Like many of us, I started working from home in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. None of my previous jobs have been remote, so this was a brand new experience for me. While initially excited for the added flexibility this would bring, most of my colleagues and I approached this new work style cautiously, unsure of how it might impact the culture we were used to in our traditional office setting.
Two years later, our offices still remain mostly empty. Employees have seemingly embraced these changes and show little indication of wanting to return in-person any time soon. Some have even moved out of the city and across the country to locations where the cost of living is much cheaper. For better or worse, remote work seems to be here to stay as the new default for many companies.
I’ve grown to prefer this style of work over being in an office for a variety of reasons, and learned a lot about what it could mean for the future of office work. Here are some of my most important observations from this experience so far.
You don’t need to be in an office to be productive
At the start of the pandemic, many companies started to realize that jobs traditionally thought to require an in-person presence are able to be done 100% remotely. Although there were initial fears that employees wouldn’t get much work done at home — that they’d spend their time on their phones, napping, or watching TV all day — I’ve personally found myself to be much more productive at home.
You typically have more control over the distractions around you at home than in a typical open office plan. You no longer have coworkers taking calls around you, random interruptions, or have to worry about the hassle of finding an open meeting room. That being said, it’s now important to be able to distance yourself from other distractions such as your phone or TV during work hours. I’ve started to use my iPhone’s Focus modes to filter out non-work related notifications during work hours, helping to eliminate any temptations.
At home, you also have the added benefit of comfort and convenience. With full control over the temperature, lighting, and even what you wear, employees are able to create an ideal work environment that’s more conducive to their personal work style. This can have a big impact on performance and creativity, as employees can more easily optimize for how they work best.
For many of us, the daily commute was one of the worst parts about going into the office. Traffic, train delays, and other unforeseen issues meant that you’d often get to work late and need to stay later to make up lost time. Since I no longer have to commute, I typically get more sleep in the morning and finish work earlier at night. By reclaiming these hours, I’m left with much more energy throughout the day (and save a considerable amount of money as well).
Eliminating the commute back and forth also opens the door for more unconventional schedules that are outside of the normal 9 to 5. Since some people are more productive earlier in the morning or later at night, we should be doing our best to accommodate for these personal work styles. These flexible hours are something that many remote organizations are starting to adopt, letting you get your work done based on a schedule that best suits you and your team. This not only provides you with the freedom to work during quieter hours, but to work around the busy schedules of your kids or spouse as well.
Create a dedicated “office” space in your home
Since many of us are essentially now living in our office, it can become difficult to draw a line between your work life and personal life. Between these more flexible hours and the unspoken expectation that you should always be available, the boundaries of traditional office hours are becoming a bit more ambiguous.
To maintain a healthy work/life balance, it’s helpful to create a physical space in your home that you can use as a dedicated “work zone”. If you’re in an apartment or house with a spare room that can serve as your office, that’s perfect. Otherwise, allocating a corner of your living room or bedroom for your desk setup works as well. This allows you to subconsciously distinguish when you should be in work mode without it bleeding into your personal life as easily.
For example, if you spend your work day on your bed or couch, your brain will designate these areas as “the office” — making it harder to swap these same areas for relaxation and rest at the end of the day. This might make disconnecting more difficult, as you’ll feel like you still need to be working on something productive while you’re there.
Additionally, it’s also a good idea to give yourself a change of scenery from time to time. Bringing your laptop outside on a nice day or to a local cafe for a few hours can be a great way to gain a fresh perspective and inspire new ideas.
You can preserve the culture of a company remotely
When your coworkers live cities, states, and even countries away from each other, it can be a challenge to foster the same “culture” that existed when everyone was sitting next to each other in the same building.
I will admit that there are benefits to in-person interaction that aren’t currently possible to recreate remotely. Voice and video calls still lack a true sense of “presence” with important indicators like body language and eye contact missing. Working from your own home can also feel isolating at times, compared to being surrounded by your colleagues in a shared office.
But while sometimes more difficult, it is possible to keep teams collaborative and engaged remotely. It’s a mindset that needs to be embraced on every level of the organization in order to be successful. After all, those who view remote work as fundamentally inferior to being in-person have already decided that half of their teams are doomed to fail from the start.
