The Office Romance That Wasn't: A Love Letter to Remote Work

The Fantasy

I spent years as a blogger and content creator, working in my pajamas, juggling multiple priorities - desperately romanticizing office life.

"If only I had colleagues to bounce ideas off! If I could just focus on one task at a time!"

Past Me was such an adorable summer child.

Reality Check

Subtle Foreshadowing - it was not that. Fast forward through a decade of corporate life. Eight to five, Monday through Friday, my value measured by the warmth of my office chair rather than the impact of my ideas.

The reality didn't match the fantasy. And then -

The Plot Twist

The pandemic forced us all home, and suddenly I discovered my professional nirvana. Virtual meetings? Yes, please. Supporting my distributed team while avoiding Hard Pants*? Sign me up.

*Hard Pants = anything without elastic on or around the waistband.

Actually focusing on results instead of face time? Revolutionary.?

Resistance

Now companies are pushing RTO mandates like it's 2019. Sorry, but we can't stuff this genie back in its bottle. I've tasted the freedom of remote work, and I'm not giving up my home office without a fight*.

*By "fight" I mean well-reasoned opposition while still adhering to my company's very reasonable RTO mandates.

The Real Magic

Here's the thing – meaningful collaboration still happens virtually. We launched a major platform and handled high-stress IT incidents with our distributed team. All without putting on Hard Pants.

The Balance

Sure, sometimes office time makes sense. My team recently spent a day mapping our 2025 content strategy in person. It was great! Because it was purposeful, not just about warming chairs.

6 Hard Truths About the Future of Work

1. The Office Isn't Magic Great collaboration happens with intention, not proximity. Those mythical spontaneous brainstorms? They work just as well in Microsoft Teams.
2. Comfort Breeds Creativity My best ideas don't care if I'm wearing business casual or if only the front of my hair looks presentable on camera. My ideas come with focus, energy, and space to grow.
3. Culture Lives in Connections Strong teams don't need shared air - they need shared purpose. My distributed IT organization proves it daily.
4. Technology Bridges the Gap Smart people with good tools make magic happen anywhere. The future of work is already here - some companies just haven't accepted it yet.
5. Actions Speak Louder You can't champion your global, distributed workforce while insisting "real work" happens in the office. You gotta pick a lane.
6. Flexibility is the Future Office time should be intentional, not mandatory. Leaders might benefit from in-person influence and consensus building. But most of us? We need space to actually do the work, and do it creatively.

The hardest of the truths? The future isn't about where we work – it's about how we work. And if you're measuring success by seat warming instead of results, you might be the one needing an update. In-person sessions can be magical. But the real magic isn't in the room – it's in the people and how we choose to work together.

No Hard Pants required.

The Data

I do not claim to be a scientist or researcher. I have an opinion formed by my team's experience with remote work and some related research and data from within my organization (we've hired more women into IT since shifting the need to be in the office for example.)

If you're curious about other research - here are some places to look.

A Stanford study of 16,000 workers over 2 years found a 13% performance increase in remote work - Nicholas Bloom’s Research. (Deeper review here. -paid)

Previous research showed women with young children were 32% less likely to leave their jobs when offered remote options. -McKinsey?