Overheard a guy in a Bali coworking space say something that stopped me cold

I was at a coworking space in Ubud last week, sipping my third coconut water, when this dude at the next table goes "remote work isn't freedom, it's just a different cage." It hit me weird because he was talking about how we trade one office for another, just with better scenery. Made me realize I spend more time staring at Slack than I do actually exploring the places I move to. Has anyone else caught themselves working more hours as a nomad than they did at a desk job?

2 comments

2 Comments

patriciamoore1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, so I traded one cubicle for another cubicle that just happens to be next to a rice paddy? Sounds about right. Funny how "work from anywhere" turned into "work from anywhere with good wifi at 3am because your clients don't know what time zones are." I spent my first month in Thailand staring at spreadsheets while the beach was literally outside my window. Real freedom there. At least at a desk job you can leave your laptop at the office. Now my "office" follows me everywhere like a needy ghost.

the_robin1mo ago

I started setting hard boundaries after my first burnout in Lisbon. I blocked off my calendar from 8am to noon for deep work, then forced myself out to explore until dinner. No Slack on my phone after 6pm, period. The first week felt like withdrawal but after that I actually started remembering why I left my desk job in the first place. I also picked one day a week where my laptop stays in my bag no matter what. That rice paddy view means nothing if you never look up from it.