Welcome Back to the Office. You Won't Get Anything Done | The Walrus

"I was twenty years old and a college student, which meant that I was quite useless. I found out that it was one kind of torture to do pointless work for two or three hours a day-usually, producing research memos that no one read-and then another kind of torture to figure out how to do nothing until it was acceptable to leave the office at 5 p.m."

"My second office job was an internship at a management consulting firm in Manhattan when I was twenty-one. At work, I was either gossiping with my fellow interns, trying to figure out how to optimize my per diem for lunch, or messaging different people on dating apps while waiting for one particular person to text me back. But my lackadaisical workdays as a management consultant weren't entirely my fault."

"The office was full of distractions, and I found it difficult to focus. People were frequently pulling me into unnecessary meetings or taking calls around me. Also, I function best when I have a snack every two hours or so. At the office, I was too self-conscious to eat, so I spent hours trying to distract myself from my hunger instead of working. I inevitably did most of my "work"-making PowerPoints and fiddling with spreadsheets-in the evenings and over the weekends."

A first office internship at a law firm involved producing research memos that no one read, performing pointless tasks for hours, waiting to leave at 5 p.m., texting friends, and napping while sitting upright. A second internship at a management consulting firm featured gossip, attempts to optimize per diem, distracting dating-app messaging, and frequent interruptions. The office environment hindered focus through unnecessary meetings and nearby phone calls; hunger and self-consciousness about eating reduced productivity. Most substantive work occurred in evenings and weekends. Pandemic-era empty high-rises briefly altered norms, but employers have been recalling staff; Ontario public servants are expected to return full-time this month.

Read at The Walrus