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Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

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Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#81
Nope.

I have a dog that keeps me company. And I don't particularly enjoy driving and sitting in an office with grumpy people that I have barely anything in common with.

Also - haven't had a respiratory sickness since Jan 2020 - which means other people were getting me sick in the office.

Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#82

It takes discipline. You have to love your work. And that, my friends, is why many people will not be able to remote work. All the stories you read in the comments here so far are for people who really love their jobs. You can feel it in every word that's lovingly typed. Families. Spouses. Nature. Inspiration. etc. But for many people who absolutely don't like their jobs (most people), remote work is not a panacea. W…

> For every person who sings the praises of remote work. There are 10 people who slack off with Netflix, YouTube, friends, etc. during work from home.

Like they weren't sneaking in reddit and HN the whole time they were in the office as well. Just with the constant mental stress of getting "caught" doing exactly what everyone else was doing.

Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#86

It takes discipline. You have to love your work. And that, my friends, is why many people will not be able to remote work. All the stories you read in the comments here so far are for people who really love their jobs. You can feel it in every word that's lovingly typed. Families. Spouses. Nature. Inspiration. etc. But for many people who absolutely don't like their jobs (most people), remote work is not a panacea. W…

I dont know how much longer I can pretend to care about my job when it is so painfully obvious many of my colleagues dont. The fiercely passionate actually dont seem to notice that some arent like them when everyone is remote. Thankfully its not demanding.

Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#87

I think what's really happening here is that most people, especially older men, are realizing how much of their social life is tied to work and going to the office. My advice is to get some hobbies, make some friends, join some groups. Even if you aren't willing to go out, finding groups and chatting online in a voice or video call is probably better than just sitting in your home alone.

Why older men? All through my career, it was the younger folks who tended to treat the office as a social hub as well as the place they worked. As they got older, they'd develop more contacts in their communities through spouses, children, etc. and "fade" from the social swirl at work. At the very top of the age distribution you might find empty-nesters who have trouble connecting online, but those people were already leaving of the workforce (voluntarily plus ageism) so statistically I think they're outweighed by the youngsters who never knew any other way to meet people. What experience have you had that's different?

Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#88
I sympathize. I became stir crazy working at home 6-9 months into the pandemic. I like having an office as a separation between my work and home lives. I like being at a place designed for working where other people are working. I like the change of scenery.

Most surprising was I realized I actually get a lot out of having a commute. In the morning it’s time to think about what’s coming up for the day and in the evening it’s time by myself to unwind before walking in the front door.

When my company went fully remote and closed our office we gave people the option of getting a coworking space. I took advantage, I wasn’t sure I’d use it at first but figured it was worth a try. After a couple days I never looked back. Shortly after a friend who works remotely for a different company decided to share it with me and we got a bigger space. With the changes combined I noticed an immediate and marked improvement in my mental health.

For us, it’s great. We have a lot of the social benefits of being in an office even through we don’t work together. We also have strong relationships with our coworkers as our companies build remote-first cultures. To me it’s the best of both worlds and I’d have a hard time working all alone again.

Re: Ask HN: Who's sick of remote work?

#89
post #75

I've always been working remote since age 7. Until I did an ISP startup, now I had 10 people in an office. I only went there twice a month, I kept working at home. So I built the datacenter in my home. I crave long periodes of wild camping in Nature. So I finally changed my work around so I can work remotely from my wild camping sites for the rest of my life. It is even cheaper than working from home. I now sell remo…

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