Meet the “Companions” Getting Us Through the Task Queue

Remote work usually means quiet rooms and closed doors. But it also means backup: a dog asleep under the desk, or a cat wedged onto a warm keyboard.

When Outlier’s community reopened its pet thread this spring, contributors from southern Chile to Brazil shared photos of the “companions” keeping them company through the task queue. Here are a few standouts holding down the fort.

Leonor (Southern Chile)

Leonor lives with Diego A. in the far south of Chile, about two hours from Antarctica.

“My faithful companion who just turned 12 and sometimes works with me,” Diego wrote, “even though she doesn’t know she weighs 8 kilos.”

Lenny, the Office Security Guard

Lenny is a greyhound recovering from stitches. His contributor, Deborah W., photographed him on duty in his cone.

“The cone of shame, or as we like to call it, his satellite receiver, because apparently ‘don’t lick that’ is not a command he respects.”

Despite the hardware, Lenny held his post at the office door while Deborah handled a project appropriately named Calamari Chaos.

Floquinho (Brazil)

Brendo S. shared a photo of his cat, whose name translates to “little flake.” Sometimes, that’s all the introduction a cat needs.

Chloe, Seven Years In

Chloe has been her contributor’s shadow for seven years. Writing in Spanish, her contributor described Chloe as both a companion and a guardian, turning their post into a touching note about the responsibility of becoming “the voice of those who have no voice.”

The Tabby Brothers

Kim S. started on Outlier just a week before posting a photo of her three tabby cats. All brothers, they were kept together on purpose because, as Kim put it, “It’s better that way.”

The Digital One

One contributor skipped the photograph entirely, instead uploading a screenshot of a pixel pet that monitors how their coding agent is performing on tasks.

“I’m kind of a nerd.”

It proves a point: even the people training AI models all day still want something on their desk to look after—even if they have to code it themselves.

Want to introduce your backup?

The pet thread stays open in the community, and it fills up every time. If you have a companion who naps through your task queue, they’re welcome in it.