E20: When Working From Home Makes You the Default

E20: When Working From Home Makes You the Default

From Work It, Remote by Erika Bergen

January 21, 2026 · 16 min · Season 2 · Episode 20

About this episode

This episode explores how working from home can lead to assumed responsibilities and the mental load associated with being the default person for unplanned moments.

Working from home can quietly turn flexibility into assumed responsibility. In this episode of Work It, Remote, I explore how remote and flexible work often makes us the default person for unplanned moments—sick days, snow days, service appointments, last-minute interruptions, and everyday disruptions. I talk about the invisible mental load and anticipatory stress that comes with being “the one who’s home,” why these interruptions fragment focus and drain energy, and how pushing through witho...

People in this episode

Host: Erika Bergen

Topics covered

  • remote work
  • flexibility
  • responsibility
  • mental load
  • interruptions
  • focus
  • energy

Keywords

  • working from home
  • flexible work
  • mental load
  • interruptions
  • focus
  • energy drain
  • responsibility

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