Getting to know your teammates is important to forming stronger bonds while working together. By learning more about your coworkers, like what their preferred communication methods are, you’ll be able to collaborate much more effectively with them. Finding commonalities in shared hobbies or interests can also bring the team closer together, and having off-topic Slack or Teams channels can be a great way to prompt some of these conversations.
For regular meetings like stand-ups, you can also allocate a few extra minutes at the start or end to allow for more off-topic “water cooler” conversations. Having video turned on for meetings is ideal, but there can also be scheduled days where you aren’t expected to be on camera.
While my company’s traditional in-person quarterly events didn’t occur during the pandemic, we still arranged virtual happy hours, trivia nights, and games from time to time. These were entirely optional events that served as a refreshing break from our workday.
On a company-wide level, we’ve found great value in having bi-weekly all hands meetings where news and updates would be shared across the company. Keeping people in the loop and having open communication channels will reinforce the fact that employees are part of an organization larger than the groups they interact with day-to-day.
Add “virtual commute” time to your day
Back when I was commuting to the office, I used to take advantage of my time on the train every morning by listening to podcasts, catching up on the news, and reading ebooks. While I certainly don’t miss taking the train every day, this time did serve as a good way to ease into the day.
Working from home on the other hand can sometimes feel like you’re turning a switch from “off” to “on” in the morning. Although you may be getting more sleep, rolling out of bed five minutes before starting your work day typically isn’t a good idea. You’re going to be groggy, rushed, and start the day on the wrong foot.
Instead, incorporating a “virtual commute” time can serve as a beneficial transition into and out of work mode. In the morning, try to take some time to make some coffee and breakfast, meditate, or maybe read the news. At the end of the day, the same approach could be useful to unwind and prepare for the next day. This will do wonders for your work/life balance as your brain won’t be doing such drastic context switching.
In the same way we’re told stretching before and after physical activity can prevent against injury and soreness, warming up your mind before starting your work day can help prevent anxiety and burnout.
Find a way to maintain healthy habits
Speaking of physical activity — with most our day now spent sitting in front of a screen, it has become more important than ever to incorporate daily movement into your day. Eight hours of sitting has been shown to dramatically increase risks of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity. People who have sedentary jobs need to work harder to maintain their health. Even if you don’t feel any negative effects now, it will eventually catch up with you after months or years of sitting for prolonged periods of time.
The most important tip might also be the simplest — taking frequent standing breaks to stretch your legs throughout the day. This will keep your blood flowing and prevent muscle tightness from sitting all day. Keeping up with exercise routines, especially in the form of cardio or yoga, is also crucial for maintaining your overall health. If you live in a neighborhood where you can go on regular walks, that’s an easy way to exercise and can help get your creative juices flowing as well.
While at home, it’s easy to fall into the trap of snacking all day long. After all, with unrestricted access to your entire kitchen there’s nothing stopping you from grabbing some chips or a cookie on the way back from your bathroom break. To prevent this, try to give yourself set meal times and don’t allow yourself to eat outside of those windows. It might even be helpful to pack a lunch and/or snacks for yourself in advance, as a way to eliminate grazing during the day.
In terms of your work station, it’s worth investing in a good desk chair that has back support. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair for 8+ hours a day is a great way to make the remaining hours filled with back, neck, and shoulder pain. Consider investing in a standing desk too — I use this one from IKEA and it’s been great.
Awareness of your physical health applies to your eyes too. Long-term exposure to screens can cause eye strain and fatigue over time. Try to practice the 20-20-20 rule — every 20 minutes of screen time you should look away at something that’s 20 feet away from you for about 20 seconds.
The past two years have shown many of us the overwhelming benefits of working remotely. This flexibility has opened the door for more diverse and inclusive work styles — tailored for and centered around the individual rather than the group as a whole. From my experience, when employees are comfortable and well-rested they often produce their best work.
While the freedom of this work style certainly isn’t for everyone, I’ve embraced working from home as the new normal.