Thanks very much for this perspective, Laura. My company has been slowly shifting to 60% remote work over the past year or so; before the pandemic, my department only came into the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I absolutely love the freedom of working from home on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, especially because my commute is about an hour each way.

With the pandemic, my department (and most of the company at large) is working 100% remote — and I think this arrangement is even better than the 60% remote schedule. For one, I invest that time I spent commuting into working longer hours. I also feel way less frustrated when meetings go later or I have to finish up a slide deck in the early evening, because I don’t have to be thinking about the accumulating traffic extending my commute. Plus, without that commute or the rush to get dressed and out the door, I’m far less stressed.

I’m also lucky that I have an optimal remote work setup at home, so I haven’t run into technical difficulties, major distractions, or the like. My hope is that post-pandemic, my company will start offering even more remote work flexibility — meaning allowing workers to be completely remote.

I wrote an article back in early March (pre-quarantine, which now feels so long ago) that outlined a few steps people could take to become at least part-time telecommuters, and I believe those steps are still relevant: https://medium.com/@vmp22/want-to-be-a-telecommuter-start-with-these-4-steps-c3938eaca2d4?source=friends_link&sk=ed554fcc7388c77ac549dca30e57bcf1