When my boss asked for my laptop to install a work-tracking tool, I almost laughed. “I don’t need a digital babysitter,” I told him. “Remote work runs on trust, not control.” I believed that completely. Remote work had given me freedom — the kind that lets you take ownership of your time, your results, your rhythm. So when they wanted to install software that monitored my hours, mouse movements, and activity logs, it felt like a slap in the face.
But the next morning, HR made it official. “It’s company policy,” they said, smiling in that HR way that tells you resistance is pointless. So I smiled back and handed over my laptop. If they wanted to watch, fine. I had nothing to hide.
Still, deep down, I was irritated. I’d earned trust through results. I wasn’t one of those people pretending to work while scrolling through social media. Yet suddenly, all of us were under the same digital microscope. I told myself I wouldn’t let this change the way I worked — but it did. Not in the way I expected, though.
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