But there are also some drawbacks when your office becomes your couch.
Among them: you could get a little weird.
She does a lighter version of the scary-looking “morning shed” trendpopularized on TikTok.
That time can get strange and make the in-office time a little awkward.
But it can also be a little gross.
Eighty-one percent of remote workers said they put on deodorant, compared with 95% of in-office workers.
For toothbrushing, the margin was slimmer: 92% versus 95%.
He gets up a couple of hours early to play New York Times games likeWordleand read on the couch.
Between calls, he does chores: washing dishes, dropping off the rent check, going grocery shopping.
He considers it a “clarity break,” part of stress relief.
“I’ll just put a Spotify song and dance around my apartment,” he says.
Lately he’s been on a Taylor Swift kick.
“I’m, like, hoping people care,” he says.
“You might be a little less likely to get distracted.
They don’t change out of their pajamas (or they get day and night pajamas).
Strange habits at home don’t stop at the front door.
Remote work can also mean people get rusty on the softer skills needed around coworkers in the office.
It may result in some awkwardness, whether perceived or real, when people are back at their desks.
A lot of the norms around formal communication have been maintained in remote and hybrid work.
A meeting is a meeting, whether you’re in a conference room or on Zoom.
Messaging via email and Slack is the same.
People’s skills have shifted over time to match their environments.
In a hybrid situation, perhaps some people’s verbal-communication muscles got stronger but the nonverbal stuff got worse.
So many of our modern interactions have moved online that it makes the in-real-life ones harder.
But for the normal, more “old-school situations,” he feels like he needs a manual.
The small talk that takes place walking to and from a meeting is a struggle.
“I don’t have the reps,” he says.
“There’s not the construct of a call.
There’s not the comfort of being in your own space while having the conversations.”
It can also make him a little stir-crazy.
The Twin Cities, where he does his weekend-warrioring, are a two-hour drive away.
“Who cares?”
“I’m out of the house.”
“Social skills are truly a skill,” Noonan said.
“It’s something you’ve got the option to train.”
It’s also worth remembering that something you think is awkward might not be awkward to everyone else.
Emily Stewartis a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.
