Before 2020, I used to openly proclaim that remote work was not for me. I thought that I would be unproductive and would have trouble motivating myself.
1 year and 6 months later, I have to revise my stance. The time of working almost exclusively remotely (I think I went to the office for a total of 5 days during that time), I have actually been more productive and find it easier to tackle deep-work tasks. Sometimes I even find it hard to pull myself away from work and have to be mindful to establish something of a work-life-balance.
Nonetheless, I miss having personal, real-life interactions with my team. Virtual interactions only get us so far and sometimes my home office desk feels a little lonely. For the time being, while COVID-19 cases and variants are still taking their toll, I am more comfortable with working remotely and am grateful that my company and job position allow for it.
In my personal view, remote work is more concentrated and productive, but it would be nice to bond with colleagues outside of virtual meetings and give my work a little more purpose and meaning that way.
Once the circumstances allow for it, I would love to return to the office with my team in a coordinated manner. Starting with one day a week and gradually moving to 2-3 days per week. On those days, I would love to get as many immediate team members as possible on board, focus on in-person meetings and team workshops, maybe agree to have lunch and/or coffee together… My days at home would still be there for deep-work and focus topics, but I would get the benefit of social work interactions and synergies. That would be my ideal reintroduction and compromise of office work.
Wandering Explorer Travel 
I found my ability to get projects and administrative work done significantly higher at home, than when I was in the office. My admin and some of those enduring tasks, reports, etc. that have to be completed each month are really hard to get to during normal work hours when I’m in the office. Because of the number of people that come and go from my office in a normal work day combined with meetings and unexpected issues, I get really behind on those tasks. They were so much easier to keep up with at home. But that’s also what makes working at home not great for my job because my position requires that I be working and supporting directly. I’m not sure if that makes sense. Hard to explain without specifics but it’s kind of a catch-22.
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Makes total sense to me, Elaina. Thank you for sharing 😊
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