Life Remote: Changing My Relationship With Work

Before I started working remotely, work felt rigid. I was never drastically late, but I was almost always five or ten minutes behind. I’d walk in already feeling behind, already feeling drained, already thinking, I don’t want to be here right now. I said that phrase out loud more times than I can count. It became part of my vocabulary, part of my attitude, part of how I moved through the day.

Work followed me home, too. Even when I wasn’t physically at work, I was mentally still there. I’d be sitting on the couch thinking about something that happened earlier, or something I had to deal with tomorrow, or something I didn’t want to deal with at all. It wasn’t burnout — it was just heaviness. Work felt like something I had to carry around. Back then, if someone had told me to “circle back” or “lean in,” I probably would’ve walked out. The jargon hit harder than the job.

Remote work changed that, but not in a dramatic, overnight way. It was quieter than that. More subtle. More personal.

I don’t know if the shift came from working remotely or from joining Phaser Marketing. Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s impossible to separate the two. I feel trusted here. I feel creative. I feel like my ideas matter. I feel like my clients matter. Before, I liked a handful of clients and tolerated the rest. Now I like them by default. They’re people, not numbers. They’re relationships, not tasks.

Some days I wish we had an office, just so we could have those casual conversations that make work feel lighter. Not for “synergy” or “cross‑functional collaboration,” but just to chop it up for ten minutes before getting back to work.   But even with that, remote work has given me something I didn’t realize I needed: space. Space to think. Space to breathe. Space to work in a way that feels natural instead of forced.

I still lock myself to my desk most days. That’s a personal accountability thing. I need a designated workspace to stay focused. But I like knowing I could work somewhere else if I wanted to. I like knowing the option exists. Flexibility doesn’t mean chaos — it means choice.

Turning work off is still a challenge. Gaming is one of my go‑to hobbies, so I’ll clock out at 5:00 and fire up Steam at 5:01. Work and leisure live in the same physical space now, and that’s something I’m still learning to navigate. But even with that overlap, the mental weight is different. I don’t feel trapped in it anymore.

One of the biggest shifts has been how I think about time. Before remote work, my schedule was basically “whenever the work is done.” Some days that meant leaving at five, other days at eight or nine, and every once in a while I’d walk out at noon on a Friday. There was no rhythm. I didn’t feel in control of my hours.

Now I work 8–5. It’s simple, but it changed everything. I wake up earlier on my own. I have an extra hour in the morning and a few more at night. I finally feel like my time belongs to me again.

A friend and former coworker called me one afternoon just to bullshit. I answered the phone with a simple “Hello,” and he laughed. He said something like, “I don’t know if you’ve ever said hello before. I expected a ‘What do you want?’”

It was funny, but it stuck with me. I didn’t realize how much I’d changed until someone who knew the old version of me pointed it out.

Remote work didn’t just give me flexibility. It gave me freedom. Freedom to work in a way that fits me. Freedom to enjoy my job instead of endure it. Freedom to be the version of myself that isn’t drained or irritated or five minutes late and already tired.

I don’t know if remote work changed my relationship with work or if Phaser did. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe the real answer is that both showed me a different way to work — one that feels lighter, healthier, and more like the person I want to be.

Whatever the reason, I’m happier. My friends see it. They call me more. I’m easier to talk to. I’m more present. I’m more myself.

And that’s the biggest change of all.