• Lottie Gross is a freelance travel writer and author who has been working from home for years.
• She rejects advice — spurred by the pandemic — about separating work and personal spaces at home.
• Gross finds that early hours working from bed are her most productive of the day.

When the pandemic forced us to work from home, we were subjected to many listicles about the best way to work outside the office.

It's widely believed that setting clear boundaries between work and home is key to staying productive outside the office's walls — but that's not always the case.

I worked from home for three years before the pandemic came along. I happily ignored all the unsolicited advice the internet offered, because I've found my perfect routine.

My routine doesn't fit in with the aspirational mornings of Silicon Valley tech bros or LinkedIn-posting CEOs. I get up early — usually around 6 a.m. — but instead of hitting the gym or making a smoothie, I get a coffee and head straight back to the duvet with my laptop.

I love working from my bed, and I will not feel ashamed

I've been "working from bed" for 12 years now. I wrote my university dissertation from the comfort of a mattress in 2012. More recently, as a freelance writer with no workplace to go to, I wrote and edited my first book in the confines of the bedroom.

I have a desk in my home office, but I find it uncomfortable and stuffy. Propped up in bed, I can fully relax without sore knees or an aching back and enjoy a working lie-in, my dog sleeping at my feet and coffee by my side.

I usually work in bed until around 10 a.m., when I get up to walk the dog and have a late breakfast or early lunch. I get so much done in those four hours — partly because it's quieter in my inbox before 10 a.m. but also because I'm warm, cozy, and comfy. Researchers at Cornell University have linked warmer offices with more productive workers.

My productive mornings mean I can often take the afternoon off or have to sit at my desk for only a couple hours. I don't get back into bed because by that point I've usually gotten dressed for the day.

A family member once described my WFB routine as "just lazy." But other people's perception of my work setup hasn't deterred me.

I've always been more productive in a supine position — perhaps because my work doesn't always lend itself to the office environment. I'm a travel writer, so I need to be comfortable and relaxed to write creatively. I also need to be able to work from hotel rooms anywhere in the world, and often my workspace is a bed.

I used to have a staff job at a publisher — I was markedly less productive in the office environment

When I would occasionally work from home, I'd get lots more done.

I don't take calls or Zoom meetings from my pillows. But if working from bed gets my work done faster, I can handle the judgment.

In an article published this year in the journal New Writing, the academic Connor Syrewicz argues that good creative writing occurs when a writer feels "freedom, flow, belonging" and has "a genuine belief in their own abilities to succeed." My confidence in my productivity from bed, regardless of people's opinions, feeds into successful writing.

Friends and colleagues say they won't work from bed because it blurs the boundaries between work and personal life. For me, those boundaries are just a psychological construction. Once the laptop is closed, work is over. I find it helpful to keep my laptop outside my bedroom when I'm not working from bed; it stays in the office until I get up to make my coffee.

While I feel more comfortable in bed, it's not necessarily the best position for my body

Rachael Stuckey, a physical therapist who focuses on workplace productivity at Workwell Therapy, said that with working from bed, "the risk is looking down at the screen."

"The head is the heaviest part of the body, so as soon as we take it off its natural tilt and we look down, it's weighted more, as it doesn't have the natural support of the spine," she said. "So that's where the risks come in."

Stuckey said that ensuring my back is supported, taking regular breaks, and moving plenty are the best ways to stay healthy. But as I get older, I may need to change my habits.

For now, though, I'll keep writing from the comfort of my memory-foam mattress and duck-feather duvet.

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