Friday evening last week I boarded a plane in Lihue, Hawaii and made the disappointing trip home. I spent 5 weeks working from the wonderful tropical island of Kauai and could easily have spent another 5 weeks there. Unfortunately there are a number of duties I have back at home and am back to my old-boring routine of working from home in Utah.
In Hawaii, one of my nightly rituals included spending an hour at the pool and hot tub. Most of the people staying at the condo complex were vacationing and so I got to meet quite a few people. On one evening towards the end of my stay, I met a medical doctor who was in Hawaii for 3 weeks. His wife is also in the medical field and they only get one long break every year that they can use to take a vacation. This year they spent it in Kauai. It surprised him that I was there for 5 weeks. I explained that I didn't need to burn any of my vacation time as I was still working every day. That sparked a conversation about the negative impact of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While I have thrived working from home over the past 16 months, I am actually an anomaly. I don't have any kids at home that like to spend time on conference calls with me nor am I using my bedroom as my office. I have a dedicated office with all of the tools I need to keep working from home. My home office actually rivals my work office, which might explain one of the reasons I am thriving.
While sitting in the hot tub, the doctor and I discussed the various ailments that people are exhibiting because of working from home. He personally has noticed a lot of anxiety disorders. Part of that comes from using one's bedroom as their office. One of the work-from-home seminars I was asked to attend mentioned the problem with that. You start to associate your sleeping area as your work area and when it comes time to go to sleep at night, your mind reverts back to work and it can be difficult to fall asleep as well as stay asleep. Anxiety also arises from concern over dealing with younger children and keeping them entertained. Having a parent dedicated to watching the kids helps but a lot of families require that second income and so parents are juggling kids while trying to work.
Looking at the title of this post, I would say that the answer is definitely, "Yes," for a number of people. Working from home is definitely driving those people crazy. But with most broad statements like that, there are exceptions to the rule. The trick is to do everything you can to minimize the downsides of working from home until you are welcome back at the office. Then be prepared as some of your coworkers only show up at work when necessary.
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