Working from home

Posted Tue 08 Feb, 2022.

Since May 2020 I've been lucky to work from home (WFH), despite my role not being remote.

I lot of my coworkers that, like me, are being forced to work remotely -and from home- have mixed feelings about not going to the office, at best; some people don't want a remote job.

I guess remote roles have pros a cons.

WFH: Pros

Family life is a big one for me. I have two kids, 6 and 4 (one of them has special needs), and being home and available minutes before and after I'm working is gold. Before the pandemic my stress level was much higher because very often I had to run from the office back to home, and end my working day from home. Although it wasn't common and my employer is "family friendly" -there's some flexibility as long as the results are as expected-, I don't miss when there was a couple of bad weeks in a row.

Then there is my commute: it was a 35 minutes walk, that the weather made miserable about a fourth of the year. Not the end of the world, but I don't miss getting to the office soaking wet.

Finally I think that working remote has helped the company to be more efficient with the time spent in "shared time" (meetings). I can end a meeting and move to the next one with a few clicks, which is not always a positive, but having less "dead time" I have found that is a positive for me. As a Software Engineer, I have more time for thinking and doing my job.

WFH: Cons

In the UK people live in small places, so it isn't common having office space at home. We live on a rented flat, that will be small for us soon, and although I have a desk with proper equipment to do my job, there's no separation when I need quiet time. Which, to be fair, is not that different from a busy open plan office. I think I use my headphones about as much as home as I did back at the office.

I miss the commute. That was a healthy part of my life that now is gone. I've tried to have a short walk at lunch time, but the bad weather has been putting me off -will go back at it in Spring-. It is different when you are not forced to do it.

I also miss the "in person" interaction with the people I work with. Remote is sometimes awkward -or I am awkward-, there are less opportunities to build relationships that will help you in the day to day communication.

Would I stay remote?

For now looks like my employer is happy with people deciding what is best for them. When the COVID situation is milder, going to the office every now and then sounds interesting.

My pros mirror my cons, in a way. I like the family time, but not having a break from your family can be hard. The commute is 70 minutes of exercise a day, that can be miserable, but is easier to do because "I have to go to the office". I like working with people, but the office can be exhausting and a very inefficient place to work.

Besides there's the benefit of being able to work for any company doing remote, instead of being limited to your city and a possible commute -which is not relevant if you are happy and not looking for a change-. Eventually my family will require less of me, and I'm sure the COVID pandemic will be over eventually, so I don't think WFH is the end game for me. Until that happens, my preference is remote first.

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