We asked The Verge staff members what they’ve learned about working from home. In response, people talked about the need to get away from the office and get away from work, the challenges of working in the same space as family, and different strategies for staying healthy while staying at home. Here’s what they told us.
How I learned to stop worrying and love WFH
Okay, I’ll admit it — I’m stubborn. I spent two years of the pandemic waiting for things to return to the way they were, sitting at my dining room table-turned-workstation and editing videos all day. It was an ergonomic nightmare that I thought would end soon when we got back to the office. We have a spare room, but that’s where my wife works. I thought we’d split up at some point, but last month, he took a 100 percent remote job. So I decided to give in and finally turn the corner of the dining room into an editing suite. And now, I love it. I bought a new desk, set things up the way I wanted them to be, and predictably, my attitude changed. It helps that I can go to the actual office from time to time, but having a place at home that I actually enjoy working in makes all the difference in the world. — Matt Morales, video producer
I have to take a walk every day
If I don’t take a walk every day, I start to feel weird. I usually take it in the middle of the day. It forces me to move around after being at my desk for about four hours, take my eyes off the computer screen, and sometimes literally stop and smell the roses that happen to be on my usual route. When I come back, I always feel more energized. Even if it’s hard to drag myself away from the computer, I never regret the walk. — Jay Peters, news writer
The life-changing magic of shutting down my computer
Working from home has completely destroyed my sense of work-life balance. All there was, were screens! I would work a full day, then… close Slack and continue doing stuff on my laptop. That doesn’t count as “quitting a job”, I don’t think. But then I discovered a little trick: instead of just shutting down my laptop and declaring the workday over, I started shutting down my computer at the end of the day. This little action turned into a daily ritual, and having to push it back to push prevented me from the slightest friction every time I tried to log back in at 10pm. and to wander aimlessly on the internet instead of reading a book or going to bed. Now, the day ends when my computer is turned off. My phone’s constant notifications and general proximity mean I’m never completely offline, but it’s a start. — David Pierce, editor-in-chief
You need to have a routine
The only thing I really miss about office life is how it naturally created structure in my daily life. You have to wake up at a certain time, eat at a certain time, plan when to work out, when to walk the dog — all so you can have your butt at your desk by 9am. But working from home meant I was getting out of bed 10 minutes before I had to log in, scrambling to get ready between jobs and squeezing in workouts at the oddest hours. I found myself still in my PJs at 1pm and eating breakfast at 4pm. At one point, I realized that I had been working since 8 A.M. until 7 p.m. most days with almost no breaks simply because I could sit at my desk and find my entire world inside my laptop. I did this for two whole years, even though no one asked me to. When I finally looked up, I saw that while I was doing well at work, my personal life and physical well-being had nearly fallen apart. Some of us shouldn’t have complete freedom when we do things. None of this was intentional. I just happen to be the kind of person who completely neglects my own needs without an externally imposed routine. (Last week, I spent 15 straight hours researching the story of King Jeongjo of Joseon and his ill-fated father, Crown Prince Sado, because I could. I didn’t eat or go to the bathroom once during that time.) But after losing 15 kilos and an intervention from the family, I started to set specific time blocks on weekdays. My first “block” of work goes from 8:30 to 10:30 am. Lunch is consumed at 13:30. I have to log off by 6:30pm every day, even if I’m not done with a particular task. I have little alarms that go off throughout the day on my Apple Watch, so whatever rabbit holes I go down, at least they aren’t too deep. Of course, I still struggle to stick to my own routines and often fail. But intentionally creating some sort of structure in daily life ensures that at least a few times a day, I spend some time taking care of myself. — Victoria Song, reviewer
I still have no idea what I’m doing
I’ve built a more efficient, comfortable, and convenient workspace for myself at home than I ever had at The Verge office. I also have easier access to food, coffee and the toilet. I should be firing on all cylinders every day. And yet, even with everything under my control, the transition to working from home (almost completely — I still commute to our New York office every other week or so) still feels a lot like a transition in progress. In other words: my work life is still out of balance due to the pandemic. It’s very easy for my apartment to become infested with critic gadgets and not spot these growing problems until they’re impossible not to notice. And like a few others who contributed to this post, it’s much harder to get away from work since my computer, phone, and other gadgets are within reach. Not to mention, I’ve realized that it’s harder for me to deal with distressing world news when I’m alone, which the past couple of years have provided an endless supply of. I’m late enough in the pandemic to realize that buying the right ergonomic and technological products to ensure productive work only does so much. It can’t solve all my problems or make me feel completely refreshed all the time. But now, instead of trying to replicate the home office, I try things that are new to me in general, like going to the gym in the morning. — Cameron Faulkner, critic
Will working from home change the way my children see me?
Once upon a time, routine was simple. My children went to school and I went to work and at the end of the day we all gathered back home. Now, while schools have reopened and my kids’ lives are pretty much back to normal, mine certainly isn’t. The Vox Media office has gone through a few cycles of reopening and closing as various waves of COVID rise and peak. Meanwhile, my family has moved from Brooklyn to the New Jersey suburbs, and while my office is still only an hour away by train, I’ve only been back a handful of times. I’m left wondering: how will the new status quo change how my kids see me? I’ve gone from the guy who goes to the office to a guy who’s always at home. How will my omnipresence affect their attitude towards dear old dad? I can already attest that working from home has helped demystify my work for my children. They had no idea—or interest—in what I did for work. Now they look on in bewilderment as I sit cross-legged on the bed, tapping away at my laptop, and I can’t help but read their expressions as “Is that it?” Don’t get me wrong. I really like my job. But it seems clear that rearranging our work lives as a result of a global pandemic will have many unintended consequences for our family relationships. Take today for example: as I write this, my daughter is throwing a tantrum when she goes to the playground. As it steps and screams and disassembles, I sit here, cross-legged on the bed, wondering if it’s too late to jump on a train and go to work. — Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor
Working from home doesn’t mean you have to work out from home
Home workouts have been a lifeline for my compatriots and I during lockdown, when we turned to Reddit’s surprisingly exhaustive fitness subreddit to help us exercise in the confines of our homes without the need for expensive equipment. But as the months of exclusively working from home have turned into years, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to grab the little excuses you have to get out of the house. So instead of endless variations of presses and squats, this year, I’ve switched to running every other day as my primary form of exercise. Sure, I know it’s a much less efficient way to burn calories and can’t match the sheer satisfaction of finally managing one more rep after weeks of effort. But when the alternative is accidentally spending three or more days without leaving the house, I’ve learned to love the opportunity to engage, even for a little while, with the outside world. — Jon Porter, journalist
Know the rules and when to break them
I worked from home for years before the pandemic, so I’m very familiar with some of the more common advice floating around the internet. And yet, no matter how many people I’ve heard tell me to make sure I separate work and play areas, have a logical schedule, or create an ergonomically sound layout, I always find myself working from my couch, falling over to type using a laptop that is lying on the floor like a gremlin. To be clear, I’m not necessarily recommending that anyone else work this way — I’ll be the first to push my colleagues’ more traditional advice to people who are just starting out on their journey from home. ..
