Remote work is mostly great. We found out between 2020 and 2021 that most of our white collar jobs can absolutely be done from our homes or spaces we control. Many of us are happy to keep fighting for the right to continue to work from home when possible. I know I am. I do get a spark from being physically around others, which is something I’m still fighting to replicate. Let me know if you’ve found any techniques that help.
There’s a lot I like about working from home. I still get to collaborate across numerous jobs and projects with people I really admire. I get to meet new people who do all sorts of things in tech and games I’m largely unfamiliar with. Some of my other projects put me in front of folks I’d normally not have a chance to chat with at a media job. It’s really wonderful to meet all sorts of people.
I’ve noticed something when I hop on video calls with strangers. They always get self-conscious when they see the hi-res video of my huge head shining back at them. The camera is so crisp. The microphone? Professional podcast-level. My background pulses faintly with lights on the back wall and a Marvel vs. Capcom 2 machine in the corner I usually forget to turn off at night. They start to tell me that they feel silly with their bare white walls, built-in webcam, and built-in microphone. “Oh no way your setup is great” I always reassure them, which I mean with all of my heart.
The problem, I think but never say, is that you refuse to put on a pair of goddamn fucking headphones when you talk to people on video calls. Our calls, then, are echoed through your bare, white-walled rooms. My voice bounces from your built-in speakers off those walls and back into your microphone, which on a platform level is now drowning out while you begin to say your next words. They’re gone from my reality now, so I have to ask “hey do you mind repeating what you just said?”
And we do this. For minutes. Sometimes more than sixty.
If you are taking remote meetings for your tech job in a nicely furnished home, you can afford a pair of wired Sony earbuds for $10 on Jeff’s store. I might even Venmo you that if we have to chat again. But please, for the love of god, put on some fucking headphones when you talk to people on video calls.
