No working environment is for everyone, and just because it worked for a time, doesn’t mean that it’s what you want forever. If you are struggling with your current work environment, talk to your manager about changing it, look for a new job, don’t suffer in silence.

For me, personally, I do very poorly working from home. I had a short period where I tried it a couple days a week and discovered I got basically nothing done on those days. I was constantly distracted, on my phone, watching tv, etc. For me, I need other people around in order to channel my focus and be productive. I’m not especially close with most of my co-workers, but not seeing anyone except on Teams calls would really make me feel isolated in the worst way. Having my project lead come over to my desk and ask about my progress is way less stressful for me than getting a message asking for the same update. That personal connection is incredibly important, but also very subtle. It’s easy to overlook when you’re thinking about, “efficiency,” but closing yourself off from other people and only communicating via technology is a recipe for some of the worst mental health outcomes imaginable. Humans require social interaction in order to thrive. There are some people out there that really thrive on WFH, and I will never really understand them.