Are you 100% yourself at work? If you’re not sure, ask your partner or roommate what you’re like during Zoom meetings when working from home. There’s a high chance that you, like most people, have a work persona. We generally aren’t aware that we’re acting differently, likely because “we are so used to acting out of character for the sake of professionalism,” says Dr. Sanna Balsari-Palsule, a personality scientist at Cambridge University. And yet, to those who know us outside of work, the contrast can be significant.

In her doctoral research in 2015, Balsari-Palsule found that many workers think acting differently from their natural selves is an inherent part of their work role, and therefore, it feels “less burdensome.” Seven years (and one pandemic) later, I’d argue that “faking it” has become the greater burden, as we now not only have our work self but our digital self to contend with too—and, soon, probably our metaverse self as well!

So how can we free ourselves from this excess baggage, or at least reduce the need to have a work persona in the first place?