Some time ago, a co-worker shared a New York Times article calling working from home “overrated” and I decided I have something to say. First of all, it’s very well written and covers a lot of bases. But beyond that, I feel like the perspective is a little out of touch. While certain quotes from the article in question were tweeted out of context for clickbait, the author’s perspective is a lot more nuanced than these tweets portray. Still, one thing that stood out was the claim that remote work somehow results in reduced creativity:
“Home-cooked lunches and no commuting while we deal with coronavirus can’t compensate for what’s lost in creativity.”
While this might be true for some, it is certainly not true for all and I doubt it has an impact on the collective creativity of a company. In fact, the repetitive humdrum of everyday office life can kill creativity for many. I first started working from home a little over two years ago as a freelance writer and editor, and I found that the physical distance from my clients and the lack of a corporate office made my work that much richer. I felt free to take risks without having to worry about the immediate opinions and approval of management, or even of teammates working at desks beside mine. There were no desks. It was incredibly freeing and a huge boost for my creativity.
Still, remote work is not for everyone. The world is not black and white and, as with most things, how well we perform when working remotely varies person to person on a sliding scale. Studies have shown that in the ideal “remote” working situation, employees should still come to the office at least once a week. As noted in the NYT article that inspired this response, even 100% remote working companies make efforts to arrange in-person meetings throughout the year. Still, I do not believe that companies suffer from remote work. While these meetings may very well spark creativity and exchange of ideas, their main purpose is for team building and enhanced internal communication.
My main gig went digital when I left Japan in June of 2019, and my work has continued to grow and improve since. So, once I started working remotely as a company employee rather than an independent freelancer, how did things change? I have regular telephone and video meetings with my colleagues to touch base, and communication and information sharing are key. Otherwise, I feel very unfettered by the traditional trappings of the workplace, and I’m free to work from any corner of the world that I choose to work from. I could be projecting my own experience too broadly, but I feel that a sense of improved creative freedom and remote work go hand in hand.
Aside from disagreeing about the effects of remote work on creativity, I also feel that now is an unfair time to clearly assess remote work in comparison to the work lives many had before the novel coronavirus took the world by storm. The additional variables introduced by COVID-19 throw the experiment way off. Not only are people suddenly working from home, but they’re also adjusting to near-complete social isolation, a very different story from simply working remotely. Last summer, within three months I had worked from as many countries. My wife, an expert planner, was able to budget our time and money wisely so that we could travel on the cheap while also getting work done. I was seeing new things and gathering fresh ideas by going out and seeing the world. Today, that would be impossible.
The trouble is, we are working from home and only home. We are spending our lives enclosed, hunkered down, social distancing. As social animals, this has huge negative impacts on our health. For extroverts who need social stimulation to feel energized more than others, it can be an incredibly challenging time. The level of change we’re being forced to adapt to is unreal. Still, there are ways to stay connected: video call meeting services, professional development webinars, water cooler chats online, and even sharing Friday night drinks with colleagues and friends on video chat. Local governments and community groups are increasingly creating virtual social groups, support groups and call centers for those who are struggling. For more info on combatting loneliness, TTL published this article which I find to be incredibly helpful.
Now is the time to walk a few miles in the shoes of others. Perhaps extroverts can learn to appreciate how taxing “normal” work-life can be for introverts. Perhaps we can appreciate that we even have the ability to work from home, unlike those who have lost their jobs due to this terrible pandemic. Members of high-risk groups such as the disabled and chronically ill have been enlightening the general public with ways to handle isolation, but we must be mindful that for many of those sharing their own tips and tricks, such isolation is not temporary (and certainly hasn’t limited their creativity).
This was not lost on NYT writer Kevin Roose either, who states,
“Don’t get me wrong: Working from home is a good option for new parents, people with disabilities and others who aren’t well-served by a traditional office setup … And I’m sympathetic to the millions of teachers, restaurant workers and other professionals for whom working from home has never been a viable option.”
While some teachers have always worked remotely, even traditional brick-and-mortar school teachers are now working from home, myself included. While it’s certainly not ideal, there have been some positives: speaking for myself as a New York City-based ENL teacher, I’m able to set assignments for multiple student groups at once. It gives me the feeling of being in many places at once whenever I publish work for all 7 of my classes of various levels at the same time. Differentiation and individual instruction are also in a position to benefit from online teaching and learning. What’s more, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the swiftness with which parents and even 6 -year-old students have figured out how to use platforms and services like Google Classroom.
We all miss seeing the faces of our family, friends, and coworkers and a video call is never quite the same. I certainly miss seeing the faces of my students, and there are certain things that become much harder to teach from over a screen, but we must not despair. This is our chance to be creative! Given unprecedented circumstances within our own lifetimes, how will we clever humans adapt?
As tempting as it may be to give in to malaise, and there’s no shame in it for those who do, I urge you to ditch the pajamas and get dressed in the morning, in work clothes if that’s what helps you get into the right mindset. Just like we teachers are trying to create “normal” daily schedules for our kids, try to eat, work, and exercise on a normal (for you) schedule. Pay respect to your colleagues by paying attention during video conferences and doing your best to stay engaged. Life has gotten us down lately, but we need to pick ourselves up and keep going, to do our best to stay stimulated and connected through this crisis. Let’s survive this together.
Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
