Working from home Y/N

[Chairman Meow]

I loved it. I'm back in the office now, unfortunately. Where I work the management really didn't want us to WFH and let us do it only when their hand was forced, which is ridiculous as I can do my job remotely with no issues. In fact, most of the people I work with are in a different time zone. I'm an introvert and most of my colleagues are annoying, also I saved a fortune! I suppose in an ideal world I would go in one day a week. It does help that I'd just moved house so had room for an office.

 

[teuchter]

During this period I've observed in others, a tendency for disagreements and misunderstandings with their workmates to flare up in a way they didn't before. Because they aren't having a chat over a coffee each morning - they are sending each other emails and whatsapp messages. And some people are stressed out by having to try and look after kids or work on a kitchen table, so they are more likely to be narky in the first place. And some people working in teams, who don't for example have kids, feel that they are being expected to take up the slack as a result of others not being nearly as productive as they usually would be.

 

[quimcunx]

It's certainly nice not having to spend time travelling, much of it crammed on busy trains. Although even this has the downside that being outside and a bit of walking are both built into your day if you have a commute. Nipping to the shops on the way home also.

Keeping up relationships with your workmates, especially those you have less work contact with, needs imaginative solutions. It would be easy for someone to slip under the radar and become isolated.

I'd quite like to split my time between home and the office. Not sure what that split should be. Travel costs/savings comes into that decision. I usually have an annual travel card. Working 4 days a week in the office woukdnt save me money. What configuration would save money on travel and heating costs.

Also I could consider moving further out in order to have a house and private garden if I wfh most of the time. The cost and pain of a longer commute puts me off every time I think about it. That is a significant change in lifestyle that could be facilitated by wfh.

If I was going to make wfh a permanent feature of my working life then I'd need a more professional set up that could be screened off in some way from my home. Easy if you have a spare bedroom by moving further out but needs something more innovative if not.

 

[teuchter]

And another thing! For many people their social life is not independent of their work life. Friendships often start in a work context. And people go and meet friends after work (because they are already out of the house - it's not really an aditional effort) or go out for a drink with workmates, or whatever.

When you work from home, it's easy to become very lazy socially. This has been a moot point with the lockdown - but it's something that you discover when you work from home - you have to make much more of a conscious effort to get out and see people and go places. Otherwise weeks slip by before you realise you've barely seen anyone socially in that time. This is one of the things that only starts to have a real impact in the longer term.

 

[Orang Utan]

Conference calls are the worst. Feedback, people talking all over each other, not putting their mikes on mute and breathing into their mikes.
One advantage is that you can take your headset off and zone out but you risk being asked a question and then have to fumble around pretending your mike is faulty.
also dunno how people get motivated at home when there’s tellies, consoles, wank options and kitchens full of food and drink to distract. You guys must have excellent impulse control. Also speaking to customers on the phone is difficult - if someone shouts at you or insults you, it’s somehow more aggravating and your response is more likely to be less than diplomatic

 

[bimble]

I’ve been wfh (apart from ocasional meet-ups with people) for about 6 years. It would feel really hard now for me to adjust to anything else tbh and I was for a while on top of the world when I’d managed to set things up this way but all of what teuchter is saying here rings true, which is disconcerting in several ways.
Zoom presentation to 7 people on Monday and I am dreading it, when doing it for the same group of people sat round a table was not my favourite thing but was fine.

I am really curious what’s going to happen as more and more companies are apparently deciding after this experiment that they don’t need to rent offices in the middle of cities anymore.

 

[mauvais]

I did almost pure WFH for three years - I did visit customers occasionally - and then after changing job I went back to working 9-5 in an office. I didn't know how I was going to adjust back to it, but it turned out to be easy.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I'm not sure tbh. Not having the commute is just fantastic - I don't think I could go back to telling myself that an hour each way, twice a day, five days a week is 'actually not that bad compared to a lot of people' again.

Sharing a smallish kitchen table all day and trying to work has been really difficult though tbh, in all sorts of ways. But then I think that if I was on my own all day it might drive me a bit mad.

I think if given the choice I'll work from home more than I used to but probably not full time.

