Remote working; and why it is here to stay

When Boris Johnson told the country on March 23rd 2020 that we were all to stay at home, issuing the most dramatic and draconian restrictions on our lives that most of us had ever experienced, I was breaking the news live on national radio. From my step-son's former bedroom.

We had already introduced some working from home rules on the team at News UK, with journalists kitted out with mics and laptops to deliver news remotely. But on my home computer (which then became a 12 hour a day work computer) I had never turned the camera on. In fact, I didn't even know it had a camera until I moved the cover slide at the top of the screen.

I had quickly adapted the room into a studio and office, where I could deliver breaking news and bulletins 24 hours a day if needed. And often it felt like I was doing exactly that. The end result was a strain on my mental health and an almost catastrophic impact on my most important relationships. Many many people had it far worse during those early days; those on the frontline in the emergency services of course. But as a journalist the news never really stopped for the first few months of the pandemic, with demands for on-air updates constant.

We learnt many things about ourselves during that time. The obvious example is how to work from home and why a flexible approach to working life is important to many of us. We know the voices of dissent about hybrid working. Those that read the Daily Mail and believe everyone working from home is on the golf course or at the nail bar. But the truth is that the people who do not work from home efficiently are the same ones who are lazy in the office.

I had hardly ever held online meetings from home before and always met mentoring clients face to face. Now that is a rarity, and I meet people from around the world to discuss their career and issues with applications from the comfort of home without a second thought. It has changed how I do my mentoring for the better, offering flexibility for clients and allowing me to have more time at home.

The same can be said for much of the podcast and journalism work that I do. I can produce a global news podcast from home more efficiently than I can working in an office. The down side is how stretched the working day can become. I can end up not leaving home for 2/3 days without really noticing, so a need to self-manage is vital as daylight and fresh-air is important in your daily routine.

Many companies are pushing for a return to the office for most or all of the week. This is sometimes because they feel it is better for creativity and staff relations, but also because when the bosses walk around an only half full office it looks bad. Staff welfare should be the main concern though, not just profits and how it looks to managers. Now that we have adapted to home working in many cases, it is impossible to put that genie back in the bottle.

When I worked from home a lot as a News Editor, I eventually realised how much of a strain it was causing to my personal well-being. Even though I still have days where I work from 6am to 6pm, I make sure I switch off. During the pandemic that was impossible with the demands of running a newsdesk. Thankfully, I am no longer in that environment; managing the hourly issues to do with news, staff politics and the pressures of a large company. And what I know now is that working 5 days a week in an office is never going to happen again; for me and millions of others. We have learnt we don't have to for many jobs, so why should we?