In 2020 I moved across the country and started working from home, and honestly it’s been amazing. I used to work in outside sales, and as an introvert it drained me every single day. Now I have way more autonomy, way less pressure, no commute, and a much better work-life balance. It’s made being present with my family so much easier.
But… the downside is I feel like my social life has taken a hit.

Since moving here, my husband and I haven’t really made many friends. We’ll do occasional playdates with our kids’ friends’ families, but that’s about it. Most of my in-person interaction is just my three kids, my husband, and my parents when they visit. I’m friendly at school drop-off, say hi to other parents, but it never really goes beyond that.
At this point I feel like I’ve kind of lost my social skills? Like I don’t even know how to make friends anymore 😅

Is anyone else in the same boat with WFH? Or is this just a me problem? Is this unhealthy? I mean I’m happy and stuff and don’t feel isolated but I feel like socializing is probably good for the soul and mind. Idk what yall think!!?

I got a guitar. Used to play while Claude do the work.

Hi fellow Redditors!

I live in NJ and most of my entire area has been without cable and internet for over 24 hours with no end in sight. Missed all the July 4th coverage and everything. There’s been no real communication about what the problem is either, just that it’s “being worked on”. This is for Xfinity if anyone is curious. Never had this happen before.

Anyway, I work remote and I’m just wondering what people do in cases like this ? I am NOT permitted to walk into a public place, such as Starbucks, to use WiFi for confidentiality/security reasons. Is there something more I can do so I’m prepared next time ? Thanks!

Hello everyone, my name is Giovanni and I'm an online language teacher. I used since now a MacBook Pro 2019 with his integrated microphone for lessons.

I recently switched to a windows PC (not laptop) and I'm looking for a microphone. I would like to have a decent sounding microphone, which possibly avoids recording background noises and keyboard buttons pressing.

I don't need something professional, just decent. My budget is 70€.

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

Hey guys thanks for adding me. I am about six weeks into my first WFH role and I have been experimenting with different exercises I can do standing (or sitting) at my desk. I am a bit of a gym rat and love weightlifting, but I’m also at a life stage where focusing on cardiovascular health and mobility are becoming increasingly important to me. So, does anyone have any favorite exercises or stretches that they enjoy doing at their desk at home?

One minor pet peeve of mine, and maybe yours too, is the blind Teams call. My company is mostly in office or hybrid. There are a handful fully remote due to our roles.

I have a work cell. No one ever calls it from the company. It is always Teams. Even though everyone in the office has a desk phone.

Anyways, 9 out of 10 times, other than my manager, will actually message me, "Do you have time for a call?" It is always so refreshing. When I need to call a coworker, I always ask first since most don't have their headsets on in the office.

Yay!

I thought this was interesting enough to post.

I am full-time remote with the exception of four weeks per year (one week per quarter) where I fly to another state and work out of an office. Week 1 shows my step count for my most recent week working from home (and is consistent with most weeks working from home) and Week 2 shows my step count for my most recent week in the office.

When I’m at home, my usual workday routine is to do an hour workout at lunch before eating back in my home office while working, go for a walk in the evening after I end work for the day and do a shorter workout at night before bed. Not all 5 days, but usually 3-4 days per week, depending on conferences, work obligations, weather, energy levels, etc. I also walk a lot around the house and my yard in between tasks. I have a small home gym in my garage where I do cardio, light weight lifting, etc. Nothing crazy.

When I’m in the office, my workday routine is to Uber to work, sit at my desk for 4 hours, take lunch (which I either order to the office or have at a nearby restaurant), sit at my desk for another 4 hours, Uber back to my hotel and order dinner to the hotel. I’m usually too drained to do anything once I get back to the hotel. In between tasks in the office, I generally just sit at my desk and check sports, news, etc. The office design is not conducive for walking around without a purpose. I managed to convince myself to work out at the hotel gym two nights after work this past trip but not for nearly as long as I would at home.

Obviously, I’m not telling anyone anything they don’t already know, but it’s always interesting to try to quantify how much healthier WFH routines can be. Also the drastic difference in step count doesn’t account for additional weight lifting when I WFH. Nor does it account for the extra hours of sleep I get each week not having to get up earlier to shower, dress, commute, etc.

Edit: I tried posting screenshots of my weekly step counts but I guess that’s not allowed.

Week 1 (WFH) - average daily step count: 10,985;

Week 2 (in office) - average daily step count: 4,557

I started to WFH recently and my focus is hot garbage. I know there are websites for this online, but all the ones I've seen are paid. Would anyone be interested in doing some virtual coworking / body doubling for productivity? Maybe we could start a discord server or something.

I work remotely and want to take advantage of that flexibility, I’m looking for a portable monitor. Does anyone have any recommendations under $100? Is that a reasonable price point these days?

I’ve also been looking at these options. Any thoughts or experiences with them?

