It’s easy to always think back to March 2020, and what that did to us all, but instead I like to think back to Summer 2020 - with the big C keeping us inside for the past 3 months, everyone was desperate to socialise. Many of us bent the rules without breaking them, until restrictions temporarily allowed for meeting outdoors in small groups.

The yearning to meet friends was so desperate for my Partner Wife and I that we even became friends with neighbours and strangers. Some of those strangers became good friends, and recently attended our wedding.

But time moves on from that glorious Summer. Hugging friends and shaking hands is allowed again. Being inside with strangers is fine. But for most computery jobs, we’re all still working remotely.

The case for Remote Work

Most of us have been doing this for over 4 years now. I think we all have our own reasons that we enjoy it. For me, life seems to be at a slower pace. Without a commute, I can fit in a run before work, chores, errands, or just relax. If you’ve got kids, I understand that spending more time with them would be a huge benefit.

Really, it means that your time is your own. No longer is the extra time around your work owned by your employer. It’s yours to do with as you please. And that’s a big deal.

We aren’t going back to working in offices five days a week. That much is clear.

You won’t miss it until it’s gone

But there’s a downside that I see. I have 2 younger brothers. They’re 9 and 11 years younger than me, so both in their mid 20s. When I was that age, going out with colleagues was a way to become friendly with them, and in turn become friendly with their friends.

When I moved to London I knew a few people, but it’s a big city and they were scattered all over the place, with their own plans. After work drinks was an easy way to make new friends. Some of those people have became friends for life.

What happens now that nearly everyone works from home? If you’re in the office some of the time does that still happen? With the loss of the workplace social circle, have we lost the opportunity to turn colleagues into friends?

What can we do?

Working from home can be lonely. There’s plenty of evidence saying so. But what can we do about it?

Co-working doesn’t help. In my experience the cohesion of post work socialing needs to be organised by the office manager and it’s up to them if they do it or not. Moving co-working space and leaving behind those other members that you didn’t form a bond with in the first place means you probably won’t be invited back.

But there’s now a growing movement to reignite Union membership among Tech Workers. Ethan Marcotte and his book You Deserve a Tech Union have certainly helped with that.

In decades past, traditional Trade Unions often grouped together to run co-operative social clubs. In Walthamstow, where I live, there is one such social club. Built in 1919 as a place where local Trade Union members could meet, it was a pub, event space, and local community hub. Now, it’s used for much the same purpose by the whole community. Maybe there’s something there. I’m not suggesting that Prospect open a co-working space that doubles as a pub, but potentially what we need is a Remote Workers Social Club.

Working from home by yourself wouldn’t mean being alone. Meetups, social events, and just chatting over a pint could be something organised by your local branch of the RWSC.

Something to think about anyways.

Honourable mentions

• 💒 Getting married was unreal. We had the best day with friends and family. Instead of doing a first dance, I secretly taught Lila how to DJ and we did our first set together.
• 📖 I finished re-reading Foundation and couldn’t help but feel the Empire half of the TV show was better. A book of conversations is hard to adapt. I’ll continue re-reading the subsequent books in the series. I remember them getting better as it went on.
• 📖 Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? was a beautiful book that I read over 2 days. It made me laugh loads and cry by the end. It also put me back on track for at least 1 book a month this year.
• 🎮 This post was in part inspired by the lovely wrap up with all the people involved in Psychodyssey.
• 🎮 I finished Fallout 4 and grew so tired of it by the end. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to it for the DLCs. I would love Fallout: London to come to consoles but it’s never going to happen.
• 🎮 Thank Goodness You’re Here is a delight. It’s rare for games to be funny.
• 🎮 Coming back to Elden Ring a third time and the game has finally clicked with me. I now understand that using absolutely everything the game gives me is the way it’s meant to be played. Starscourge Radahn is vanquished and Nokron cleared.
• 📺 Finally watched Oppenheimer and it was great. Having listened to both seasons of The Bomb I knew who Fuchs was and what was coming.
• 📺 True Detective: Night Country was weird and cool. Now I want to watch The Thing.
• 📺 House of the Dragon S2 was good, but I’m not sure if they’re able to keep the momentum with Paddy Considine.
• 📺 The Bear S3 was enjoyable, but not as much as the other seasons. I still loved watching it.
• 🔗 Teenage Engineering’s new Medieval Instrument launch video gives off big Holy Mountain vibes. I watched it so many times.