WFH Setup of a Privileged Migrant Labour: A Love Letter to My Remote Desk

Let’s go back to 2017, when “remote working” was something only weird startups in San Francisco bragged about, and the rest of us were just trying to survive traffic, tupperware lunches, and unnecessarily long meetings in freezing boardrooms.

Then came 2018. I found myself at the INK Conference, where I met Tony Fadell, yes, that Tony, the man behind the iPod. I was expecting big product wisdom. Instead, I got a peek into his fully remote company Future Shape LLC. No fancy offices. Just brilliant humans across time zones, working from coffee shops and couches, making magic online. Mind. Blown.

But honestly, this wasn’t all new to me.

IEEE Trained Me for Remote Working Before It Was Cool

Here’s a little-known fact: I’ve been working remotely on international projects since 2014, thanks to my journey as a volunteer with IEEE.

Yep, back when “remote collaboration” meant emailing Word docs with names like final_FINAL_v12_revised and praying Skype wouldn't crash mid-call. From managing global initiatives to leading committees across different time zones, IEEE taught me how to get things done across borders, screens, and sometimes… dodgy hostel Wi-Fi.

So, when the world went into lockdown and suddenly everyone became a remote worker, complete with awkward “Can you hear me?” Zoom intros and pets crashing calls, I was already sipping my coffee, logged in, and 10 steps ahead.

My Mood-Board-Worthy WFH Life

Here’s the thing about me: I’m a highly “ambience-sensitive” individual. My mood is directly proportional to my surroundings. Which is why I don’t just have a workspace, I curate one.

Think & Look at me: lilies in a vase, avocado-blueberry bowls, handwritten notes (because I’m that person), and the soft hum of lo-fi in the background.

But do I sit in one place all day? Absolutely not. I rotate between my balcony, couch, kitchen counter, and occasionally, under a blanket fort. Variety, people. It’s the spice of WFH life.

WFO vs WFH: A Biased But Brilliant Scorecard

Let’s break it down with a super-scientific (read: very personal) scoring system:

Category	WFO	WFH
Office Hours Flexibility	0	1
Commute Time	0	1
Water Cooler Gossip / Sutta	1	0
Whiteboard Brainstorms	1	0
Personalized Work Ambience	0	1
Dress Code (PJs FTW)	0	1
Team Collaboration (thanks Slack)	1	1
Midday Self-Care Breaks	0	1
Global Talent Pool Access	0	1
Operational Cost (read: savings!)	0	1

Final Score: WFO - 3 | WFH - 9

And it didn’t even have to bring snacks to win.

Productivity? Let Me Tell You About That.

There’s a myth floating around that WFH kills productivity. I say: Nonsense!

I’ve hosted strategy calls while folding laundry. Designed campaigns with one eye on my sourdough starter. Closed projects while in fuzzy socks. And guess what? Deadlines were met. Ideas were better. My cortisol? Lower.

Why? Because remote tools work. I owe a lifetime of gratitude to Notion, Slack, and even Zoom (when it's not freezing mid-sentence). The digital office is now smarter, calmer, and infinitely more human.

WFH or Hybrid? The Winner Is Clear.

Thanks to early lessons from my IEEE journey and years of adapting to cross-border collaboration, remote work has always made sense to me. The rest of the world? Well, it took a pandemic and a thousand “Sorry, you’re on mute” moments to catch up. But hey, we’re here now.

So what’s the final verdict?

The winner isn’t just WFH. It’s WFH and hybrid. Because flexibility, autonomy, and mental clarity? That’s not just the future of work. That’s the only way forward.