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Some people feel exactly the opposite and are happier working in an office than remotely - even if they believe remote work is more productive! Iirc it's very

by ceras 5y ago

Some people feel exactly the opposite and are happier working in an office than remotely - even if they believe remote work is more productive! Iirc it's very roughly like 20-30% want full remote, 50-60% want some type of hybrid (where there's a wide spectrum of hybrid models, from rarely-in-office to usually-in-office), and 10-20% prefer always or almost-always in office. The ideal situation IMO is to have all options available: some teams are remote, some teams are in-office. The proportion over time should hopefully work out such that everyone can get what they want. Personally, I'm happier and healthier with a hybrid model (where people work in office the same days) than full remote. And like you, I also know I'm not alone because of people I know who are very unhappy right now due to forced remote during COVID. I sincerely hope we soon enter a future where everyone has options that best suit them.

electriclizard 5y ago
>I sincerely hope we soon enter a future where everyone has options that best suit them. I'd like that too. I am curious, why do you like going into the office? Does it give you something that you need, or does being remote too long make you uncomfortable because of something your mind is doing to you, which you have to escape?
- ceras 5y ago
  I enjoy the structure it adds to the day, the built-in activity I get commuting, the ease of adding other activities onto my day before or after work since I work in Manhattan, the office amenities that give me one less thing to worry about (e.g. food), the stronger team bonding and socialization I get from working with people in person, the ease of working through certain nitty gritty problems together and with a whiteboard, and the ease of forming more informal friendships/acquaintanceships with others in the office. I'd also add that I've always had and prioritized a short commute, and I like where I live and wouldn't want to move, so the cons are minimal for me. (The one thing I prefer about remote work is being able to take a 2hr mid-day break those days my brain is just fried; much easier at home, and I can then be more productive after that break.)
  - exodust 5y ago
    In my earlier 20-something days of office work, the social interactions were important. After work drinks were incredibly good times, as were group lunches and office banter. Sometimes people meet their partners at work, or make good friends, or just have consistently good conversations. This stuff matters when you want it to matter. Now I know that isn't always guaranteed wherever you work, or wanted at all stages of your life/career. But I understand if people do crave those things.
    - clpm4j 5y ago
      +1 after talking to a lot of people about this I have come away with the impression that it's mostly a stage-of-life thing. I had a blast in the office in my early/mid-20s with bunch of coworkers around the same age. Met my now-wife at the office. However, in my 30s, I have zero desire to return to any office even if it's a hybrid scenario. The good thing is that there do seem to be lots of viable fully remote opportunities now.
  - noasaservice 5y ago
    Work "friendships" are almost always a facade. It's because we *have* to work with them on a day to day basis, to get the work done. Being nice to each other is easier than being indifferent or hostile. But, when work ends (quit, layoffs, terminated), those work "friendships" almost always dissolve into nothingness whence they came. When there's no more 40h/week together forced time, they dissolve. The after-work drinks are directly related to work. No common work? No common drinks. No more forced socialization means that fakeness is made apparent. The real key: focus on not-work. Focus on clubs. Focus on get-togethers. Or parties. Or hell, hookups. Focus on things that don't use the "work" glue to force together. Those things will last when your job changes, or gets bought out, or whatever.
    - shrimp_emoji 5y ago
      I used to buy this, but I disagree. If you could say your school friends were "real friends", you can say your work friends are real friends. Modulo some child-like naivety, you were only friends with your schoolmates because you had to be at school with them. Hell, say you're homeschooled, and you're friends with kids in your neighborhood; you're only friends with them because you have to live around them. You can always make this argument for all except purely Internet friends you plucked from the æther of some Discord server. No-strings-attached friends are different from school/geographic/work friends, in terms of quality of life threat and the social strategy that should govern your interactions, but I don't think you can't say they're all friends.

by ceras 5y ago

electriclizard 5y ago

>I sincerely hope we soon enter a future where everyone has options that best suit them. I'd like that too. I am curious, why do you like going into the office? Does it give you something that you need, or does being remote too long make you uncomfortable because of something your mind is doing to you, which you have to escape?

ceras 5y ago
I enjoy the structure it adds to the day, the built-in activity I get commuting, the ease of adding other activities onto my day before or after work since I work in Manhattan, the office amenities that give me one less thing to worry about (e.g. food), the stronger team bonding and socialization I get from working with people in person, the ease of working through certain nitty gritty problems together and with a whiteboard, and the ease of forming more informal friendships/acquaintanceships with others in the office. I'd also add that I've always had and prioritized a short commute, and I like where I live and wouldn't want to move, so the cons are minimal for me. (The one thing I prefer about remote work is being able to take a 2hr mid-day break those days my brain is just fried; much easier at home, and I can then be more productive after that break.)
- exodust 5y ago
  In my earlier 20-something days of office work, the social interactions were important. After work drinks were incredibly good times, as were group lunches and office banter. Sometimes people meet their partners at work, or make good friends, or just have consistently good conversations. This stuff matters when you want it to matter. Now I know that isn't always guaranteed wherever you work, or wanted at all stages of your life/career. But I understand if people do crave those things.
  - clpm4j 5y ago
    +1 after talking to a lot of people about this I have come away with the impression that it's mostly a stage-of-life thing. I had a blast in the office in my early/mid-20s with bunch of coworkers around the same age. Met my now-wife at the office. However, in my 30s, I have zero desire to return to any office even if it's a hybrid scenario. The good thing is that there do seem to be lots of viable fully remote opportunities now.
- noasaservice 5y ago
  Work "friendships" are almost always a facade. It's because we *have* to work with them on a day to day basis, to get the work done. Being nice to each other is easier than being indifferent or hostile. But, when work ends (quit, layoffs, terminated), those work "friendships" almost always dissolve into nothingness whence they came. When there's no more 40h/week together forced time, they dissolve. The after-work drinks are directly related to work. No common work? No common drinks. No more forced socialization means that fakeness is made apparent. The real key: focus on not-work. Focus on clubs. Focus on get-togethers. Or parties. Or hell, hookups. Focus on things that don't use the "work" glue to force together. Those things will last when your job changes, or gets bought out, or whatever.
  - shrimp_emoji 5y ago
    I used to buy this, but I disagree. If you could say your school friends were "real friends", you can say your work friends are real friends. Modulo some child-like naivety, you were only friends with your schoolmates because you had to be at school with them. Hell, say you're homeschooled, and you're friends with kids in your neighborhood; you're only friends with them because you have to live around them. You can always make this argument for all except purely Internet friends you plucked from the æther of some Discord server. No-strings-attached friends are different from school/geographic/work friends, in terms of quality of life threat and the social strategy that should govern your interactions, but I don't think you can't say they're all friends.