A recent survey found that 43% of employed Americans say they work from home at least some of the time, a 4% increase since 2012. While it certainly has its perks, those of us who do it know it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. The work-from-home struggle is real!
So, if you’ve become a home-office hermit whose only social outlet is your office Slack channel, read on!
Here are 21 things only people who work from home will understand.
- When you have your first face-to-face meeting in months and realize you’ve forgotten how to socialize.
https://giphy.com/embed/26uf4cvmN5X1mhI9G
Your mouth keeps talking, but nothing coming out of it is making any sense.
- When your partner/roommate starts to hate you because you never leave the house.
https://giphy.com/embed/n0DYrQeg8PCco
So what if the couch has magically transformed into your office cubicle?
- Your sick days feel exactly the same as your workdays.
https://giphy.com/embed/3o6nV0BkrBX35gCLsc
What’s the point of even calling in sick?
- People you know begin to suspect that you’re actually unemployed.
https://giphy.com/embed/xT5LMGufvl9b2Jlbji
Maybe it is time to suck it up and get a “real job”?
- You procrastinate between each task by showering.
https://giphy.com/embed/13JHOHY8NoO8Bq
Perhaps a little hot water on your scalp will get the blood flowing to the brain.
- Cable news is your coworker.
https://giphy.com/embed/3oKIPxRuQQtVbQz35S
Who knew that the comforting lull of the 24 hour news cycle could improve your productivity?
- You procrastinate all morning, then have to work until midnight to catch up.
https://giphy.com/embed/3oEhmU0sG19soyXUCA
“Why didn’t I just finish this five hours ago?!”
- “After work drinks” is simply opening a bottle of wine, alone, at five on the dot.
https://giphy.com/embed/o1lvWg1fHOhdm
Well, you need something to bring you down off that caffeine/anxiety high…
- You stopped buying new clothes months ago.
https://giphy.com/embed/8TJK6prvRXF6g
Just tilt the camera during video meetings so that stain is out of frame.
10 . You secretly take the whole of Friday afternoon off.
https://giphy.com/embed/2eLAwdushm3cI
“It’s 2pm already, looks like I’ll have to get this done on Monday.”
- Your social life is in a death spiral.
https://giphy.com/embed/Kcr9R7NvtZ7gY
Your friends want you to leave the house, but they just don’t understand how much effort that takes.
- You’re out of the loop.
https://giphy.com/embed/3oKIPhlDWlUHvbVhsI
Are you about to get fired? Are you in line for a promotion? Who knows. After all, you only email your boss twice a week.
- The food delivery guy has seen you in your pajamas more times than you care to admit.
https://giphy.com/embed/fIXtW1VlTyPba
Nothing wrong with three square pizza meals a day.
- You fantasize about waking up at 6am and getting everything done by midday.
https://giphy.com/embed/6GY01XQBkf3lS
But somehow, you never manage to drag yourself out of bed before 8:45.
- People act like you can just drop work whenever you like and hang out with them.
https://giphy.com/embed/14sCyqQ7PQ4dGw
Dude, I have a DEADLINE.
- Random knocks on the door always freak you out.
https://giphy.com/embed/10G4UQjEoExKuc
Jesus can wait, I’m on a roll right now.
- When your partner gets home from work exhausted, you’re ready to go out and party.
https://giphy.com/embed/rumR5iFBxFjdC
C’mon, just one drink. I haven’t left the house for 48 hours!
- That one time you decide to work at Starbucks, it’s packed full of noisy teenagers and scriptwriters taking phone calls.
https://giphy.com/embed/l0HlwwqWGhL0rCwMw
Why do I always wind up at the table next to the bathroom?
- The only meaningful conversations you have are with your dog or cat.
https://giphy.com/embed/l0Iy124daTG6z3vlm
No one understands your deep connection.
- When you take it a little too easy one week and have to work all weekend.
https://giphy.com/embed/Gsrj1RAgVBQ9q
Why does this keep happening?
- That feeling of dread when you open up the fridge at lunchtime and realize it’s completely empty.
https://giphy.com/embed/6oFNB3JPuLpAs
An unexpected trip to the grocery store can be truly harrowing.
- You lay awake in bed until 3am.
https://giphy.com/embed/D12CsrRNv7gL6
You barely left it all day, what do you expect?