Working From Home Can Kill You

I've worked from home since 2012. I can't honestly believe that it has been that long. You can probably say that I've been working from home since before it was cool. During that time, I've learned two things:

It's not for everyone and that there are perils to working only from your home office.

It's Not For Everyone

I hate people. I try not to, but people are so stupid. They make dumb decisions and discuss things I have no interest in.

As you can see, I'm excellent at making friends.

Seriously, though, I know that my social inadequacies aren't common among the people out there. If you work from home, you're eschewing some of the social rewards you get by working with other people. And while people will probably annoy you, it is actually healthy to interact with actual physical people instead of the virtual ones that dominate my day.

As the years have gone on, I find myself less and less interested in having actual social interactions with people in the real world. This is a direct result of working from home. If I were still going out and working the 9 to 5, I wouldn't have any issue with going out of the house. I'd have to.

I know that people are upset that many companies are forcing a return to the office. I get that. I really do. There are benefits to not having to commute every day. But, I also get some of the motivations on the corporate end. Being around people can be a motivational thing. It can improve productivity. Yes, they (the companies) have other motives, but there's no denying that often, in person work is healthier for all parties.

Granted, not everyone is the same. Some people will be more productive without the daily commute and the in-person meetings. The point is, working from home is not for everyone, no matter how attractive it seems at first.

The Perils

I've already mentioned a couple, namely getting more and more disinterested in leaving the house, but there are a few other perils I should talk about.

First, I've lost the ability to drive well. I still drive once or twice a week, but I'm not as good at it as I was when I was out all the time. It takes practice and I'm very rusty. I've also found that my reaction times are slower.

I've also lost more and more of my ability to actually be comfortable around other people. There's a mental block in my head now that wasn't there before. Sure, I've always been a loner, but I used to be okay talking to others. Now, it's a lot harder. And that's not great.

Life is about practice, and I've not been practicing at being social. I've lost the ability to do it in the real world.

The real world. There's something there. As much as I love my online friends, it's not the same as someone you spend time with in the physical world. The virtual nature of friendship changes the scope of said friendship. I've been thinking about this for a while. People put on faces, masks if you will, online. People say things online that they would never say to your face, they act in a way that they'd never act if they were in front of you.

To expand on that a little, it's harder to actually get to know someone that you've only met online. Even if you've known them for years, the online nature of knowing them is physically and mentally different from if you were friends in the real world.

Nothing beats reality, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

There is Good Here, Though

It's not all bad. I enjoy working from home. I enjoy making my own schedule and being able to take time off during the day if I need to. If I were still working outside the house, I doubt there would be a YouTube channel in my life. And that'd make me sad, since I really enjoy the community I've created over there.

So, despite the downward look I've had on this for most of the article, I don't want to make it seem like this is all horrible. It's not. And, I'm working on rectifying some of the downsides. I'm forcing myself to leave the house more. I'm going to work on being more social with actual people, make some new friends.

I think if I can find a balance, I'll be much happier with things. And, I'll still get to work from home. So, winning!

This is part of 30 in 30, my attempt to blog every day for a month. Well over half way!