A Remote Workers Perspective on this New WFH Life
This March marked the two-year anniversary of my remote career and, coincidentally, the beginning of the “new normal” for the entire world. As more people adapt to work from home life, it has been interesting to hear conversations surrounding remote work and everyone’s experiences with it. Especially when my work experience before doesn’t look a whole lot different than the after we’re all living.
While there were few things that could have prepared me for the global health crisis, I think already working from home has given me some sense of normalcy. This was especially true during the early days of the pandemic. I watched as some of my colleagues and friends made the switch to WFH and listened as they shared their highlights and struggles. It was exciting to hear how everyone was getting it done and how they were adjusting. I also have to say, I appreciated the deeply relatable working from home memes circulating in droves since the big shift.
Remote workers are also learning how to re-organize their daily work environments and schedules based on their new living situations. For myself, working from home the past six months has been different. There have been new obstacles, opportunities, and learnings in my relationship to working from home.
Like many, I don’t live alone. My partner is now home with me every day in our two-bedroom apartment. We are both relieved we live in a space where we can distance during our workdays, but having to take meetings from your bedroom is less than ideal when it comes to creating strong work/home boundaries.
In some ways, however, the pandemic has given me an opportunity to strengthen these boundaries. Before, I was always accessible and just a Slack away. Since March, I’ve become more disciplined about putting my notifications on silent and try my best to not check Slack during my weekends. Even though the perpetual weekends at home technically make me more accessible. I’m still guilty of checking my work email on my phone while I’m off, it’s a reflex, but, baby steps.
I’ve also had to become more disciplined with tasks at both work and home. By design, my Google calendar looks a lot fuller than it did pre-pandemic. This ensures I’m getting everything accomplished at work—despite how much more easily distracted I find myself these days. For my house and life tasks, I’ve gone old fashioned. I find it’s nice to keep my work schedule and appointments on my virtual calendar and my home tasks on paper. This physical separation makes it much easier to mentally separate work and home.
Of course, remote work has is perks, too. We can enjoy the comforts of home. More easily take care of loved ones. Take our work elsewhere if needed. Unfortunately, the pandemic has robbed us of this last one. I primarily worked from my apartment before the pandemic, but I do miss the freedom of having the choice to leave and work from a coffee shop. I used to do this about once a week for about half a day and always enjoyed it. Being able to safely leave and enjoy an environment outside my living space is something I long to do again.
It does seem that remote, or at least partial remote work, will be more prevalent even in a post-coronavirus world. Companies are shaping internal policies around remote work—at-home office stipends, designated no-meeting days, flex days—to help employees establish their WFH routines. As a long-time remote employee, it’s exciting to see workplaces focusing in on improving the remote working experience and leaning into it and I love what it means for the future of working from home for me and the many others who have joined the ranks of remote workers in the past year.