To those who prefer returning to office due to feeling isolated. Do you think your preferences could be influenced by the pandemic as well? Have you thought about how WFH could feel different with normal freedoms that come with a world without COVID-19?
I've done work from home pre-covid. Absolutely hated it after a month. My sleep schedule drifts off, I don't get to see coworkers, had to spent way too much time around relatives etc, I felt like I was trapped in that cabin from The Shining.
It's just way harder to organise going out for a drink after work if you're already at home. If you're in the office and it's a 10 min walk to the bar you just go. There's absolutely no spontaneity in working from home. At work you can have a conversation over dinner, or over a coffee or a smoke, it just doesn't work over Zoom.
Covid has been hell for my social life and probably at least 80% of people in my social circle feel the same. I honestly don't think any of this will persist.
Counterpoint. If you set string routines and boundaries, your first point is no longer valid. The only reason your sleep schedule drifts is due to having no hard routine, which you can create for yourself. For instance, I have always walked my dog fir 45 minutes before work and 45 mins right after work even pre covid. So I still have that routine start that forces me to not to let my sleep schedule bleed or work to bleed into my free time
