>What I hear are complaints about the consequences of the pandemic
How so (rhetorically asked)?
> That both they and their partner are forced to share a workspace. That they miss changes of scenery, or that their home workspace isn't adequate enough to get work done.
These all seem like problems that arise from WFH. Especially two people working from home. Inadequate workspace and isolation at home.
> Before the pandemic, I would regularly rotate venues for where I got my work done. I'd go to different coffee shops and libraries.
Yeah, if you can work from a coworking space (either formal or informal) that solves quite a few of those problems. That's different. Although I don't want to subsidize my employer's office rent, but I'm happy to direct their funds to a location I prefer.
The other point I note is that you work on a laptop. You talk about taking it with you and other clues. How do you work on a small screen, touchpad, and a laptop keyboard. I'm honestly curious, because I've tried it many times and there must be some tricks I need to start employing. The lack of dual screens alone seems like it would kill productivity. (And sea air seems like it would kill your electronics.)
> These all seem like problems that arise from WFH. Especially two people working from home. Inadequate workspace and isolation at home.
WFH doesn't mean you're stuck at home. I'm someone who likes WFH but doesn't like working from my home. This is why, in pre-pandemic times, I'd purposely work from different locations of my choosing.
The pandemic necessitates that WFM means working from your home and only your home, and that isn't always ideal.
> Although I don't want to subsidize my employer's office rent, but I'm happy to direct their funds to a location I prefer.
Before the pandemic, many of the employers I worked with didn't have a problem with paying for coworking spaces.
> How do you work on a small screen, touchpad, and a laptop keyboard. I'm honestly curious, because I've tried it many times and there must be some tricks I need to start employing.
Beyond using a vertical mouse and offloading a lot of compute to my home and cloud clusters, I don't have any good advice to give, unfortunately. I've been using laptops for decades and they're just my preferred way to work.
> (And sea air seems like it would kill your electronics.)
As long as it isn't humid out, you're good. What it really kills are cars that are parked outside. They'll begin to rust after a year or two, brakes will need to be replaced sooner, etc.
It does if you're addicted to dual-monitors and other non-mobile setups. Maybe that, more than kids, is the discriminator between people who love WFH and those who cannot stand it.
> Beyond using a vertical mouse
I just bought a new mouse near the beginning of the pandemic. I looked at vertical mice, but ended up getting a more standard one with a nicely molded in-hand shape. I suppose if I had been in a store I would have tried it. Thanks for reminding me I wanted to check one out in person.
How so (rhetorically asked)?
> That both they and their partner are forced to share a workspace. That they miss changes of scenery, or that their home workspace isn't adequate enough to get work done.
These all seem like problems that arise from WFH. Especially two people working from home. Inadequate workspace and isolation at home.
> Before the pandemic, I would regularly rotate venues for where I got my work done. I'd go to different coffee shops and libraries.
Yeah, if you can work from a coworking space (either formal or informal) that solves quite a few of those problems. That's different. Although I don't want to subsidize my employer's office rent, but I'm happy to direct their funds to a location I prefer.
The other point I note is that you work on a laptop. You talk about taking it with you and other clues. How do you work on a small screen, touchpad, and a laptop keyboard. I'm honestly curious, because I've tried it many times and there must be some tricks I need to start employing. The lack of dual screens alone seems like it would kill productivity. (And sea air seems like it would kill your electronics.)