Writing is something I usually love to do. I’m not particularly great at it, but it provides a productive outlet for me. It’s helped me grow as a student and a person throughout my time in college. This love has seriously waned when confined to my bedroom while trying to work.
When the pandemic started, like most people, my productivity and motivation vanished. However, as things became the weird depressing reality so many love to call “the new normal,” I realized it wasn’t just the generalized anxiety and dread we’re living through impeding my work. The physical space I was forced to work in was affecting me, too.
In the before times, my writing process involved bouncing ideas off myself as I navigated the world. I was able to separate myself from the four walls of my bedroom and gain a refreshing perspective that allowed motivation and creativity. Then, if I was lucky, I was able to put these free-flowing thoughts into words — to mixed results.
But as someone who lacks an ornate home-office and a sprawling backyard at my ant-infested, 100-year-old college home, the 6-foot walk from my bed to my desk, which used to serve as a ramshackle DJ booth, does not exactly get me fired up to create and produce.
This environment not only stifles creativity, but sets a strange precedent for the work and life balance that concedes more toward work every day. The idea of a revolution in how Americans work has become more popular with the surge of technology, but this is not exactly a revolution. Rather than giving us more time to exist outside of labor, telecommuting has completely blurred the lines between work and home. Last-minute meetings, being on call at all times and sporadic hours are all expected when you are always at work.
Aside from the likely negative effects on mental health, it’s only ideal for a certain, wealthier group of workers. Many people in southern Ohio, like other ignored and underfunded regions of the country, don’t have access to the expensive tools that make remote-work possible. One-fourth of rural Americans lack access to broadband internet. It’s also unpopular with management, who find themselves untrained to manage remote work and unable to trust the work is being completed.
These same issues fall on the shoulders of college students as well, and for us, the future looks more unpromising than ever. For many of us, including myself, we expected to enter the world crushed by debt and high costs of living, but now the jobs that made all this semi-worthwhile are going to be harder to find. Sitting in my bedroom and spending the year or so left of my “glory days” contemplating the fact that I may be the member of a lost-generation ... is less than ideal.
Regardless, working from home is currently the best option for a lot of people. Re-opening campuses and offices are obviously not the answer, but if America ever gets out of this, working from home cannot be the default — the “new normal,” if you will.
Noah Wright is a senior studying strategic communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Noah? Tweet him @NoahCampaign.
