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Is going to the office a broken way of working?

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Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#52

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I think people like you need a new app, something like Tinder for lunch. I personally have no will to move to a high cost of life area and spend 1+ hour on commune just because my coworkers can’t find friends.

Isn't meetup.com a thing worldwide?

Also, the dating app Bumble has an option for friendships, and in a pinch tinder itself works if you're super clear about your goals

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#53

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I think people like you need a new app, something like Tinder for lunch. I personally have no will to move to a high cost of life area and spend 1+ hour on commune just because my coworkers can’t find friends.

I fully understand this perspective and agree remote work should be the de facto norm. Remote works benefits on a productivity and environmental level do seem to outweigh the social benefits. I guess I was just commenting how much I miss organic interaction with like-minded smart people in the office, and how much duller my days have gotten without that.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#54

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I fear it's another example of "optimizing" away something that made us more human (in this case, more in-person interaction).

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#55

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Your perspective is actually very common: Working from home isn't for everyone and we should stop pretending like it's the only way to work. A lot of people dislike remote work. Many people like remote work but can't handle it for various reasons.

Internet forums like HN will always overrepresent preferences for remote work because they're biased toward people who enjoy socializing over the internet. Most people don't go online and engage in random discussions. They do it in person, and they like it that way. A random sampling of active HN commenters is going to be much more enthusiastic about remote work than, say, your average junior who relies heavily on organic interactions to grow in an organization.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#56
post #6

Living in Maui, I have a remote job (my agency/consultancy) and a job doing fun stuff (driving people to Hana, Haleakala OR working on a whalewatching boat). I am setting up residual income streams to save for my own property here. I have a startup/movement I am working on as well, freeing up my time from clients to invest more time and money into it. Balance is the key to fulfillment, to longevity.

You might want to edit that it's a whale watching boat, not a what hunting boat. Unless... Sounds like a great balance you have; good luck saving up for the house!

If someone is bothered enough about whale hunting to get triggered by someone working a whale boat, they already know there's no whale hunting operations out of Hawaii.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#57

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Very similar situation, relocated to the Bay for work a few months before the first shelter in place.

It’s been rough. Don’t have any real advice, but at least know you’re not alone.

Edit: I think it’s important to focus on where we go from here. And at least to me that actually means more remote. I would rather be able to work remotely from amongst my existing support network than attempt to roll back the clock to a pre-COVID style of office work.

To each their own.

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#58
post #17

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

Isn't that more an effect of your local social scene being shut down though, and not lack of commuting to an office? If all the local bars/clubs/libraries/whatever you like to do were open, wouldn't that solve the problem?

Not the OP. But some of it also has to do with work life balance. If you dedicate yourself to the startup hustle there’s not really time for bars/clubs/libraries every night of the week. But for some reason staying up late, solving problems, eating with your coworkers, etc feels like a form of socialization. With COVID isolation, it just feels like a solo grind (I suspect this is part of why YC is biased against solo founders).

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#59
post #46

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

I think you're correct, but one thing that is really missing nowadays, especially with phones and the internet, is active communities that exist in real life outside of work. Stuff like the elks lodge, rotary, bowling leagues, etc are just not as common anymore as I believe they used to be. Certainly there are many things that exist, but in a way societally it seems like they don't have very much cache, even as far a…

This is the other point I wanted to make (but frankly I was too scared that maybe it’s just because I suck at meeting people now that I haven’t socialized like a normal person in a year). It just seems harder to meet people _in general_ than it did even two years ago. Like where is everybody? Does everyone stay home literally all the time now?

Re: Is going to the office a broken way of working?

#60

I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office. I was in the unfortunate position of having moved to a new city for a new tech job where I knew nobody just seven…

> I’m gonna go against the HN grain here and, despite having been fully for remote work for the first year or so of the pandemic, come out and say that life has really gotten a lot more repetitive and frankly disappointing since covid and the death of the office. I kind of miss meeting people in the office.

There's a big difference between 'remote work' and 'forced to work from home due to a global pandemic'.

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