What I learned from 100% remote working

If you are not working for Elon Musk, chances are you may find yourselves working away from an office more than in an office. If you are like me, an introvert at heart, who likes the idea of freedom of movement and choice, you might’ve rejoiced at the advent of remote working, a more pleasant spin off of the pandemic. Working from home (WFH) can be fantastic, but it does have its’ downsides. More and more people are starting to experience a sense of isolation and loneliness in this new reality. I’d like to share some things I have learned from working 100% remote, which will hopefully help you to get the most out of WFH.

When I started with Gattaca, WFH was a dream come true. I imagined all the possibilities it would open up, along with everything that I’d no longer need to deal with. Whenever I thought of the possibilities around WFH, I imagined myself moving around like a migrating wildebeest of the plains of Africa- a nomad on the hunt for Wi-Fi. I imagined the freedom that it would bring- the flexibility. What bliss- to make your own schedule, to shake the shackles of the restrictive office culture… or so I thought.

WFH comes with many benefits for sure. It allows you to kick the stiff office wear, avoid traffic, create your own flexible schedule, move from coffee shop to coffee shop, if you so wish- travel even- whilst doing a job you love (hopefully) … what could be better? But alas, everything you once coveted eventually loses its shine and becomes the thing that challenges you. The honeymoon phase passes and you realize that to some degree everything sucks a little bit if you have it all the time. Once I’d had enough of my own company, working from home became tough for a while. The reality of being alone for most of the day settled in, like that icky sediment at the bottom of your wineglass.

Was remote working everything I thought it would be? The truth is, it became just as predictable as being in an office all day- only the setting was different. The officy attire I loathed wearing was traded in for wearing fat pants (c’mon, every girl has a pair!),?PJ bottoms or yoga pants, and sitting in traffic on the accident-prone highway, for sleeping in. And before you know it, you find yourself in full-blown hermit mode, eating crisps for breakfast and finding every excuse to avoid the outdoors. Was this what I had been wanting all along? The reality was, I was still sitting in the same spot all day, staring at a computer screen, only now I was alone all day. ?How uncanny… what was once a dream come true, eventually becomes just another day in paradise.

When the magic fades, you recognize the social infrastructure that was offered to you by the office environment you wanted to get away from. Now that you think about it… it had its’ upsides. You think about how hard it is to separate your home and office environment, how you miss the little chats in the hall and the quick coffee runs down the street and trying out different restaurants in the hood… how you miss the energy of the office- the vibe. We are social beings, and removing a human from an office society does have its repercussions.

I am currently reading Mark Manson’s “The subtle art of not giving a f*ck”. He makes the point that the person you marry is the person you fight with, and the job you love is the one you lose sleep over. This reminds me of what Dr Caroline Leaf calls optimism bias- the tendency we have as humans to overestimate how great some future reality we strive for will be. To some extent we need to have this bias, otherwise we probably wouldn’t ever strive for anything. But once we have arrived at our metaphorical destination, it can be a shock to the system to realize the ordinariness of what we once desired. But if we can get over this initial shock and accept this, we can actually start to work with this. This is when we can let go of the expectations we had and decide to make our reality extraordinary.

I am fortunate to be in a team that encourages a lot of open conversation. And with last month’s Mental Health Awareness theme being loneliness, I found myself admitting in a meeting one day that I had been feeling lonely since working from home. The admission was a shock even to me. This is what I had wanted, and now I have it. But I felt lonely. I am grateful for the support I have received from my team. And with my newfound awareness, I became aware that some of my team members had the same struggles. In the end, I suppose there is no perfect reality- just a reality that you are most content to deal with. Is the solution to go back to the office? Abso-friggin-lutely not! I think most people who have moved into a more remote role will agree with this.

At this point, I realized that I needed to reframe my thinking around remote working. I needed to take greater accountability for creating my own office infrastructure. I realized that WFH would require greater accountability and proactivity from my side. Like Spiderman, I realized that great freedom comes with great responsibility. Ultimately, everything in life requires maintenance. If you want to stay healthy and in shape you have to exercise and eat well. ?A house that is not maintained falls into disarray. So I started experimenting with ways to navigate my newfound freedom, whilst combatting the inevitable loneliness that comes with it. And the results were great!

Here are a few things I have found to be helpful in making the best of WFH:

1.?????Create your own vibe- put on some nice jazzy tones or background noise of your choice to create the vibe you want- my personal favourites are classical music or instrumental pop. One of my team mates says he works either to rock music or classical.

2.?????Find your own office space- whether your office space is indoors at a desk, or outdoors in the garden, make it a space that is comfortable for you to work in. Perhaps now and then, shake it up and find a spot at a co-working space, or at a cozy coffee shop to work at.

3.?????Explore your office style- personally I am all for throwing away all formal wear in lieu of a style that you really enjoy. But say no to the chilled yoga pants and leggings. It’s a trap!

4.?????Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Its tempting to sleep in all the time and drag yourself out of bed in time for your 09:00 am shift, but in my experience, it does pay to get up a little earlier and do something for yourself first. Perhaps do some yoga/ go for a run and put on an outfit you feel good in. And if you are so inclined, put on a bit of makeup (or don’t). Whatever you do- make sure you take care of yourself a little before you go into your day. The rest of your day will thank you for it!

5.?????Bug your colleagues - when I realized I was feeling lonely, I started to bug my colleagues a little more on Teams. Calling instead of texting makes a world of difference sometimes. And I’ve found that often, colleagues actually appreciated being bugged a little and exchanging a few words.

6.?????Book a lunch date/ go for walks- when I work at home, I often don’t see the point of taking an hour’s lunch and just sitting around, which means I tend to work through the day. It’s not always a bad thing, but sometimes a break outside of your normal environment does wonders!

In the end, I realized that remote working can be fantastic but it comes down to how you manage it. It requires a change in mindset in order to take advantage of what WFH has to offer. You need to create your own social infrastructure, and experiment with ways that you can take advantage of all that WFH has to offer. It comes down to personal accountability- as with everything in life. It’s down to how you manage it, and if you don’t manage it, it can actually really suck. I really hope this has sparked some ideas for you about how you can get the most out of WFH. Here’s to WFH not sucking anymore!