Home Is Where the Work Is.

• Author: Glastris, Paul
• Position: Editor's Note

When I worked at the Washington Monthly in the 1980s, the most notable aspect of the office, aside from its shabbiness, was the almost total physical absence of the boss, founder and editor in chief Charles Peters. Pioneering in so many ways--his column, "Tilting at Windmills," a collection of delightful, insightful, counter-conventional mini-essays, has often been described as "the original blog"--Charlie was the first person I knew who worked from home.

That he managed to pull this off pre-internet is a testament to his will--and his command over his employees. After 12-hour days at the office, one of us (often me, because I had a car) was obliged to drop the pile of paper drafts we'd been working on in the milk bucket on the front stoop of Charlie's modest row house in D.C.'s Palisades neighborhood. He would retrieve them the next morning and work on them through lunch, which he typically had at Annie's Paramount Steakhouse or the Iron Gate Inn. He would then burst into the Monthly's office, divvy up the drafts, bark a few orders, and leave. His remaining communication with us was by telephone, usually short calls, shorn of salutations. (Editor: "Hello, Washington Monthly." Charlie: "On reflection, I would cut the entire third section." Click.)

When I took over the Monthly in 2001, that remote oversight wasn't my style. I put in long hours at the office, out of solidarity with my colleagues but also out of necessity. I'd never run an organization before and felt that I needed to be constantly present.

Pretty quickly, though, I availed myself of the boss's privilege of coming in late. This gave me the opportunity to read the morning papers, enjoy coffee with my wife, drive my kids to school, and avoid rush-hour traffic.

As my self-assurance grew, I began working at home one day a week--then two, sometimes three. I still valued the camaraderie of the office and the spontaneous conversations that gave rise to unexpected insights and story ideas. But technology--email, then Dropbox and instant messaging--made working from home easy. And the hour I saved not commuting, plus the ability to concentrate with fewer interruptions, made it easier to get essential work done. When young editors asked if they could work at home some days, I gladly consented.

Then the pandemic hit. Suddenly, the whole staff had to work remotely. That suited me fine, as it did colleagues who had young kids and aging parents.

Not everyone liked being out of the office...