When offices shut down, everyone thought working from home was a dream. Pajamas became the new uniform, coffee mugs doubled as motivational posters, and commuting meant walking from the bed to the desk. But dreams have a funny way of turning into nightmares. The home office quickly became a trap where the only escape was another meeting link.
Companies now offer “virtual wellness” sessions to cure burnout. Employees meditate on Zoom while their managers measure productivity in sighs. HR departments proudly announce yoga classes online, forgetting that staring at a screen while pretending to breathe deeply is just another form of screen time. The irony is that the cure for digital exhaustion is… more digital exhaustion.
Family life hasn’t escaped either. Kids wave at parents through laptop cameras, spouses schedule conversations between calendar invites, and pets have become unpaid interns attending every call. The line between work and life has blurred so much that even the Wi‑Fi router is filing for overtime.
So yes, working from home sounded like freedom. But freedom now comes with endless notifications, virtual wellness programs, and burnout delivered straight to your inbox. The office may have been stressful, but at least it didn’t follow you into bed disguised as a calendar reminder.