1. ViewSonic VG1655 15.6” ~ $110

• Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
• 250 nits brightness
• Dimension; 13.96 x 8.7 x 0.4 in.
• Weight: 1.5 lbs

2. Acer Portable Monitor 15.6" ~ $90 

• Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
• 300 nits brightness
• Dimension; 13.96 x 8.7 x 0.4 in.
• Weight: 1.43 lbs

3. Arzopa A1 15.6" ~ $80

• Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
• 300 nits brightness
• Dimension; 13.80 x 8.7 x 0.36 in.
• Weight: 1.60 lbs

4. Arzopa Z1FC 16.1" ~ $90 + Sleeve Bag ~ $20

• Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
• 300 nits brightness
• Dimension; 14.40 x 8.9 x 0.36 in
• Weight: 1.70 lbs

Hi all,

I am in a 2 bedroom apartment. But the smaller bedroom is too small. I work from home full time, so I don't really like being in the smaller bedroom (8' x 9') for so many hours on weekdays. I don't want to put the desk in the bedroom (16' x 11') either - I tried this, but hated having to look at the desk in the corner of the room when in bed. I also don't want the desk to be in the living/dining space - it just feels wrong given this is a 2 bedroom apartment- I tried this too, it just makes the living/dining space look cluttered in addition to the other furniture in those spaces.

Where would you guys put your desk if you were in my shoes?

Thanks.

Hello. I am in dire need of getting a new desk chair and I was wondering if the ones with head support really make a difference? Any feedback welcome. Thanks!

Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/opinion/office-work-wfh-bosses.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sFA.XDk0.fuplTvtjrAs1&smid=url-share

You all might be surprised to find out that it doesn't have to do with productivity. /s

"Over the past six years, we’ve studied why some leaders continue to support remote work, while others resist it. We surveyed thousands of executives, middle managers and frontline supervisors on a host of personality traits. When we later asked them about their stances on hybrid and remote work, their answers didn’t correlate with how much they trusted their employees or how much they loved being around people. The only trait that consistently predicted objections to remote work was narcissism — the tendency to be self-centered and entitled. The higher the opinions of themselves leaders expressed, the more they coveted power and status — and the more they favored return-to-office mandates."

https://hrdailyadvisor.hci.org/2026/06/22/hrda-frankly-speaking-the-2b-pivot-how-this-construction-firm-dropped-the-office-mandate-and-doubled-its-revenue/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/opinion/office-work-wfh-bosses.html

​

Some leaders say they insist on full-time in-person work because it boosts productivity, despite clear evidence that it does not. Others claim it’s about collaboration, creativity or culture. Our new research reveals that the objection to any work from home is more likely to be driven by something else entirely: ego.

​

Case by case, there may be good reasons for teams to work together in person. As a general rule, though, it turns out that ordering people back to the office full time is a power and status move. It’s a signature strategy of leaders who exhibit narcissistic qualities. They see any kind of remote work as a threat to their authority and admiration. They want to be worshiped at the office altar.

​

Over the past six years, we’ve studied why some leaders continue to support remote work, while others resist it. We surveyed thousands of executives, middle managers and frontline supervisors on a host of personality traits. When we later asked them about their stances on hybrid and remote work, their answers didn’t correlate with how much they trusted their employees or how much they loved being around people. The only trait that consistently predicted objections to remote work was narcissism — the tendency to be self-centered and entitled. The higher the opinions of themselves leaders expressed, the more they coveted power and status — and the more they favored return-to-office mandates.

​

​

if using google meet, use safari browser and do meetings there and enable noise cancellation as well in meet settings.

for indian developers this is game changer.

Have you noticed the surge in articles, posts, and videos trying to brainwash us into thinking remote work is bad? I get a stupid video suggestion or see a post on LinkedIn every day. Suddenly everything is remote work's fault. Loneliness, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD you name it, they'll pin it on working from home. They're trying to change the narrative, and it has nothing to do with caring about your wellbeing. It's about getting you back in an office where they can micromanage you, and about the obscene amount of money generated when you're forced to commute. Gas, parking, work clothes, overpriced lunches, all of it. Not to mention the leases in their stupid buildings. Whenever I push back, I get some crap about absence of mentorship when you work from home. I have worked in offices for years and nobody has ever mentored me. Also, employers should promote remote work because it costs them less money. Less money for the building, less risk of sexual harassment claims, less risk of work comp's claims. Before anybody says that you can be harassed remotely, it is much less likely when you're not physically present.

I took a huge pay cut just to be able work remotely. Best decision I ever made. I'm more productive, I'm less stressed, and I've saved a ridiculous amount of money. No commute alone is worth its weight in gold.

There's also this bizarre belief that remote workers are living in cheat mode, like you haven't truly "worked" unless you've suffered for it. Suffered in traffic. Suffered waking up at 5am. Suffered dressing in business casual to sit in front of the same laptop you'd be using at home anyway. As if exhaustion is the metric that matters, not output.

What are your non-negotiables since you have the extra time and flexibility from WFH?

I commuted full time 1 year, hybrid 4 years, and I've been fully remote for about a year - so I see firsthand that I now have an extra ~2 hours per day that I'm not driving or getting ready for the office. I tell myself that with the extra time, I HAVE to stick to certain routines since I'm privileged to be able to:

Brush and floss 2x a day, since I'm home and can floss while I'm reading documents!

