The introvert's Dilemma

I love working from home, I really do.

Before Covid hit I had just worked fully remote for 3 years, with 1 in person meeting a week to touch base but all coding work being done in my home office. It definitely had its challenges, but all in all I loved it.

For the first time in my career I came somewhat close to Joel Spolsky’s ideal that programmers should have private offices. So far I’d been stuck in open-plan offices at the worst, and occasionally in a team room.

This, this was bliss. I could put on some music and get deep into the zone. It was perfect for tapping into my hyperfocus. Distractions happened of course, but most of them were asynchronous. A message on Slack, a request for a quick video call.

After that project ended I went back to working in an office, and the first thing I did was invest in the best quality noise cancelling headphones I could find. It helped a bit, but I had a hard time getting used to commuting again and focusing in the noisy office environment could be hard even with the headphones.

So, when Covid hit and everybody was back working from home I figured I’d slip right back into my old rhythm. In some ways I did. What I hadn’t figured in though was that I was no longer alone in my home office. My wife was now also working from home full-time, and noise cancelling headphones really only go so far when there is a meeting going on a few feet behind you.

Still, when the first back-to-office plans were announces I was wary. We’ve been experimenting now with doing just the demo and biweekly sprint meetings in person and working from home the rest of the time. It works, sort of.

Last night I went to my first meetup since Covid. It was a simple format: food, two talks and drinks after. I absolutely loved it. I felt energized and inspired in a way that I hadn’t in a long long time.

As much as an introvert as I may be: there is something special about meeting up with colleagues. The exchange of ideas that you don’t get from just remote contact. So, I’ll stick to doing actual work from home as much as I can for those parts of my job that require deep focus, but for inspiration: sign me up for the meetups!