I’ve worked from home a few years now, and whilst the upsides are well known I’ve personally found some challenges there too. Have you experienced anything similar? How did you deal with it?
My tale:
When the UK went into lockdown (along with everyone else) in early 2020 I started working from home full-time. For the first year I was with the same team I’d worked with for years whilst in the office, so nothing really changed except my location.
I switched jobs mid-2021 and the new team was much smaller. I work as a software developer, and this team was a grand total of three people including myself. We didn’t have many meetings, only one a week, and except for being assigned new work I never interacted with anyone. It took a big toll on my mental health and I quit after three months.
I took an extended break from software development and started working on a plant nursery, driving tractors and tending plants - it was so much fun, but paid very little and ate into my savings a lot.
Went back to software development last year and thankfully manage things much better. I’m not a very social person, so it was surprising how important socialisation was to my mental wellbeing. I’m now part of quite a large team that speaks regularly, and when I next change jobs I know that this is something I need to look for.
I also have a garden now, so when the call of the wild hits me I go outside and sniff my tomato plants. I do miss driving tractors though.
I work from home (since the pandemic), and it’s mostly ok. I don’t miss the commute — from my old house and old job it was a 1h15m commute each way, and from my current house and current job it’s 1h30m. I absolutely could not do that every day, not anymore. So I definitely appreciate that.
Another positive is that my ergonomic setup is way better at home than it would be at the office, which is really important since I’ve been battling ongoing wrist pain.
Also at home no one can hear me swear at my computer all day except my partner in the other room 🙂
On the other hand, I really do miss the social aspect of the office. Which was surprising for me to realize as an introvert when the pandemic hit. But lunch chats, coffee breaks, Friday afternoon beers, even just overhearing people on different teams talking about what they’re up to, etc. are something I miss, and added a little fun to the day even when work itself was a slog.
I go into the office once every couple of weeks now, and it really makes me appreciate seeing people in person. Even just not having the small but ever-present Zoom lag makes such a big difference for me in reading body language, being able to jump in without talking over someone, actually staying somewhat focused, etc. Of course in person meetings are exhausting in their own way, but Zoom meetings can be like a special level of hell to me.
I feel like I wrote a novel, hah. Last thing I’ll say is that an extended break from software development is something that’s sounded quite appealing to me for a little while now, I just have no idea what I’d do instead 😅