Physicality sets boundaries

I, still, feel like the extreme minority who misses going into a physical office space. Regardless, I think most share the following sentiment from James Allworth on the Exponent podcast. The clip starts at 42:17. (Bold emphasis mine.)

I didn't realize how much I relied on physicality to set boundaries.

So, obviously, things are naturally going to blur, but when I'm in the office I'm doing work, or in the pre-COVID world I was in the office doing work. And when I left the office, I was going to the gym and I was working out, or I was at home and I was like not doing either of those things, and then my physicality got restricted to home. And especially at the start trying to figure out how to reset habits and focus and work out and do all these things was a struggle. But now I’ve kind of got into the rhythm of it, and there are aspect I really, really like.

As I’m typing this, I realized that this week marks three years of working remotely. I’ve worked for three (!) different startups in that time, all remotely.

When I led Growth at Wyndy, I’d drive from Atlanta to Brimingham 3-4 times each month. Though the 5-hour round trip was long, I loved every moment of being around people in an environment built for work.

I, too, have found my “rhythm” of at-home work/life, but I think that most people are ready for at least the option of non-home-workspaces. I think this post-COVID desire will be a boon to coworking spaces like WeWork, and clubs like Switchyards.

If nothing else, most just want to get the heck out of the house.