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.
It’s almost all I’ve known at this point. I had a normal placement year, finished Uni, went back to work and then started working from home half a year later due to COVID. It’s turned into hybrid but I’m starting a new job soon which will be almost entirely remote.
I like it. I feel really lucky that I get to be with my partner on the days she works from home, even if I am working. We go for a walk at lunch and have coffees. It’s also closer to what I used to do as a hobby in programming; work with a team of people from my home. Saving money and time from daily commuting is a huge plus.
Your break sounds amazing. Anything that changes your focal point from a screen to something like entire fields are the best for desk job workers.
A common theme here is being able to spend more time with partners, I never considered how much time you’re forced to spend apart when you work 100% office based. That’s definitely a huge upside to WFH.
Yeah, it’s just nice that I get to have more time around the person I practically chose to share my life with. It is sad to think how much time we’d have to spend away from each other if none of this happened.