05 April 2021

I read more often these days the question of whether you want to work in an office or at home, or a mixture of both.

After 20+ years of being employed at a fixed office job, I have been working in a home office environment for a year now. I too have asked myself the question to which I now have a clear answer: None of the above!

I don’t miss working in an office.

On the contrary, I find the new flexibility that comes with the opportunity to work at home to be an enrichment. I don’t miss the contact with my colleagues either, because it is always there and almost more intensive than before thanks to the use of collaboration software. Only the private and personal contacts in between are not yet as fluid remotely as on site. It is exciting to see whether this can be promoted through suitable formats. But many simply don’t feel like it. That’s OK, too.

At home I have found a quiet corner to work in.

It’s not the best place to work, but it meets all the requirements for concentrated work. I don’t want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a home office environment here. The only conclusion I can draw is that working at home permanently (particularly under the current conditions) is not what I would like either.

So would it be ideal if you could switch between office and home? I don’t think so, at least not for me.

What I would really like instead is mobile working.

For me, that means working in changing environments. And that also means in foreign contexts. With new and different impressions. With new and different people.

Occasionally I attend a conference in Munich that lasts until Thursday. The rest of the week I’m usually still on site. On Fridays, I look for a place to work in Munich. Some times I have been able to work in the branch office of the company I work for, other times I have been able to work in an agency of a friend of mine. I always enjoyed meeting new people there and getting new impressions.

So being location-independent is what I would like to do in future. Not with the focus to travel the world, but still to gather and share experiences. Opportunities are bound to arise, e.g. with self-employed friends or friendly offices and agencies.

When I talk to people about it, the reactions are different.

Some can’t even imagine it and some think it’s a great idea and offer to come over.

Realistically, I’m sure it will come down to one or two regular places in the future, which is completely fine and also gives security. But I would like to have a change in the work routine and location from time to time. Let’s see if it can be realised. It doesn’t just depend on me ;-).

If companies or people would make a workplace available for a work nomad, that would help. And let’s be honest, coworking hasn’t just been around since yesterday.