Do we work from home or work at home?
There’s a distinction: do you work for yourself at home or do you work for a company from your home?
My wife works from home (WFH) because her company office is located elsewhere. She telecommutes, working from home in place of going into the office. This arrangement predates the pandemic, when it was called telecommuting.
I work at home because I am a freelancer. Home is my workplace and there’s no other workplace.
Working from home suggests you should be somewhere else. It’s a temporary location. “Today, I’m working from home,” sounds like an apology for being where you want to be. At least “I telecommute” sounds like you’re virtually in the workplace.
Sure, I’m reading a lot into the phrases, but corporate consultants are being paid to nudge everyone back into offices. Managers want to be able to see everyone working. It’s a silly need to feel like they’re in control and that no employee is cheating the clock.
Companies used to claim they supported telecommuting… just not yet. And “yet” never arrived. Even in the pandemic, companies aren’t embracing telecommuting.
Words shape how we think about the world. Work takes more waking hours than anything in our lives, so the way we describe work shapes us and our identities.
I’m not letting any employer define me, not even where I work.
Lines are blurred enough, with after-hours emails and employers expecting us to work (only a little) during vacations. Use language to set some boundaries.
Telecommute to work and don’t let an employer have any claim on your private spaces.