 

[mx wcfc]

I've commented on this on the other WFH thread, but, yes, I'm loving it. Not getting up at the crack of dawn and not commuting are doing wonders for my stress levels and bank balance.

I've been WFH "once or twice a week" most of the time, for the last couple of years, with 3 or 4 offsite trips a month - normally London. - I expect this will become going into the office once, maybe twice a week in future. That is fine with me.

I was getting to the point where I was really hating going into the office, and was on the verge of asking for a sabbatical, just to get away from the place. We hot desk, which I hate. The coffee is bloody awful. I get on well enough with colleagues, but none are "mates". I am a bit of an outsider at work, so I don't miss people at work.

I do miss popping into the Dr Martens shop at lunchtime, buying cheese and beer at the Grumpy Goat, browsing CDs and records at The Sound Machine/Oxfam & seeing non-work mates in the pubs. Maybe my "in the office day" will become one big outing to look forward to!

It helps that I'm largely a standalone technician with a small niche, so no real "team" to work with. 10/15% of my time is spent on another area of work where there is a team, and that might work less well.

 

[weltweit]

I like WFH but it is antisocial.

Even though I spend all day talking to people on the phone - I miss the face to face interaction I get in the office.

On balance I like WFH, saving loads on petrol and sarnies ..

 

[moochedit]

I miss the travel to and from work. It acts as a definite line between working and not that just isn't there right now.

I hate travelling to work which is why i'm loving working from home (while it lasts).

For over 10 years i lived 5 mins walk from my work but then they moved to a new site about 4 years ago and i had to drive for about 40 mins each way. I don't know how people that do 2 or 3 hours drive manage it.

 

[PursuedByBears]

I'd like to give it a proper go without also trying to simultaneously homeschool two primary age children.

 

[campanula]

No no no...not that it is even possible with my work...but I have enough problems overcoming sloth as it is. I dither and faff whenever I am called to arise from the couch and venture forth...but always feel immediately revived the very second I turn my bike key in the lock.
My daughter is working from home (after years as a statutory social worker) and is really struggling with boundaries, lack of clearly defined tasks, loneliness and even vague guilt feelings.

 

[teuchter]

Maybe "work from home" should be renamed "live in the office".

 

[MickiQ]

I've been working from home for the past 13 weeks (in fact it is 3 months today since I was last in the office) and it has worked very well, I mostly work alone and unsupervised so I am very nearly as productive wfh as I am in the office plus there are extra benefits like I don't waste 90mins of my life each day sat in the car. I've also lost the best part of a stone now that I have cut out the frequent lattes, kitkats and bacon butties that the smell from the canteen encouraged me to buy.
Personal home circumstances play a big part in it though, my kids are adults and since two of them have moved out I can even use the smallest bedroom as dedicated office space with
a full sized monitor so it's pretty good. When they were small it would have been a frigging nightmare, I just can't imagine myself sat at the kitchen table hunched over a laptop with them charging around being noisy (and mine were a boisterous lot)
WFH from home is definitely the way to go but it needs to be to mutual benefits, there are downsides to it and we don't want to see companies pressuring people to WFH (no matter how well they can do it) just to save on office space costs and I think it is only a matter of time before the bean counters catch onto this in a big way.

 

[moochedit]

The "boundry" between work and home is the time (for me 8.30am until 4.30pm or 3.30pm on friday). Outside working hours i disable synching for my my work email account on my phone and switch off my work laptop.

Living on my own helps of course. Would be harder with screaming kids that are bored.

 

[RubyBlue]

Are they going to compensate you for using your home as part of their business infrastruture?

we get a lousy £4.00 a week for additional costs such as electricity but the extra I spend on say heating bills I save in fares, lunch etc. We received £200 for additional stuff we need, I have a work laptop but needed a larger monitor which I bought. As I worked from home 2 days a week anyway it was allowed on the assumption I had the necessary desk, chair etc.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

also dunno how people get motivated at home when there’s tellies, consoles, wank options and kitchens full of food and drink to distract. You guys must have excellent impulse control.

It's not an issue - you just get on with it, and take regular breaks - like putting a load of washing on so you step away from the monitor.

Once I decide to finish for the day the work kit is switched off and put in the corner.

