Why I Decided To Go Back To The Office

I remember when fully remote work was, at least for most of us, a largely unattainable dream. Having the freedom to work in your location of choice was the gold standard for the sort of lifestyle a software development career could give you, but those jobs were not easy to come by. Then, two years ago, all of that changed. Remote work went from being the exception to the norm faster than you could say “Zoom”.

I set up shop on a folding picnic table in my bedroom, and for a while I loved remote life. Not having to commute every day gave me more time in the mornings and evenings. I enjoyed being around my wife and kids more. But work became much harder. At first I attributed that to my projects becoming more challenging, which was certainly true, but looking back, I realize that it had more to do with the environment I was working in. I heard many people say that when they worked from home, they were far more productive than at the office, but for me it was the opposite. It became very difficult to focus. There was a seemingly never-ending stream of distractions pulling me away from my tasks. So after two years of remote life, I had to admit that it just wasn’t for me. Using my company expense budget, I rented a small space not far from my home, packed up my work station, and started commuting to work most days of the week. It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Here’s why:

Increased productivity

The amount of work I’m able to complete in a day has skyrocketed since returning to the office. Since my workspace and my living space are separated by a couple of miles, when I arrive at work in the morning my mindset automatically shifts into work mode. Because of this, I can focus more deeply and for longer periods of time. There are also far less distractions at the office. I’m not trying to work while my family life is happening around me. When I’m home, I’m needed as a spouse and parent, so I often found it difficult to focus on work when my wife or children needed my help with something. I’m also not tempted to try and quickly tackle household tasks while I’m working.

This change in environment has resulted in me being able to complete more work during the day, and perform much better in meetings; two things that have impacted my ability to provide quality service to clients, and increase their satisfaction with my work.

Improved relationships

One rather surprising effect of working from home has been the strain it put on my interpersonal relationships, especially within my marriage. To put it bluntly, my wife and I were together way too much. Having some time apart during the work week has been refreshing. I feel like I get to look forward to seeing my partner at the end of the day because she’s not always in the same building as I am.

Working at the office has also improved my professional relationships because my increased productivity has resulted in less work-related stress. I’m happier at work, and I enjoy time with the people I work with much more than I did before. While much of my time is spent on video calls, working from the office allows me to interact with more people in person.

Better work/life balance

I have found that it is much easier to leave work at work when I work outside my home. At the end of the day, I can leave my work computer in the office, so working after hours isn’t even a possibility. Mentally, I can leave work behind me and focus on my family. This not only makes time at work more focused and intentional, it enhances my family time, and helps me to keep my focus on the people in my life who need it the most.

I also feel an increased freedom in being able to choose whether I want to work at the office or somewhere else for the day. Having a day where I choose not to go into the office can be a really effective way of mixing things up when the routine starts to get boring.

We all know that in the tech industry remote work is here to stay. That’s a good thing. People should be free to choose whether to work remotely, if that is an option, or go to the office. Workers should be given more liberty to determine what modes, locales, and styles of work are healthiest for them. For me, that means going to the office five days a week. For others, that would never work anymore. As we continue to navigate a work culture that has been changed forever by recent events, we should start focusing less on where we work, and more on how we work. Questions like, “Should we end the 40-hour work week?” and “What does it mean to do a good job?” are valuable questions to explore as we build and expand our businesses going forward. I realize others have said all this before, but I also think we need more people to be thinking about these things. Learning starts by asking questions, and the more people start asking, the better.