As more and more of us ditch the traditional office to work from home, we’re starting to see a serious increase in RWII – Remote Worker Induced Insanity. A serious infliction, RWII effects those of us who can go an entire week without changing out of pajamas or even talking to another human being without some form of technology as a go-between.
Are you suffering from RWII? If you recognize yourself in these symptoms, it may be time to get to a coworking space.
1. You’ve made your pet your executive assistant.
“Fido, please read me back the minutes of my most recent Skype meeting. No, Fido, I’m pretty sure he didn’t say, ‘woof.’”
2. When in public, you catch yourself singing a little song about whatever it is you’re doing.
“Putting sugar in my coffee, sugar sugar sugaaaar,” may be okay when you’re in the privacy of your own kitchen but it’s going to get you some serious side-eye out in the real world. One of the major symptoms of RWII is talking or singing to yourself pretty much all the time, so keep an eye out for this one.
3. You’ve eaten the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Because why would you leave the house when there’s a bag of perfectly good pasta in the pantry?
4. You scoff at this whole “Are yoga pants appropriate work attire?” debate.
Um, obviously?
5. You’re waaaay to friendly with the FedEx and UPS guys.
You know about their families, their weekends, even what they ate for lunch. They stand on your doorstep, package in hand, as you refuse to sign until they’ve told you everything they’ve seen on their travels today. You notice the look of fear in their eyes but you just can’t help it when the outside world is just so fascinating.
6. You’ve considered becoming an usher because you envy the amount of human contact they get.
A night out at the the theater turns into a fight with your partner when he thinks you’re making eyes at the dude who showed you to your seat. You can’t convince him that you’re honestly just lusting over how many people he gets to talk to.
7. You’ve conducted at least one Skype meeting without any pants on.
Just throw on a collared shirt. They can’t see below your chest anyway.
8. You think a nap is an appropriate reward for completing a task.
Even if that task is “tweet about how cute executive assistant dog is.”
9. You never stop working.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Sunday, midnight, or your kid’s birthday: if work needs to be done, it gets done.
So are you suffering from RWII?
It’s time to get out of the house. Find the nearest cafe and plug in with your other remote worker colleagues or, better yet, do a quick Google search and see if you can locate any coworking spaces in your town. Do it now, before all traces of social skills have evaporated.
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