they need to learn how to get in an appropriate level of social interaction (bad right now of course); but as noted by this survey a large portion of remote workers won't even consider going back to work in a co-located office.

shred45 6y ago

There may be some backlash, given how painful the transition has been for a lot of people. I think a lot of people are conflating "remote work" with "social distancing". The later is the cause of a lot of your feelings of loneliness. The former can significantly increase your flexibility to maintain quality relationships. As someone who works 100% remotely, this has been an especially lonely period for me as well. Right now, many people are still getting used to working from home, and many I suspect consider this to be a temporary measure, which has prevented them from getting settled. In a real switch to remote work, you would be properly invested in setting up a long-term productive environment. The beauty of remote work is you would have the agency to experiment and find what habits and schedules makes you the most productive, without the added constraints of the office. This process would probably take several months, and for a while you would miss the structure of the office, but I think it has the possibility to increase your productivity and quality of life. For me, remote work does not mean that I work alone, it just means I work with a group of other remote workers that I consider to be close friends. I think it has the potential to increase quality social interactions while working, not decrease. In a society where more people are working remotely, I think the ability to forge relationships outside of work will only increase.