My Colleagues Insist on a Maddening Ritual to Cope With Working From Home. It’s Ruining It for Me.

Good Job is Slate’s advice column on work. I know many of them enjoyed seeing each other (and me) almost daily, and don’t share my enthusiasm for working from home. We are also very busy 98 percent of the time, and I just don’t work as fast when I have to keep up constant chit-chat. —Phone TrappedDear Phone Trapped,Getting out of phone conversations is a skill you can improve with practice. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIf a group chat doesn’t make sense for your colleagues, ask to schedule individual check-ins with the people who call you most frequently.