Remote work gives people freedom that would never fly in a traditional office.
It has its perks, obviously: no commute, comfy clothes, and the freedom to set your own rhythm. However, it’s also created habits that wouldn’t fly in a traditional office. When you’re behind a screen instead of a desk, it’s easy to forget how different the rules once were.
People log in late, skip meetings, or multitask in ways they’d never get away with in person. Remote work has blurred the line between relaxed and unprofessional, and while most bosses are fine with flexibility, some of these behaviours would get you in serious trouble if you tried them back in the office.
1. Working from bed in pajamas all day
Plenty of remote workers never get properly dressed and do their entire workday from under the duvet. Nobody can see you, so why bother with real clothes or sitting at a desk like a normal person.
Try showing up to an office in your pajamas and working from a sleeping bag on the floor. You’d be sent home immediately or assumed to be having some kind of breakdown. But at home, it’s just Tuesday.
2. Running errands during work hours
Popping to the shops, collecting parcels, taking the dog to the vet, all during the workday when you’re supposed to be working. Remote workers treat their schedule like it’s flexible as long as the work gets done eventually.
In an office, disappearing for an hour to sort personal stuff would need approval and probably cost you leave time. At home, you just do it and nobody knows you weren’t at your desk the whole time.
3. Having the TV on in the background
Not even pretending to just have music on, but actual TV shows or films running while working. Some people claim it helps them focus, but really they’re just half watching something while occasionally doing work.
Imagine setting up a telly at your office desk and streaming Netflix while working. You’d be told to pack your things before lunch. But in your living room, nobody knows you’re watching reruns during meetings.
4. Taking multiple long breaks whenever they fancy
Nipping off for a nap, going for a walk, making a proper cooked lunch that takes an hour. Remote workers take breaks that would be unthinkable in an office, where your absence is noticed immediately.
In a physical workplace, vanishing for 90 minutes in the middle of the day would raise serious questions. At home, you just mark yourself as available on Slack and nobody’s tracking whether you’re actually there.
5. Doing household chores during meetings
Camera off, microphone muted, doing the washing up or folding laundry while someone drones on in a meeting. They’re technically present, but absolutely not paying attention to anything being said.
Try doing the hoovering during an in-person meeting and see how that goes down. You’d be considered unbelievably rude and probably face disciplinary action. But on Zoom with your camera off, nobody knows you’re scrubbing the toilet.
6. Working a second job at the same time
Some remote workers are juggling two full-time jobs simultaneously, attending meetings for both and switching between tasks. As long as both companies think you’re working full-time for them, you’re pulling double salary.
You physically cannot be in two offices at once, so this would be impossible in traditional work. Remote work makes it feasible, though ethically dodgy and definitely something that would get you sacked if discovered.
7. Day drinking while working
Having a glass of wine with lunch or a beer in the afternoon because why not, you’re at home. Some people are properly tipsy by the time afternoon meetings roll around and banking on nobody noticing over video.
Cracking open a bottle at your office desk would get you fired on the spot for being drunk at work. At home, you can be three drinks deep and nobody’s any wiser as long as you can still form sentences.
8. Attending meetings while doing other things entirely
On a call while out walking the dog, in the car driving somewhere, at the gym, even in the bath. Remote workers attend meetings from places that would be absolutely unacceptable if anyone could see them.
You can’t take a meeting from the treadmill or while having a soak if you’re physically in the office. But with video off and occasional verbal contributions, you can be literally anywhere and people assume you’re at your desk.
9. Letting their kids interrupt constantly
Children wandering into frame, asking questions during calls, generally being present in a way that would never happen in an office. Some remote workers have basically given up on boundaries between work and home life.
Bringing your kids to the office and letting them interrupt meetings and climb on you while you’re trying to work would be seen as completely unprofessional. At home, it’s just accepted as part of remote work reality.
10. Using work time for personal projects
Writing a novel, working on side businesses, doing online courses, all during hours they’re supposed to be working for their employer. As long as they meet their deadlines, they treat the rest of the time as theirs.
Sitting at your office desk openly working on personal projects would get you warnings about time theft. At home, you can spend half your workday on your own stuff and nobody can prove you weren’t working the whole time.
11. Being completely unreachable for hours
Not responding to messages, missing calls, vanishing from all communication channels for huge chunks of the day. They claim they were focused on work, but really they were asleep or out or just ignoring everything.
In an office, being unreachable means you’re not at your desk, and that’s immediately obvious. Remote workers can ghost their entire team for hours and claim technical issues or deep focus work when they finally resurface.
12. Working from random locations without telling anyone
At their parents’ house, on holiday abroad, in a different country entirely while pretending to be working from home. Some people have interpreted remote work as work from literally anywhere without asking permission.
You can’t secretly relocate to Spain while your employer thinks you’re coming into the London office. But with remote work, you can be on another continent and nobody knows as long as you’re online during UK hours.
13. Outsourcing their actual work to someone else
Some remote workers have hired people in other countries to do their job for them, while they collect the salary and do minimal oversight. They’re basically managing their replacement while still being employed to do the work themselves.
You can’t hire someone to sit at your desk and do your job while you go off and do something else. But remote work makes this technically possible, and some people are absolutely taking advantage of nobody being able to see who’s actually doing the work.
