My Unexpected Return to Office Life: Confessions of a (Reformed?) Remote Worker

My experiences working as a remote engineer having returned back to the office

It's been a long three years since I last experienced the daily rhythm of office life. Like countless others, the pandemic launched me into the world of remote work, and I settled in comfortably. But a couple of weeks ago, I finally took the plunge and joined my colleagues on-site.

Now, don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the perks of remote work. The freedom to set my own hours, the ability to tackle household tasks between meetings, and the sheer joy of avoiding a crammed commute — if you’re from London, you know exactly what I mean — were undeniable benefits. If I needed to squeeze in a quick workout or be home for a delivery, no problemo. Working remotely offered me a level of flexibility that was hard to beat.

But it wasn't all sunshine and roses. One of the biggest downsides, at least for me, was the difficulty in getting timely support. Slack messages can easily get buried, and quick questions often languish unanswered. This led to frustrating delays and a sense of isolation when tackling challenging problems. It's amazing how much easier it is to get help when you can simply walk over to a teammate's desk.

The office environment, with its dedicated workspace and readily available colleagues, has allowed me to rediscover the power of deep work. No more splitting my attention between a complex bug and a load of ad-hoc around the house tasks glaring for my attention allowing me to truly immerse myself in my work.

Of course, the office has its own set of distractions. But I've found that the benefits of in-person collaboration, immediate support, and uninterrupted focus far outweigh the drawbacks. It's not the soul-crushing, productivity-killing environment that some remote work enthusiasts make it out to be.

Something else I've come to appreciate about being back in the office is the clear separation between work and home life. When I was working remotely, the lines often blurred. The flexibility that allowed me to handle personal tasks during the day often meant working late or at odd hours to catch up. While I enjoyed the freedom, I noticed it impacting my family life. It was becoming increasingly difficult to truly switch off.

My return to the office has been a surprising and positive experience. While I'll always cherish the flexibility that remote work provided, I'm embracing this new chapter of in-person collaboration and dedicated work time. And who knows, maybe I'll even manage to reclaim a normal sleep schedule!

To be clear, this isn't a campaign to promote office life over remote work. I'm not advocating for one over the other. In fact, I'm still contractually remote and choose to go in. This is simply my way of sharing my personal experience and reflections on this shift back to the office.