I got lonely working remotely, so I chose to go back to the office. Being away from my coworkers rea

Publish date: 2024-06-24
2023-10-19T09:05:01Z

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Macy Matt, a 25-year-old who works in medical staffing in Omaha, Nebraska. Her employment has been verified by Insider. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Based on the posts I saw online about how awesome remote work is, working from home seemed like it would be the best of both worlds.

You can be more productive and healthy when working from home by doing tasks like laundry in between meetings or making a nutritious lunch. You're more in control of your schedule, and you have a level of freedom that people don't have when they work from an office daily.

Because of these benefits, I always thought that working remotely would be incredible, so when my boyfriend took an assignment as a travel nurse in March, I asked my company if I could work remotely so I could travel with him.

I had been working in medical staffing for three years, and I felt really good about my job. But I was looking forward to traveling with my boyfriend on his new adventure — plus, I'd cut out a 30-minute commute.

My boss was understanding and said yes. I couldn't wait to enjoy all the benefits of flexible work.

But here's what I didn't see online: Working from home is a lonely experience

I never knew how much I depended on the social and emotional stimulation of the office until I didn't have it. Suddenly, it was just me by myself the entire day while my boyfriend was at work. I would sit in front of my computer in our rental house and miss my coworkers.

I didn't see it coming at all. I'm an introvert, and I love being by myself, but being alone all the time and knowing my coworkers were together was really hard. I didn't realize how much I feed off being around other people and making them happy. It really took a toll on me.

I started waking up 5 minutes before work and bringing my laptop to bed to start at 8 a.m.

I wouldn't even get out of bed some days, which was so different from when I worked in the office and I would wake up at 5 a.m. feeling so put together.

It was also hard to feel as invested in my job while working remotely. It made me sad because I do love learning, working hard, and trying my best, but when I'm working from home, it just doesn't come as naturally to me.

I didn't lose my productivity, though. It's fascinating how much work you can get done when you're in a room by yourself and not distracted by coworkers and a lively office environment.

It's hard to nurture your relationships with coworkers when you're not around them

It's not the same to chat over messenger or video conference over Zoom. You don't get to establish the same connections you would in person.

I tried to FaceTime with my coworkers occasionally, but I didn't feel satisfied.

I've realized that it's important for me to be in the office

I'm a young person who's at the beginning of my career. I want to soak up the networking and social interaction of being around my coworkers.

It's funny because I feel like so many companies offer remote working as a benefit, but it was not as beneficial as I thought it would be.

I'm still trying to figure out how to move forward in my career and my relationship

I wanted to continue to travel with my boyfriend, but that would mean working remotely. I decided to move back to Omaha, and I'm now going into the office three days a week and working from home two days a week. It's really nice to be back in the office, but I don't know what the future holds.

I want to invest in my relationship and my career, but I'm not sure how to balance both of them. I don't know yet what that will look like, but I know I'll find something that works for my personal and professional life.

Watch: Microsoft's chief brand officer, Kathleen Hall, says the company's employees are its best product testers

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