This article made me realise one of the reasons I like working remotely so much: Focus.

https://www.mtajchert.com/libraries-and-open-spaces/

My previous offices had areas (cells?) for focused work: focus was the exception rather than the norm, I remember having to drag myself to those places and put on a do-not-mess-with-me face.

Now that I work remotely, I can be in a silent place all the time if I wish so. There’s no lack of collaboration, rather the opposite. Mostly asynchronous communication make me really concentrate on my work, while the live interactions with colleagues are more productive and the chit chatting moments more enjoyable.

Focus is now the norm and, as a consequence, I feel again in touch with my creativity after so many years of office distractions: it felt scary at first and had to get used to it again, but I’m so grateful for that now.

I still miss office life every now and then. Luckily my colleagues are so nice that I can feel their presence and support even when working from hundreds of miles away.

There’s a lot of talking about mental health, so why don’t we consider distractions as a hindering factor, even when disguised as office duties?