I was very pro home-office (and even Anti-Office) before and during the pandemic. Now that restrictions are more or less gone, I'm glad to be working in the office again.
Being in the office for the first time in my career showed me that there are definitely upsides, especially when you get along with your team really well.
>> I'm glad to be working in the office again. / Being in the office for the first time.
I think the fact it's your first time has a big impact. Give it time. Any time I start a new job I enjoy being in the office for the first 6-12 months. Once it becomes routine (same commute, same lunch, same people) and you have learnt how to do your job (and rely on others less) it becomes much less attractive. I'm not saying you'd go full remote but I would bet you will go hybrid and transition further remote over time. This is what I've seen happen with all of my colleagues (including people I thought would jump straight back to the office post-pandemic).
> the CDC estimates that 1 in 5 will result in long COVID.
This scolding "I'm not sure exactly how, yet, but you'll be sorry!" any time anyone admits that they're no longer hiding inside & wiping down every banana with bleach is getting a little tired.
I actually WANT to go to the office, especially when it's nice out. My body is craving the walking and the activity, and the positive stress of being in a different environment is actually helping my mood significantly. I've become puffy, lazy, and slow.
I've never understood this. If you work from home you can also just... go walking outside? In fact you could even go walking for longer, since nobody is checking for your presence and you haven't wasted time commuting.
I'd rather walk to the lake and go for a swim during the afternoon, than walk to a train to walk to an office.
My personal observation is that most pro office folks are seeking to substitute gaps in their personal lives with onsite work. A drain on their coworkers to be frank. Lack of friends, proper housing, lack of exercise you name it. A tiring hindrance on those whom understand that most of these issues are caused by being farmed in offices 8 hours a day and clustered in crowded, poorly planned cities. Of course there are valid practical reasons as well for onsite work.
But if your excuses for wanting to drag people back into offices are that you cant walk on your own, dont have friends, cant play politics, cant hold remote conferences or online chats, then i am sorry but you are on your own. Too many have been conditioned to think that you need to sit in a building and slave away for a praise and a rushed holiday every now and then.
Quite the contrary. My aim is at those opinions that tell _me_ what to do, essentially not respecting my own opinion. I am more than happy for people to return to the office if that's _their_ wish but I am not returning to an office to be someone’s substitute for a normal life. To each his own, basically. As i said, there are valid reasons but not at my own freedom’s expense.
If you only said you don't want other's needs to affect you, that would be a valid opinion. (Albeit not very altruistic)
But what you're saying is also that those wanting to be at the office are friendless, need this as a substitute for a normal life etc. That's unnecessary, and just you being a total dick. Please present your arguments here in a better way.
i never said that. please be more mindful when making accusations and try and reread what people write here if english is not your strength, instead of being a pretentious prick.
>My personal observation is that most pro office folks are seeking to substitute gaps in their personal lives with onsite work. A drain on their coworkers to be frank. Lack of friends, proper housing, lack of exercise you name it. A tiring hindrance on those...
This is an unfair and spiteful characterisation of people who happen to have a different viewpoint than you. We can do better than that.
>> I'd rather walk to the lake and go for a swim during the afternoon, than walk to a train to walk to an office.
This requires some degree of motivation. When you had to go to the office you were forced to get dressed, get outside and travel etc. When you are WFH it is so tempting to get up late, get online, and stay comfortable. This is true even when you know what you are doing is unhealthy. It's similar to people eating a poor diet. They know they're doing it, they know it's bad, but it's hard to do the right thing (even when the right thing is relatively easy to do).
I say this as someone who loves WFH but also has fallen into a lot of bad habits that have definitely impacted my physical/mental health.
This has nothing to do with WFH, and more to do with how conditioned we are to rely on offices and employers to give us direction in life. It's like when you graduate high school and go to college, no one is going to proactively check in on you. It's a necessary adjustment we should all make at some point.
I have a giant park near me, and a lake. I love it and I go there almost every day, sometimes more than once. But it's monotonous over time, same routine, same routes. It engages your autopilot and then you are just cruising through the day with no positive stress.
It's different. I may not enjoy being with people, but I like being around them. Maybe because Manhattan is just so different from everywhere else, and provides a special level of intensity.
The problem isn't remote work, the problem is the never ending productivity growth. Chances are, you've shaved at least 30-40 minutes a day of your commute. You've probably let work gobble that up because even though it wasn't comped time, you still considered it work time so it wasn't too difficult to squeeze a little bit more in each day.
Take that time back, go use it to go on a walk or exercise. You'll thank yourself. Prior to the pandemic I worked remote but in a location less obsessed with productivity. I had flexibility to exercise in the middle of the day most days when my energy levels topped out and I was in the best shape of my life. Fast forward to now and infinite demand always likes to pretend everyone is somehow behind and I too let my reclaimed commute time slide. I've recaptured it, started exercising regularly again, and already feel great. This culture that obsesses with productivity generation for someone else above all else isn't healthy.
Yeh I kind of thought the same. I applaud them either way, the more companies adopt it, the more pressure is placed on the others to offer the same, but whereas 4 day work week is a huge bonus for me, wfh is a hard requirement.
Seems like a case of one step forward, two steps back