Remote work has long been touted as a panacea for the many challenges parents and caretakers face at work. (At least for the privileged subset whose jobs could conceivably be done remotely in the first place.) By working from home, the idea goes, parents—especially women—can better balance the competing demands of career, family, and life without sacrificing anything more substantial than the morning commute.

For some people, and in some phases of life, that’s likely the case. We’re as delighted as anybody to wave goodbye to the days of being chained to an office desk for no better reason than being seen by your boss. But after several months of our collective experiment with remote work, a recent Harvard Business Review story posits that the opposite may be true—or at least, that working from home isn’t necessarily everything it’s cracked up to be for women and others who balance demanding jobs with a demanding life.

The researchers found three major WFH pain points for many women:

1. Working from home can lead to more—not less—work-family conflict. It turns out that women are more likely than men to multitask between domestic and work responsibilities while working from home (hello, switching laundry between Zoom calls!). A lack of clear division between work and home responsibilities can cause both to occupy an increasing share of time and mental energy, sapping concentration and focus. Add in the looming wooly mammoth in the room of remote schooling and disrupted childcare, and even the most superhumanly disciplined of us are ending the days feeling frazzled and depleted, rather than satisfied and accomplished.  
2. It might be possible to sustain work friendships over technology that we first established in person, but is it possible to build real rapport with new colleagues over Slack chats and Zoom happy hours? Let’s let Jerry Seinfeld address that. “Guess what: Everyone hates to do this. Everyone. Hates. You know why? There’s no energy. Energy, attitude and personality cannot be “remoted” through even the best fiber optic lines.” That’s not just a drag because it makes work less fun. Career connections and advancements don’t just come through nailing a project. They also arise from chance encounters in the hallway, friendships sustained over bagels and birthday parties, and informal chats after big meetings—all things that require face-to-face interaction.
3. As more companies announce they’re planning to let employees work from home indefinitely, we could see the potential rise of a phenomenon the authors of the piece term “a new form of ‘presenteeism.’” They’re referring to the two-tiered system that may develop as some workers return to the office, while others opt to remain at home—a split that could fall along gendered lines. Those that come to the office will benefit from all the informal relationship building, decision-making, and networking that can only happen in person, while those working from home will be shut out of these critical events. “If going to the office becomes a status symbol, at least among knowledge workers, our concern is that men will be gifted more-exclusive of privileged access to it than women,” say the authors.

For some of us, working from home works great. But for others, it might be diminishing our creativity and drive. A permanent switch to WFH represents an unspoken acceptance of the idea that women are ultimately responsible for the domestic domain, so we should reengineer our careers to accommodate that extra responsibility rather than question its validity in the first place.

One thing we’ve learned is that achievement and productivity aren’t linear. Sometimes, breakthroughs, shortcuts, and solutions don’t come from hard, sustained work. They arrive via serendipity, and it can be tough for serendipity to strike when you spend 40 hours a week working in a corner of your semi-finished basement. 

We’re all about flexibility, but we also think there’s always going to be a place for getting out of the home to work —and we’ll have the coffee hot when you’re ready to come back to a coworking office.