When Covid-19 hit, my then-employer immediately sent us away to work from home. Since then, I have not reverted to the regular office working approach. Life has been entirely remote, with my next (current) employer supporting remote work. I joined whilst lockdowns were still happening, but the company moved to become remote-first shortly after.
Will I provide anything insightful here? I am not sure - I don’t have a heroic story to tell. It may be an article that annoys some people. I won’t lie - I was very fortunate that the effects of Covid did not remove my basic needs. It challenged me to rethink values and goals, and compressed my growth - but I was relatively OK and many people were not. I can only imagine the pain and suffering it caused for other people less fortunate, and in no way am I attempting to trivialise the situation.
This is simply a personal reflection of the last few years. Covid caused me to reexamine values, with the move to remote (and flexible) working enabling choices previously out of reach.
What were the positive outcomes?
I feel empowered with my time and place.
- Moving home - I moved house and found time for viewings that would otherwise have been impossible with an office presence. Home moving is stressful, but I suspect even more grey hairs without remote working. This was huge. The ability to attend those last-minute, high-demand, viewings secured my new home.
- Family time - I moved out of London, and closer to family in the Midlands. As my parents grow older it is right for me to be near them. My work is the same, but my free time towards family has grown massively. Friday night takeaway with my parents and siblings - no problem. Family events attendance - sure thing. Popping over to see family after work - effortless.
- Closer to the country - In my late thirties, my desire to be in the big city has declined whilst my love of nature has grown. I still love London, but it gives me less enjoyment. Now I am an hour away from some of the finest countryside the in the UK. It takes one hour to travel to London to see friends, but the tradeoff was worth it. Bonus: the charm of London stays alive for me.
- More reading - I have made rapid progress with my interest areas, reading many books on a much broader range of topics. I have expanded into reading about history, psychology, economics, and politics. I have read more non-fiction, despite being convinced I was not a fan. The last few years have been massive self-led growth that I have put off for too long.
- Less drinking - My socials habits have naturally dropped off compared to my early 30s. Nevertheless, it was common to meet colleagues or friends for drinks at least 2 times a week - that suddenly stopped. Right now, I would consider myself tee-total. If I went back to working from the office, I would be better able to say no to alcohol during social events. This is a deep, positive change for me.
- Home cooking - I cook my own meals most days. I have experimented with more recipes than ever before in my life. Not great for the economy, but great for my own personal growth. My love of food has deepened as I research various foods. And I have the time to make all those wonderful things I tasted during past travels.
- Better collaboration - Initial adaptation to remote working was brutal causing career learning to stagnate. It generated uncertainty about my effectiveness if not physically present. But after the first year, I was able to develop ways to collaborate remotely more effectively (and help others too!). I have refined my communication and grown the use of asynchronous communication. I built a fully remote, well-gelled, team that builds great products.
- Professional reflection- As an introvert, more alone time has allowed me to reflect and learn much more deeply. My perspective on work, people, teams and organisations has changed and expanded, and so has my emotional intelligence. Being present in the office meant I was always “on”, and finding time to reflect and challenge my thoughts, perspectives and biases was incredibly difficult.
What were the challenges?
There are things I need to watch out for and be more proactive about.
- Less movement - I no longer walk as much as when commuting to the office (there were at least the walks to and from public transport). However, I am eating less and my weight has not changed much - I still feel healthy. I go to the gym once or twice a week, yet worry I am still not moving enough. Incorporated more weekend hikes to help balance things. And taking up gardening and DIY has helped. The consistent daily movement is what has declined.
- Less time with friends - “London is only an hour away, I’ll see friends all the time” - I said. But those spontaneous moments with friends no longer happen when you are not living in the same postcode. I keep in touch with some friends, but others, I see a lot less. There is an emotional distance people perceive when in different cities. I actively maintain relationships where possible, but I can only do my best. The outcome so far hasn’t lived up to my original statement.
- Less travel - travel is one of the closest things to my heart. I have done it consistently throughout my life and attribute much of my growth to it. Then Covid hit, causing travel to grind to a halt. Obviously, much was out of my control - but even now, travel feels out of reach cognitively. I procrastinate on travel planning - previously, I had the confidence to make it happen. I want to recreate this self-confidence to solo travel as practically nothing stops me from reincorporating travel into my life.
- More anxiety - my mind has worked overtime learning about myself and the world and processing all the recent terrible events. More time to overthink has generated lows that I have never felt before. I have lost sleep, cried, and felt alone, like a stranger and imposter. In the end, it was a growth that I needed. I can now form bigger life plans and be intentional and strategic. But that does bring new fears to the front.
- Socialising with colleagues - It’s no longer possible to grab a pint after work - forming relationships with colleagues has changed. We are making a deliberate effort to get to know each other remotely, have fun (e.g. icebreakers) and meet in the office every quarter. We even have regional meet-me groups - some of us met in Birmingham recently and hired some coworking space. This has worked well, but I occasionally miss the good old days of interacting more spontaneously in the office. It would be a key reason for trying some hybrid working at some point.
Covid, and the new norm of remote working, created a snowball effect in my life. The effects of Covid on the world challenged my beliefs, values and goals. The freedom (time and flexibility) enabled by remote working opened up new options. Combined, these allowed bigger life changes to occur and forced me to confront/adapt/grow in a much more compressed amount of time than I had expected.
Despite all the negative effects that Covid generated, I hope others found some light in their own way.