In the Office or Remote Workplace: Who Reigns Supreme?  

The pandemic has made working from home the new corporate norm. We swapped out the dress pants for sweatpants and break room banter around the water tower for lukewarm Microsoft Teams DMs. But now, our hearts drop when we hear the dreaded Teams ringtone, a call from our boss while we’re at the nail salon.  

Some argue that the office structure promotes productivity and higher morale amongst teams. Others say that the work from home life eliminates office distractions and allows us to get more work done in less time, while also allowing us to have a more flexible lifestyle.  

So, which one is right? Does working from home really increase productivity? Are there downsides to remote work that outweigh the positives? It all boils down to self-discipline and boundaries. When we close the laptop and make our evening commute home, we are checked out and done for the day until we wake up the next morning to a cluster of email threads we need to sort through. Working from home blurs the lines of our “working hours” and never truly allows us to sign off. But, if we need to run to pick the kids up from school at 2pm or go to a “doctor’s appointment” that is actually our quarterly botox appointment, we can do these things with remote work. So, pick your poison or find balance by setting clear boundaries for your working hours. Easier said than done right?  

It is easy to say we are going to shut down our laptops at 5pm on the dot. But this isn’t always realistic. We catch ourselves sifting through emails at 10pm in our beds and sending out contracts at the dinner table. This is all part of the give and take of working from home. So, which do you prefer- remote or in the office? How do you set boundaries while working from home to keep yourself sane? Curious to hear your thoughts!