The idea of working from bed first came across my desk ten years ago in an interview with comedian John Hodgman. The writer asks Hodgman to describe his workspace, to which he replies:

I do not stand up. I lie down. While I’ve written in bed occasionally since college, I would always feel guilty about it and try to keep to the desk. But now that I am 42 I do not care anymore what humans think, so I pulled out the sofa bed in my home office and now do everything there. It’s the most productive I’ve been in years, and it makes the nap transitions incredibly smooth.

++ I'm John Hodgman, and This Is How I Work | Lifehacker

I dismissed this outright. Working from bed I thought was indulgent and frivolous, fundamentally unserious. Hodgman, the comedian, after all, was fundamentally unserious himself. But there is, in fact, a long-standing history of working lying down. Frida Khalo and Winston Churchill are two well known recumbent movers and shakers. And the author Truman Capote was quoted as saying “I am a completely horizontal author. I can’t think unless I’m lying down.”

Even Arianna Huffington, noted sleep advocate, admitted to the practise in an piece by Taylor Lorenz, titled "Working From Bed Is Actually Great."

++ Working From Bed Is Actually Great | New York Times

My relationship to work was grounded in a protestant ethic. Hard work was good and worthy. And as I began my career, I brought this ethic with me.

But then the pandemic happened, and slowly that relationship was forced to change. Despite the convenience of working at home, the daily routine became a slog, draining and pointless. I was burnt out.

So I don’t know when exactly I started working from bed. But it has become such a welcome adjustment, a form of self-care. It represents a new sort of work, more inclusive and kind.

The pandemic of course accelerated all of this. It served to rip away the age-old aesthetics of work, which has allowed us take up newer, more comfy, postures.

For many though, traditional modes of work have long been a source of discomfort. In 2021, a survey commissioned by Slack made headlines when it suggested black folks working remotely feel more valued and supported than when they worked in the office.

The survey of more than 10,000 people saw a 26 percentage point increase in Black respondents reporting “I am treated fairly at work” from a year ago, and similarly big jumps in other questions about their work lives.

++ Return To Office | Bloomberg

WFB is an attitude and a metaphor, but this isn't a manifesto or a call to arms. It's a reminder to slow down, to show up where you are, because more often than not that's how the best work gets done.