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 😅
I think it’ll die down on its own over time. I remember when I first joined Mastodon back in November, it felt like my entire feed was full of people who were migrating from Twitter but were still talking about Twitter this and Elon that, and eventually those people either left or found something else to talk about.