Comment of the Week

Remote Workers Are Still Making Rookie Mistakes That Lead to Burnout

Readers weigh in on the great WFH experiment, a year into the pandemic

Marker Editors
Marker
Published in
2 min readMar 19, 2021

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Illustration: By lijing/Getty Images

Earlier this week, Marker launched Index, a new publication about the lived work experience —“a place to diffuse lessons and learnings, candid moments of triumph or failure, missives for change or cathartic humor” as editor-in-chief Danielle Sacks recently described. As part of launch week, writer Will Leitch wrote about his experience working remotely for the past 16 years and shared his candid thoughts on why so many Americans are still struggling to do it right, even a year into the pandemic. Leitch offers five “unbreakable rules” of working from home that have helped him strike a healthy work-life balance, including changing out of your pajamas.

Many Index readers weighed in with their own WFH tips and experiences. “In addition to the advice you provide, I also like to simulate traveling between home and work,” comments reader Florian Briand, “so I try to always go outside for a short walk before starting to work: time to buy a coffee, a croissant, and walk back to the home office.” Beyond the fake commute, Briand also encourages breaking up the workday with activities like physical exercise, meditation, and reading books not related to work.

Reader pp added: “I have been working at home for the past 10+ years and have found that rising early, showering, getting organized, and having a space dedicated to work keeps everything in proportion. I have also found venturing out to libraries and shared office space for a change of pace to be a good boost.”

And the jury is still out on the correlation between pajamas and productivity. “I work in PJs that I’ve worn for a week straight,” commented reader Pavane Ravel (who also admitted to breaking all of Leitch’s rules). Reader Adam Hughes is also Team PJs: “I don’t find any issue with pajamas,” he writes, “but then again, I go outside in my pajamas too and probably look crazy.”

Other perspectives on work you can read on Index right now:

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