working from home

Home office, nude office

I’m sure that many of you (us!) have been working from home for the most part, the last year. How did you like that? Were you able to get into the swing of ‘home office’ easily? And did you have the opportunity to make it ‘nude office’ as well?

I’m a lucky one in that respect. I work in IT, specialising in Cloud technology. That means I can do about 98% of my work with a computer, from anywhere, as long as there is some internet connectivity. Just occasionally do I have to pack up and head out to a customer’s site. Some things require hand-on hands.

COVID-19 now seems to be mostly contained in many parts of the world. That means that offices are opening up again. I really wonder how you feel about that. Especially the ones who are required to head back into the office.

I heard from several areas, e.g. even Google and Apple, that their employees have asked if they can please keep working from home. I fully understand that. Maybe many of them are naturists who appreciate that they don’t need to get dressed to get to work. People who also don’t have to flood the highways and join the happy commuter’s traffic jams.

On the other hand I heard that people are glad to escape their homes again. Glad to drive their car, bus or train to and from work, as if that is a portal into the work-mode and back to home life.

Which tribe are you in?

Nuding from home

Odd title, huh? Yes, leave that to me.

But really, I love it. Nuding from home for me is working from home in the nude. The main portion of the word ‘nuding’ will make it clear what the most important part is there.

Honestly, this is one of the best things that came out of the entire COVID misery for me personally. And I pity the people who don’t have this liberty. I know there are many of you out there who can’t enjoy this freedom in your own house. If you have to go out to work, you’re totally out of luck (unless you work at a naturist resort, I guess).

This has become so normal for me that it has happened more than once that I forgot to put something on in a video meeting with people. Now the camera doesn’t catch my nude lower body, which is “good”, I guess, but the few times this happened made me realise how crazy this whole ‘no nudity’ thing is.

Things get even sweatier when you know that summer is coming on the norther hemisphere. (Sorry George Martin, you keep Winter. Summer’s mine / ours!)

No need for air conditioners to keep any clothes cool. If it gets ‘bad’ I will turn on the fan and I’ll be fine. I’m a fan of fans, so to speak. 😉

I had to go out to work at customer locations a few times this past week. It was bad. Clothes and temperatures over 25C (77F).

Of course, work needs to happen, but… clothes… seriously?

How working from home affects the wearing of clothes

We all have been socially distant for a while now. Working from home has become the norm for most of those who still have a job. (And yes, I very much feel for the people who were furloughed or laid off. That should never have happened.)

I don’t know how you can go about your business at home. I live on my own, with my cat. My cat doesn’t care if I wear clothes. As long as he gets attention and food, he’s happy.

Since I don’t have to run out to work, I tend to stay clothes-free most of the time in my house. For some online video meetings I put on a t-shirt or something because I know that is necessary, but that’s about it.

And then grocery shopping happens.

Grocery shopping and any other kind of outside activity requires clothing. We all know that. It’s a sad state of affairs that we all lament plenty of times during the week or even the day, depending on how often we have to leave the nudity of home.

For me, social distancing brought a lot of naked freedom. I hope you encounter that too. Not having to wear clothes is great as long as you can get away with it. But this freedom clearly comes at a price.

I still have to get dressed once in a while. Just like before any lock-down and social distancing. But lately, the act of suffocating my body feels worse. My skin is getting more and more used to breathing freely, and suddenly there’s this layer of stuff on top of it.

I object!

I really do. Living la vida desnuda (the naked life) is great, and it’s really sad that this is not accepted by the world. Of course, when it’s cold, it’s smart to put something on. But on the Northern hemisphere, summer is coming. How nice would it be to go outside clothes-free. Okay, I’ll stop here – we’ve all been there before.

Still, with COVID-19 going around, it pays to be careful. Somewhere online I read that the virus will live shorter on skin than on fabric. I have not found proof of that. In fact, this interview hints at a similar life span for both skin and fabric, so be careful.

Live long and naked, people. As much as you can.

News from a ‘social distancing’ naturist. A week of working from home.

Coffee, nude on the balcony — Nude coffee on the balcony

Let me tell you that the last week (officially 1.5 weeks) has been an interesting one.

Working from home isn’t new for me, so that was easy to get adjusted to. Being able to grab a coffee and enjoy that naked outside is a new perk of this situation. I don’t do that all the time because we still have a very chilly spring, but in the afternoon this is definitely a very enjoyable possibility. Since I live on the fourth floor (fifth for American readers), I’m in a safe zone, away from other people, which is definitely good.

Something else that I have found is laundry. Working from home means I don’t have to put on clothes. Which means the laundry basket is only filling up with towels and a few pairs of socks. Yes, laugh all you want but wearing socks means I don’t have cold feet.

And doing laundry naked is another good thing, although that’s not something new for me. Being a naturist, there is hardly another way unless it’s too cold to be naked. Let me add that I haven’t had the need to run a load of laundry since I started working from home. The few towels and socks don’t warrant starting the washing machine, which is a sign that naturism is good for the environment. No washing water, no detergent, no electricity needed for the machine or the tumble dryer (if you use such a contraption). Less wear of the clothes, so no need to replace those quicker either.

Work meeting — When I see the clothes, I shudder by now

A good thing too is that I don’t have to be dressed to join meetings. It’s simply a matter of not having the webcam on when I have to have a talk with a coworker or a customer. Who knows if the person on the other side is dressed or not. I honestly don’t care. We get the job done, and that’s what matters. I don’t need more proof that professionals can be naked and do their job; I’ve noticed that more than often in the past years. Clothes literally only add fabric, nothing more.

Perhaps you are new to working from home and it all feels a bit uncomfortable. I have found a link for you with a bunch of tips (32 of them!) that actually work. Because if you have to work from home, make sure you have the best setup you can manage.

And don’t forget: anything worth doing well is worth doing naked!

Stay safe, everyone. Be naked, happy and responsible.

A good thing with a bad thing. The nude and the virus.

You’re most probably facing the same thing I am. The invitation of your (local) government to stay home as much as possible.

Yes. It’s annoying, depending on where you are. In many places of the world you’re simply forbidden to go outside unless there is a strict need, like grocery-shopping, medical attention, walking the dog, etc.

Here in the Netherlands it’s not that bad yet. We can still go outside for a breather. Groups are not allowed, and people have to stay 1.5 metres / 5 feet apart. I understand that.

I’m making the best of it. Since there is no one in my home who complains about me not wearing clothes, I go nude as soon as the temperature is nice in the living room. (We’re having quite some night frost lately, which isn’t usual for March any more.)

And so I enjoy the morning sun, drink my coffee and do my work.

Yes, the restrictions that are in place aren’t the biggest joys ever, but doing it this way, it’s not a punishment for me.

It’s also interesting to notice that, for me, not very much changes in this pandemic virus situation. Of course, I don’t drive to work every day, which is different, but not being a very social person now has it’s benefits. I don’t have the need to meet many other people on a daily basis. Actually, meeting so many of them during a normal office day is very draining for me, so in a way this is a great relief! I’m fine with being alone – I’ve been doing that most of my life.

Working nude on the couch — Working on the couch. It’s a great experience, definitely when you can do it naked!

How are you coping with the lock down, if that’s applicable for you? Are you bored? Going crazy? Desperate to be around dozens of people, even from a distance?

I’m very curious how long all this will go on. China reports fewer cases and people can go out again. It took them 2 months of rigorous lock down. Let’s hope we can get through that with less strict rules, but we’ll see!

Have a good day, everyone, and stay naked if you can. Let your skin breathe.