My Case For Working From Bed

Here’s why you shouldn’t feel guilty for finding comfort in your work

Yesterday when I got back from an evening dog walk, I caught a whiff of woodsmoke in the air.

Is there any better feeling than knowing those cosy days of Autumn are upon us?

It's the time of year when I like to snuggle up warm with a blanket and a hot water bottle, and work either from the armchair next to the fire, or from the warm comfort of my bed.

Essentially, I want to hibernate. And I've stopped apologising for it!

I have some of my most productive days working from bed. Whenever I mention this, the response splits fairly cleanly in two.

Half the people I know say ‘me too, I love working from bed - so cosy’.

The other half look faintly horrified ‘oh no, I could never! I have to be at my desk or I can't function’. There's sometimes an unspoken judgement that comes with this, an implication that the desk somehow signals harder work. More serious work.

I think that response comes from years of conditioning around what ‘real work’ looks like.

The toxic productivity messaging we’ve all seen online - how to get up at 5am to optimise your morning routine and max-out your productivity every-single-day etc etc. The inherited image of what a working person looks like: dressed, upright, at a desk, in an office, nine to five.

It has led a lot of us to believe that our brains only work properly when our bodies are performing productivity. Which is, I'd argue, nonsense.

Some of my best writing happens on dog walks, dictated into my phone notes.

So as cosy season has arrived, I'm taking my laptop to bed with a hot water bottle. No apology necessary.

📍 Save to Pinterest for a cosy-season reminder…