Remote or Home Office

By: Joe Mauricio

 

For the past four week, plunked down at home during social distancing or self-quarantien, it’s not just spouses or partners people are questioning—it’s the home itself.

For those who are used to spending much of their day outside the home, the domestic space may have previously served a handful of basic functions, as a backup.

A few days ago, Robert Chavez, a friend and a hairstylist, admitted on our phone conversation that his self-quarantine was the longest stretch he had stayed put in his apartment in thirty years.

The demands on the home space have increased, like, the dining tables are now doubling as a place to Facebook your friends; living room as an office; kitchens ably move takeout dinners and microwaved platters are now bracing—–; the favorite sofa used for watching Fernando Poe movies and occasional guests is now used for back-toback Zoom sessions.

For millions of Americans, remote work is now a way of life. From setting up a VPN to access work files to getting a good workout indoors.

It doesn’t matter if you live in a studio apartment or a four-bedroom house, your living space or home wasn’t built with your job in mind. And so, creating a space you need in order to be productive may not be as simple as cozying up on your couch with a laptop. No choice but create a home office that works for you.

There’s no one size fits all approach to telecommunicating, you have to take time to understand how you work best in your new environment. Joining this group are hundreds and thousands, perhaps millions, of people taking refuge from COVID-19 and must work at home, or remote office, which is home.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, only 29% of Americans can work from home. The coronavirus outbreak has triggered an anxious trial rum for remote work at a grand scale.

What we will learn in the next few months could help shape a future of work that might have been inevitable, with or without a oncein- a-century public health crisis.

Remote work might prove not to work for many people in the future. But status quo is already failing millions of people.

When the economy is back to full force, remote work could be easier for those who want to take advantage of it in the future, where white collar work might involve a little less commuting in a little more like home office atmosphere.