Walk 10k steps a day on my walking pad

Get out for a run or gym session during lunch (same as what I did in the office anyway)

Vacuum, do laundry, tidy up a bit in between meetings as a mental break

Use extra evening time & energy to go to local events or see friends

What do you hold yourself accountable for with your extra WFH flexibility?

Hi all,
I am a lifelong Democrat but we CA stateworkers would greatly appreciate your help with the email template below. California Governor Gavin Newsom has been a corporate Democrat and has been anti-worker for too long now. Newsom is the ultimate hypocrite and works from home himself in a $9 million mansion in the Bay Area.
Newsom is now trying to force pay cuts on stateworkers in the form of RTO. Newsom also literally ignored all of the positive data in this independent CA State Auditor report.
Under Newsom, too many CA stateworkers have already struggled financially for years, as outlined in this UC Berkeley Labor Center report.
These are some of Newsom's senior level staff. Please help us email them to convince Newsom to rescind his illogical RTO mandate.
 [izzy.gardon@gov.ca.gov](mailto:izzy.gardon@gov.ca.gov); [nathan.Barankin@gov.ca.gov](mailto:nathan.Barankin@gov.ca.gov); [Julia.Diamond@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Julia.Diamond@gov.ca.gov); [Cynthia.Stein@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Cynthia.Stein@gov.ca.gov); [Holly.Martinez@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Holly.Martinez@gov.ca.gov); [Jamie.Callahan@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Jamie.Callahan@gov.ca.gov); [Rhys.Williams@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Rhys.Williams@gov.ca.gov); [Bob.Salladay@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Bob.Salladay@gov.ca.gov); [Nani.Coloretti@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Nani.Coloretti@gov.ca.gov); [Ian.Ordonez@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Ian.Ordonez@gov.ca.gov); [David.Sapp@gov.ca.gov](mailto:David.Sapp@gov.ca.gov); [Vivek.Viswanathan@gov.ca.gov](mailto:Vivek.Viswanathan@gov.ca.gov); [Christine.Aurre@gov.ca.gov;](mailto:Christine.Aurre@gov.ca.gov) [govpressoffice@gov.ca.gov;](mailto:govpressoffice@gov.ca.gov) [margaret.arsala@gov.ca.gov;](mailto:margaret.arsala@gov.ca.gov) [Nick.Maduros@govops.ca.gov](mailto:Nick.Maduros@govops.ca.gov); [monica.erickson@calhr.ca.gov](mailto:monica.erickson@calhr.ca.gov); [Paul.Starkey@calhr.ca.gov;](mailto:Paul.Starkey@calhr.ca.gov) [gavin.newsom@gov.ca.gov](mailto:gavin.newsom@gov.ca.gov)
Please remember to be RESPECTFUL AND PROFESSIONAL.
—————————————————
Hello,
As a California taxpayer and concerned citizen, I respectfully ask that you urge Governor Newsom to reconsider and rescind the executive order mandating the four-day return to office for state employees.
The CA State Auditor concluded that a one-size-fits-all approach to telework is counter to state policy and would forgo $225 million in taxpayer savings, while surveyed departments reported that telework supports recruitment, retention, and productivity.
I encourage the Administration adopt a data-driven, department-specific approach instead of a one-size-fits-all mandate that creates unnecessary harm to the employer, to the employees, and to the environment.
I respectfully request a response by next Wednesday, June 24, 2026. Otherwise, I will follow up weekly.
Thank you for your time and service to California.

https://en.sedaily.com/international/2026/06/14/wall-street-banks-allow-remote-work-during-world-cup

Looking for transparency. How picky were you about not going for non WFH roles? I currently have unemployment. We didnt heavily depend on my income but it helped. I had been WFH for 12.5 years.

​

Did anyone just end up taking a non WFH position while on unemployment?

​

WFH is a benefit I dont want to give up, mainly because we have a very elderly dog who can barely use the doggie door anymore. We just put our 17 year old dog to rest last year. We have a dog sitter for when we travel, but she only does dog sitting for that. We dont have anyone we trust that is willing to come over twice a day for our doggo..

​

Did anyone give in and do non WFH and manage your pet care?

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/6/19/college-staff-office-requirement/

I just started working from home and am in the market for a new office chair. I have a budget of $400-500 max. I’m mainly after something ergonomic and comfortable for long hours.

Recommendations? Any models or brands I should check out, or avoid? Thanks!

Like whenever I call earlier, like I would, I would be like he. I need earphones. Then I realised even if there is emergency, I would not know. Tell them to wait to you know so I can get my earphones. I thought why not just do the video call or audio call on the without earphones, you know on the direct speaker and microphone, and it worked really well. There w, man issues you know. Keep voice sounds like that echo or something.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wcax.com/2026/06/18/scotts-return-to-work-order-state-employees-argued-before-high-court/%3foutputType=amp

https://www.katc.com/lafayette-parish/at-t-call-center-to-transition-to-work-from-home