Fully Remote Work: Dream Job or Silent Curse?

Apr 07, 2025

Art by Ani Alexander • “The Last Drop” • Breaking Chains Collection

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I got my first fully remote work over a year before COVID. Shortly after I already developed a love-hate relationship with that whole work from home thing…

Fast forward 6 years… and the love side of it has disappeared completely and I absolutely hate it now. With every molecule of my body and every part of my soul.

And yes, I know it’s not a popular opinion. And yes, many tell me I am crazy to feel that way. And yes, many people absolutely adore working from home. But honestly, I don’t care because that doesn’t change anything. I still hate it nevertheless.

So this article will definitely be biased and based on my personal experiences and opinions. And you are more than welcome to argue with me in comments or at our X space on Wednesday.

But here it is…

Some of you already know that I have changed many careers and jobs… but every time I left for a new position I kept in touch with at least 1-2 people from the old place. We even meet up periodically… because over the time we worked together we became friends.

How many people I am in touch with from those I worked remotely with and never met…. very few.

9 out of 10 times we did not care about each other at all….

But then maybe it’s not that easy to care about someone you haven't even seen on a video call - ever? We’ve not even looked into each other's eyes once…

People connect when they go through experiences and challenges together.

All those coffee breaks, comforting each other during stressful times, eating lunch together… laughing together, being able to look into the same screen and point out the design changes needed, being able to call everyone in a room for an emergency meeting and sorting out the issue right then and there…

All those may seem like small things that could be replaced by Zoom and emails… with one major difference… they can’t … we can only settle for an online version of what’s possible … And what’s possible is not at all enough… it’s a huge compromise of what could have been…

In an intercultural remote setup, without really knowing your co-workers personality and typed chat or emails being your only communication method - you often are not even sure if they were trying to insult you or it was just a lighthearted joke. Things get lost in translation and assumptions and premature conclusions have a way bigger playground than ever before… leading to endless possibilities of misunderstandings.

COVID forced people to work from home and many business owners got tempted to leave it that way even after. And I totally get it… saving on office space rent… getting access to a global talent pool… etc… benefits are many.

And to be fair maybe they didn’t even really have a choice. So many people, unlike me, loved working from home, that it was going to be extremely hard to force them to come back to the office…

It’s become this whole how progressive and modern your business is criteria….

“Can you imagine? They are now forcing people to go to the office every day and not only 2 days a week!”,... what a horrible old-fashioned employer! …

There are many arguments that back up the remote work praise.

Many argue that the commute was a nightmare… and yes I get it and agree.

If you end up in a morning rush hour in the London tube there is a 90% chance that your nose will be too close to someone's armpit while someone else’s whole body pushes against yours… for about 30 minutes

BUT

Instead you could get out 20 minutes earlier and have a half empty carriage with a vacant soft seat and peacefully read a nice book or listen to a podcast or your favourite music, instead...

I know it’s possible - I’ve done it every weekday for more than a year.

Have you worked remotely with people who have small kids?

On one hand it’s so nice to have the flexibility to spend more time with them and save on childcare… but have you seen how tired they are and how miserable they look at all times?...

And yes, it is very nice to see those cute small creatures during the video call from time to time… but hearing them scream during the whole call or keep climbing on their dad’s head and closing his eyes with their tiny hands, let's be honest can be a bit distracting…

I think we all agree that looks shouldn’t matter, right?

But still… maybe spending days in your PJs just because you can is not such a good idea…

I used to dress up and put on make up every morning leaving for work.

Now?

Now I have spiraled into transforming into Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski and most of the days my poor husband observes me cruising the apartment looking like a homeless person in my robe…

But all that is probably not so important. All that may be manageable.

With a bit of self discipline and compassion as well as making effort to build remote relationships (and look better than Jeff the Dude) can fix most of it.

Now let’s address the elephant in the room.

Mental health…

We all are social creatures and need real-life human interactions …

And when we don’t get enough of it we end up with mental issues - anxiety and depression being among the most common ones.

But not even only that…

According to a meta-analysis co-authored by Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, lack of social connection heightens health risks as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or having alcohol use disorder.

And if that’s the case - I guess I as well just open that bottle of wine now.

Cheers!

-Ani