from Hacker News

Ask HN: What do you hate about remote work?

by joshbochu on 4/5/22, 4:11 AM with 9 comments

• by codeptualize on 4/5/22, 7:01 AM

  Have been remote for quite a few years, even before the pandemic.

  The things I hate are: Less clear border between work and private time. Not a lot of social interactions. No possibility to go for lunch or have Friday drinks with colleagues. No face to face one on one meetings (Zoom meetings work, but it's not the same). It can be boring and hard to focus. Meetings are bad, video calls are worse.

  But overall I very much like remote working. Mainly because it's much more flexible, you can schedule work around life. Prepare a healthy lunch. Do some chores during the day. Blast music. Work from bed if you feel like shit some days. Go to the gym in between work. No forced distractions (you can mute notifications). Save a lot of time on commuting. Work anywhere in the world for a company anywhere in the world. Have company meetups, travel to interesting places (at least pre pandemic that was a thing).

• by closeparen on 4/5/22, 5:55 AM

  * Human contact only through intentional social plans, which are limited and can easily not happen. Could get roommates, but then I'd be stuck with them 24x7. Preferred having reliable by-default access to both socialization and solitude depending on the hour and location.

  * Cabin fever. Few reasons to leave the apartment, no other place I can spend any length of time. Happier with a routine and changes of venue throughout the day. Bed to desk to couch doesn't cut it. Walks help but not that much. Restaurant meals expensive and unhealthy. Coffee shops decent but discourage long stays.

  * Dramatically increased meeting load. Our data is line with Microsoft's data: people are spending 2-2.5x as much time in meetings as before the pandemic. Zoom is okay for presentations and monologues but trying to have a conversation is unpleasant and fatiguing.

  * Losing the sense of my coworkers as real people. Running on the inertia of pre-pandemic relationships as they slowly degrade. Workplace is okay today but the future looks grim.

  * Always been a big-city person. Hard to justify living in one now. Still can't stomach sprawl. Contributes to feeling adrift and without belonging anywhere.

• by soueuls on 4/5/22, 7:20 AM

  Nothing for me, I never really tried to develop meaningful relationships with colleagues before. I kept it professional.

  I can now use geographic arbitrage to save a lot of money and explore the world. I am able to constantly hit the gym and work when I am better focus (at night).

  I assume things could be different if I had a family, but for a single person, I don't have a lot of downside at the moment.

• by scim-knox-twox on 4/5/22, 5:47 AM

  Nothing. But I don't do "video calls" - never was and never will be.

• by MattGaiser on 4/5/22, 5:00 AM

  How large long meandering meetings also jumped along with it.

• by kstenerud on 4/5/22, 4:18 AM

  Nothing. I've been doing it since 2015, and it's the best working conditions and work/life balance I've ever had.