The “modern workplace,” perhaps best defined by cubicles and the prized corner office, a water cooler and break room, and the dreaded commute. For so long, moms and dads have followed the same weekday routine—traffic, work, traffic, home, repeat—straddling between monotony and comfortability wondering which one is worse. How often did you dream about a day in pajama bottoms without touching your paid time off?

Then came a pandemic and the majority of white-collar jobs moved inside the home. In fact, recent data shows that 72 percent of office workers are still working from home despite looser restrictions across the country.*

Some of us like it, others never did, and for the rest—enough is enough. No matter how you feel though, the grass is always greener on the other side.

When Flexibility Is a Problem

Pro: Working from home means the freedom to create your own hours outside of team meetings and client calls. You can “start the clock” while simultaneously feeding the kids, and no one’s the wiser. Ever start dinner on mute with your video off? Sure. It’s impossible to separate home from work when you’re working from home.

Con: When your day lacks structure, it’s easy to exceed 8 hours of work or start and end at unusual times. Since you’re living at the office, work is always within arm’s reach. Got a big report to finish by 10 am? Well, it’s sitting right there in your computer. No reason not to get to it after dinner, right?

Distracted While Working

Pro: Remember the exhilaration as a kid on sick days when you could watch daytime television—a little Montel Williams or (gasp!) Jerry Springer? Twenty-odd years later and you’re feeling a similar high when binging Netflix on a Wednesday afternoon. You can play a little hooky from work as long as you get the work done.

Con: You might tell yourself it’s only background noise, but the television is a huge distraction. It’s eating up brain cells and prolonging the hours it takes to finish work. Aside from the stuff you can control, there are a million other distractions at home—some small, like the deafening silence of an empty house, and some big, like two barking dogs and a cat.

People Need People

Pro: Let’s face it, there are some days you just don’t want to see anyone. You might have spilled your coffee all over the place or spent the night awake with a sick kid. Whatever the reason, you just don’t have patience for the office “Chatty Cathy.” Working from home means more peace and quiet and far less face time. Plus, you only have to worry about how you look from the waist up.

Con: Living and working within the same four walls with the same folks around (sorry, spouse and kids) can feel isolating. You know you’ve reached your limit of “me time” when you start to turn emails into meeting invites. There’s no shame in admitting it—people need people.

*There are so many parents who never had a choice to work from home. They are truly the unsung heroes. We thank everyone in healthcare, food industries, maintenance and cleaning, and scores of other jobs who helped to keep the world moving during a crisis.