April 4, 2026
i recently transferred to a new role as a project engineer; at my old position, i was blessed with the best engineering team i could ask for. how many are composed of 1/2 women and all under 35? however, it felt as if i’d reached my natural end there, so i took this position. given that this engineering role is work from home, i spend a lot more time alone than i did before. currently, to stay sane, i’ve been talking with everyone i know to best deal with this.
by nature i do not enjoy being in the house; part of the appeal of my studio is its claustrophobic size. as soon as the day is done, i feel the urge to go out; the same applies for my daily lunch walks. though having a packed schedule is possible in any city, it is easier in new york; yesterday, i was going to go to a free jazz night at my favorite coffee shop and happened across a collaging night – why not? i sat for two hours and talked to everyone around me, getting three instagrams and an invite to another jazz show in the process. getting out of the house is vital to ground yourself in reality; your other options are an isolated activity of staring into the screen all day, trapping you in the same loops of thought day in and out. one needs to introduce variety into their life.
unfortunately for this section, my current job requires a lot of CAD work, which is not conducive for working at a coffee shop during my shift. in prior roles, i was able to, and as a result moved much more during the day (i was also able to be in the sun as i worked!). to these ends, i am getting a bluetooth mouse and portable monitor. until then, i’ve been going on walks during my lunch break and exploring my neighborhood, which has been lovely, even if the weather has taken a recent turn for the worse. this gives my eyes a chance to relax and starts my circulation. inertia is difficult to break and a midday walk will make leaving after work much easier. if i can, i work from a friend’s place – the companionship is lovely in itself and being in a secondary location is a nice change of pace.
leaving the house is necessary but not sufficient to make up for working from home. for most, we spend eight hours a day around our coworkers, thereby gaining a great deal of social interaction. a walk is nice, but will not replace this essential benefit. to answer this lack, one much actually socialize with people when they leave the house. talk to the cashier; compliment people on public transit; make conversation at the event you’ve chosen. this alone is curative for the ills of being alone for extended periods of time and has the additional benefit of combating the alienation many modern people discuss. in the past weeks in new york i’ve met 10-15 people (this was written approx. 2 weeks in). not all of them i clicked with; nevertheless, if one only clicks with 5% of people, this is a great rate. failing to do this allows one’s life to become comfortably worse as your home becomes a cocoon from which it is difficult to leave. it is an obligation to emerge from your cave!
i’m still working on the best strategy for wfh – i would like to leave the house more; this external monitor ought to assist with that. if it remains a problem, coworking spaces may help, though a bit painful financially. meeting more people such that we can work from each other’s houses will help and requires meeting more in general (always a goal). i have already found a variety of coffee shops and libraries which are nice to work from. a note here is that these wfh strategies are primarily possible in places which have things going on! one could wfh in any city as long as it has a sufficient population and the worker has a drive to seek out events which interest them. i can imagine that suburbs and smaller towns may make this a bit more difficult; do not discount the value of the place you live when you decide to make your work integral to it. like everything, i recommend that which you can support with your drive; nothing good happens without effort.