Three years ago, remote work was what you did when you were sick but not sick enough to take a real sick day. Now it’s just… work.
The transition wasn’t smooth. Those first few months in 2020 were chaos. Zoom calls where half the participants were muted and the other half had barking dogs in the background. Slack channels that never slept. The slow realization that “work from home” might be permanent.
But we adapted. We learned to communicate asynchronously. We got better at setting boundaries between work and life (though “better” is relative when your bedroom is also your office). We discovered that many meetings really could have been emails.
The technology caught up too. High-quality webcams became essential equipment. Noise-canceling headphones moved from luxury to necessity. We all became experts at troubleshooting audio issues and dealing with spotty internet connections.
What surprised me most was how much I didn’t miss the office. The commute, obviously. But also the constant interruptions, the need to look busy, the awkward small talk by the coffee machine. Remote work gave me permission to work the way I actually work best: in focused blocks, with breaks when I need them, without the performance of “being at work.”
Of course, it’s not perfect. I miss the spontaneous conversations that lead to breakthrough ideas. I miss being able to walk over to someone’s desk and show them something on my screen. I miss the clear separation between work and home.
But I don’t miss it enough to go back.
The future of work isn’t fully remote or fully in-person. It’s flexible. It’s choosing the right tool for the job, whether that tool is a Zoom call or a whiteboard session or a quiet morning at home with just your laptop and your thoughts.