I've been working remotely for 13 years now. I do have a desk at the office, although I rarely go in. The only thing I miss is seeing some of the great people every day. Prior to the pandemic, many of us still talked remotely every day. But, that rarely happens now. More on that in a moment.

The worst thing about WFH during a pandemic is that one of the major things that kept me sane for the past 13 years was being able to go work at a local coffee shop or co-working space when I needed to get out of the house -- but none of those places have tables right now so that's off the table (sorry). On a side note, my kids and wife are around the house all day now, which should be from a social standpoint, and it is to a point, but it's terrible for concentration and it's a little too much time together when everyone tries to maintain their pre-pandemic expectations (hard for kids not to).

I'm not complaining though, my point is simply that WFH isn't normally this bad and cannot be judged fairly during a pandemic. I used to start working when I woke up very early in the morning and stop working around 330pm. Now, between helping my kids with their School from home work, and other family related interruptions, the workday never ends.

Many of my coworkers are in the same boat. Those who don't have kids are still anxious because their wonderful life is mostly shutdown too. Everyone is more stressed, more anxious, more irritable, and these feelings are the opposite of what WFH normally feels like.

That sounds awful. I felt similarly for the first few months of WFH, but I think that was because I had it in my head that WFH was temporary. I've now accepted (and been told as much by management) that WFH is going to be the norm going forward.

I obviously don't need as much human interaction as you or other people I work with, because we have a system which allows a small number of people into the office per day if they want to work in the office, and it's always the same people. I haven't availed of it once.

I think all this is just showing what a lot of people already knew: the one-size-fits-all 9-5 way of working really didn't work for everyone. The company I work for (Arm) have been really great about the whole situation in accommodating people's different circumstances and I'm hopeful for the future.

I schedule my team a weekly zoom ‘group hug’, where we just basically take a break for 30 minutes and talk about our pets or various desk tchotchkes (which I think are important to have some small objects that can provide temporary joy).

It can be a bit awkward at some times, but it seems to be a nice change.

That is sad to hear. By any chance do you live with others. I thankfully have my wife and two kids which helped, though I just moved from LA to SC, because it was so draconian. We have already talked to more neighbors in 5 days living here than we did in years living in LA. Point being the isolation is much less here because people all walk in the neighborhood and actually say hello and mean it. They don't in LA. But, I too am missing interactions at work terribly.

What is a strong IC? What does the abbreviation stand for?

Also I feel compassion for your situation. Isolation is a serious issue and could contribute to symptoms of depression.

In my case, WFH is godsend... I have multiple zoom conversations with colleagues every day and always find time for less formal, human exchanges which contribute to the sense of connection.

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