Remote work has become the new normal for millions of people, but it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for everyone. Some workers love the freedom and flexibility, while others feel lost and overwhelmed. The good news? If you’re struggling with working from home, it’s not because you’re lazy or bad at your job. Remote work simply requires a different set of skills than office work, and not everyone naturally has those skills.
The Home Office Isn’t Built for Everyone
Think about what an office provides: a set schedule, regular meetings, coworkers nearby, and a boss who can check in on your progress. All of these things create a system that keeps you on track without you having to think too hard about it. When you work from home, that entire system disappears. Suddenly, you’re responsible for creating your own schedule, deciding what tasks to do first, and staying motivated without anyone watching.
This is incredibly hard for people who work best with outside motivation. If you’re someone who gets things done because your manager might walk by your desk or because your coworker is counting on you, remote work removes those triggers. Without them, it’s easy to fall into bad habits like checking social media too often, working at weird hours, or not knowing where to start each morning.
The people who succeed at remote work are usually the ones who already had strong self-discipline before they left the office. They know how to set their own goals, create their own deadlines, and push themselves forward without needing someone else to do it for them.
Your Home Doesn’t Feel Like Work (And That’s a Problem)
For a lot of people, getting dressed, driving to work, and sitting at an office desk helps them get into “work mode.” These actions send a signal to your brain that it’s time to be professional and focused. When you work from home, especially from your bed or couch, your brain gets confused. It doesn’t know if you’re supposed to be relaxing or working.
This confusion goes both ways. Not only is it harder to focus during work hours, but it’s also nearly impossible to relax after work. When your bedroom is also your office, you never really leave work. You might find yourself checking emails at 9 PM or thinking about projects while you’re trying to watch TV. Over time, this constant connection to work leads to exhaustion and burnout.
People who do well with remote work are great at creating boundaries. They might set up a specific workspace in their home, change their clothes to signal work time, or use strict schedules to separate their professional and personal lives. They’ve figured out how to tell their brain, “Now I’m working” and “Now I’m done for the day,” even though they never leave the house.
Some People Need Other People to Do Their Best Work
Here’s something many remote work advocates don’t want to admit: some jobs and some people actually work better with other humans around. If you’re an outgoing person who gets energy from talking to others, remote work can feel incredibly lonely. Those quick conversations by the coffee machine, the ability to turn to a coworker and ask a fast question, or the general energy of people working together all disappear when you’re home alone.
Video calls and instant messages aren’t the same thing. They’re scheduled and formal, which means you lose all the spontaneous moments that make office life engaging. For creative workers especially, those random conversations often spark the best ideas. Without them, work feels flat and uninspiring.
On the other hand, people who prefer working alone absolutely love remote work. If you’re someone who finds open offices distracting and exhausting, working from home lets you focus without interruption. The same quiet solitude that drains one person energizes another.
Not Everyone Has a Good Space to Work From Home
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: remote work success often depends on things that have nothing to do with your job skills. If you live in a small apartment with roommates, share a home with small children, or don’t have money for a comfortable desk and chair, working from home becomes a daily struggle. Background noise, constant interruptions, and uncomfortable working positions make it nearly impossible to concentrate and do good work.
Meanwhile, someone with a spare bedroom they can turn into a private office, a quiet household, or the money to buy proper equipment has a massive advantage. Companies often forget that they’re asking employees to provide their own workspace, and not everyone can afford to create a professional environment at home.
This creates an unfair situation where your success at remote work might depend more on your living situation than your actual job performance.
New Workers Miss Out on Learning By Watching
If you’re new to your career or just started a new job, the office is like a school. You learn by watching experienced coworkers handle difficult situations, overhearing important conversations, and being able to ask quick questions when you’re confused. These small moments of learning happen naturally throughout the day without anyone planning them.
Remote work takes away almost all of this informal teaching. You can’t observe how your manager runs a tough meeting or listen in when your team discusses a challenging project. Instead, you have to schedule formal meetings for every question, which feels awkward and time consuming. Many new remote workers feel like they’re drowning because they’re missing all the small lessons that would help them understand their job.
Workers who have been in their field for years don’t have this problem. They already know how to do their job and don’t need constant guidance. They can figure things out on their own using their experience and whatever written materials are available.
Writing Everything Down Doesn’t Work for Everyone
Remote work means almost everything happens through writing: emails, chat messages, and shared documents. This is perfect if you’re good at writing and enjoy explaining your ideas in text. But if you’re someone who thinks out loud, learns through conversation, or just isn’t confident in your writing, remote work becomes exhausting.
Imagine having to write a detailed paragraph every time you want to say something that would have been a 30-second conversation in the office. For some people, this feels slow, unnatural, and frustrating. They might struggle to explain themselves clearly in writing, leading to misunderstandings and mistakes.
The people who excel at remote work are usually comfortable and skilled with written communication. They can organize their thoughts in text, use the right tone, and explain complex ideas without needing to talk them through first.
The Bottom Line: Different Skills for Different Work Styles
Working from home isn’t just “the same job but at home.” It’s a completely different way of working that requires specific abilities like self motivation, strong boundaries, comfort with solitude, and excellent written communication. If you have these traits naturally, remote work probably feels amazing. If you don’t, it might feel like you’re constantly swimming upstream.
Neither situation makes you a better or worse employee. It just means your natural working style matches better with one environment than the other. Understanding this can help you figure out what kind of support you need to succeed, whether that’s creating more structure in your day, finding ways to connect with coworkers, or even deciding that remote work isn’t the right fit for you.
The key is knowing yourself, recognizing what you need to do your best work, and being honest about whether working from home gives you those things or takes them away
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