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 love working from home! I really like hunkering down, focusing, and getting into a good flow, and doing that from home is easy for me. I’ve been WFH about 3 years now and can’t see myself ever taking an office job again. I also have kind of brutal anxiety that is so much easier to handle from home.
One thing I do like is when my team meets for an in-person event, once or twice a year. It’s a lot for me, but I’m ready for it and have a good time when it rolls around.
I’ve also been in a position of managing folks who are remote, and I find that to be a lot easier as well. I made better connections on Zoom than I did in the office from a manager level, because it removed a social anxiety barrier I had. I don’t manage anymore, but if I did, I’d be happy to have a remote team and wouldn’t want it any other way.