100% Remote Worker forced to return to office 3x per week, considers switching jobs: 'I genuinely don't know how people did this every day'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 25, 2026 11:15 AM EDT

This person has gone from working remote 100% of the time, to having their schedule flipped on its head. 

The office: it's where we spend 40 hours per week. For many people, this is an enviable job to have. It's temperature-controlled, quiet, and predictable. You don't have to be on your feet all day, and if you're lucky, you only have to deal with grouchy bosses instead of insane customers. 

But even people who appreciate their office job may prefer to work remotely rather than do a long commute each day. Because that really does transform your day: your 9-5 is basically a 7-7 when you factor in travel time, plus preparing your lunch for work and packing up all your belongings in your briefcase or backpack. 

Many an office worker now has a single item they require for their job, and that's a laptop. Laptops can be used almost anywhere, and many of them have really long battery lives now, too. You're stuck in an office next to Jeff from accounting, who's eating microwaved leftovers for lunch again, but really, you could be doing this same work from a beach, or from your living room. Sigh…

This worker is feeling that difference with clarity after being pushed into a return to office. 

Here's how they tell it: 

Advertisement
  • 01
    Woman stares at her computer while dreading her return to the office.
    via Emma Shulzhenko

    Woman stares at her computer while dreading her return to the office.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    My company just announced 3 days in office starting next month. I've been fully remote for 4 years and I genuinely don't know how people did this every day.

    I did a trial run this week because my manager asked me to come in for a planning session. One day. I figured it would be fine.
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 03
    Left home at 7:40 to make it by 9. Sat in traffic for 55 minutes to cover 18 miles. Got there, found the office is now open plan, my old desk is gone, I'm supposed to use a
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 04
    Woman takes a phone call in an open office.
    via Vinicius "amnx" Amano

    Woman takes a phone call in an open office.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 05
    "hot desk" which means dragging myself to a different spot each time and hoping the monitors work. The ones I got had one with a slightly flickering screen I was
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 06
    staring at for six hours. My neck still hurts. Lunch was either the sad office kitchen or a $17 sandwich from the place downstairs, I went with
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 07
    the sandwich because I needed to get out of the building for twenty minutes just to feel like a person. Got back, sat through two more hours. of meetings that
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 08
    Tired worker eats a salad as his office lunch.
    via Marília Castelli

    Tired worker eats a salad as his office lunch.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    absolutely could have been a call, then drove home in 70 minutes because apparently 5:30pm traffic is worse than 7:40am traffic.
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 10
    Total time spent commuting and getting. ready: about 3 hours. Total time doing actual work: roughly the same as any remote day, maybe slightly less because
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 11
    Large open office full of workers.
    via Arlington Research

    Large open office full of workers. 

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12
    open plan offices are loud and I spent the first hour unable to focus because someone nearby was on a call with no headphones.
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 13
    The 3 day mandate kicks in next month. I've already started looking at what a job change would involve. Not making any moves yet, just doing the math. But that one day
    via Ecliptic_Fang
  • 14
    Office kitchen full of employees talking and eating their meals together.
    via EmbedSocial

    Office kitchen full of employees talking and eating their meals together.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    reminded me exactly what I traded away when I went remote and I'm not sure I'm willing to trade it back for a flickering monitor and a $17 sandwitch.
    via Ecliptic_Fang

  • So yeah, safe to say this person is not loving their return to office one bit. 

    Other people pointed out that going into the office has ripple effects into your personal life. For example, you have far less time to make dinner when you're going into the office. I've actually lost weight now that I have a super long commute, much like this person, between 90 minutes to 2 hours each way. By the time I get home, it's like 7:30 or 8 at night, and I simply don't have time to prepare a nice meal, so sometimes I just go to bed without eating anything, or I just eat something really simple like fish sticks and an applesauce cup. 

    And because I'm at the office at lunch time, exactly like this guy actually, I can buy a sandwich downstairs (it costs $18 plus tip, ughhhh!!) or eat office snacks. I usually bring a container of dry cereal and eat that. 

    But on days I work from home? Oh man, it's amazing. Some mornings I wake up and make bread before my shift starts, then I can put that in the oven and get to enjoy the delicious scent. I have my fridge right at my disposal! So I can make a sandwich with lots of ingredients, and I barely have to step away from my laptop. It's peaceful, no one is taking phone calls beside me, and I quite literally gain back 4 hours of my day. 

    Oh. And we won't even talk about the cost of commuting, which is 3 figures per month. I can't even imagine how much gas is guzzled for commuting, but perhaps it costs about the same. 

  • This person mentioned that you're saving money even on laundry! You have the privacy to use your own bathroom. You choose the music or lack thereof. And not having to deal with the weather at all is a pretty sweet bonus. 

  • 16
    Routine-Education572 Nightmare. I've been WFH for 20 years now. Not even intentionally at first but then very intentionally for the last 10 years.
    via Routine-Education572
  • 17
    Other things in the list (small but they build up): - rainy days, snowy days (commute, gear, being damp) - office temp too hot or too cold - food smells - shared bathroom - that one person that can't stop talking - suckier dinners (no more putting in a pot roast at 2pm)
    via Routine-Education572
  • 18
    - all-talk-no-music morning radio (I'm a radio listener...) - clothes (deciding what to wear, wearing them, washing them more) I'm spoiled. But all of it just drains life force
    via Routine-Education572
  • 19

    The open office thing is certainly a choice

    Cheezburger Image 10631552512
    via Assumption No515

    Even when you love your coworkers, an open office can make it hard for anyone to focus. You're always overhearing other conversations and phone calls. Everyone is always trying to take over the conference rooms before they're all filled up. There's just no privacy, and while it may connect some workers, there's something to be said for the cognitive overload that you get from always seeing and hearing what everyone else is doing. 

  • 20

    Some words of wisdom from this person

    Cheezburger Image 10631552256
    via justkindahangingout
  • 21

    This is the truth

    Cheezburger Image 10631552768
    via dialectic14

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

commute return to office remote work work coworkers
Scroll Down For The Next Article