 

[Mation]

Worked from home full time in a previous job. I hated it, but that was because I didn't like the job itself. The organisation, though, had the way of working down really well. Excellent use of tech, lots of contact and social support, and team meetings in person every couple of months.

In this job I'm only working from home due to covid-19. Won't be able to continue when we're allowed back on site, as the job really has to be done in person. But because I love the job, I'd be having a reasonable time with the bits of work we can do from home, except that team contact is virtually non-existant. The manager and other team members are really tech shy, and can't see the point of having a catch up.

Then there's being able to concentrate. In ordinary times, this might be sort of ok, but some of the most interesting and affecting things that have ever happened in my lifetime are going on. It's extremely hard to keep a lid on the endless clicky clicky clicky.

 

[Mation]

It's not an issue - you just get on with it, and take regular breaks - like putting a load of washing on so you step away from the monitor.

Once I decide to finish for the day the work kit is switched off and put in the corner.

It's not always as simple as that, unfortunately.

 

[existentialist]

Maybe "work from home" should be renamed "live in the office".

Bed → desk: 2m for me.

And, although in general, I'm OK with WFH, I'm very conscious of the wafer-thin boundary between sleeping and being on duty...

 

[cybershot]

Obviously the fact I live alone is a huge factor for me. Normally content with my own company, but this has proven that long period of time alone is not for me, and that going into the office was the bare minimum social interaction I needed in life. Take it away and I've spiraled into a depression.

A hybrid situation would work best for me. 2-3 days of either or. This would probably change if I lived with someone. Social bubble thing has made a huge difference for me, just being in the same room as someone has made a huge fucking difference to my state of mind.

 

[teuchter]

Bed → desk: 2m for me.

And, although in general, I'm OK with WFH, I'm very conscious of the wafer-thin boundary between sleeping and being on duty...

I actually once worked in an office where someone would fall asleep at his desk and then start snoring loudly. No-one was really sure of the appropriate response. He wasn't there very long.

 

[existentialist]

I actually once worked in an office where someone would fall asleep at his desk and then start snoring loudly. No-one was really sure of the appropriate response. He wasn't there very long.

My Latin teacher used to do that. Mind you, I wouldn't have been far behind.

 

[Orang Utan]

It's not an issue - you just get on with it, and take regular breaks - like putting a load of washing on so you step away from the monitor.

Once I decide to finish for the day the work kit is switched off and put in the corner.

it bloody is an issue as I explained in the post you part-quoted

 

[felixthecat]

It's not an issue - you just get on with it, and take regular breaks - like putting a load of washing on so you step away from the monitor.

Once I decide to finish for the day the work kit is switched off and put in the corner.

Yes this.
I didn't think I COULD work from home but it's been great. Video and phone consultations work really well and as my job is predominately rehab.

What I found was I needed a routine - I get up, shower, dress and I'm at the computer by 7:45 to start work at 8:00. I take a break when I would usually take a break, have lunch when I would normally have lunch and knock off about 15:00. If I've got a lot of admin to do I'll often have a longer lunch break and work on a bit in the evening.

I honestly never thought I'd have the discipline to do this but it appears I do.

I'd be happy to only make occasional visits in to work. In fact my plan will be probably 1 day a week face to face contact. At the moment we've no idea when we will be doing hands on work and tbh I'm content with that.

 

[extra dry]

Needs a poll, but it's a YES from me.

Work have said even when we can go back it'll be on a "only if you want to or need to" basis. Reactions have differed, but I'm a happy bunny.

just the stressed saved from no commute is great

 

[Marty1]

Been working from home for 3 months now due to Covid, I worked from home 2 days a week before then. Just found out that when our building lease expires in 2 years we will be working from home on a permanent basis. Meanwhile even when Covid is over we will only be going into the office in exceptional circumstances. Not everyone is happy about it but I am.

My gf has been told that she will be working from home for at least another 2 months and after that - unsure tho she would prefer to keep wfh as she loves it and is saving a fortune on fuel.

One thing she did say is that her work mentioned something about performance being related to whether they will allow people to continue to wfh so they may be a tad trying to exploit the situation.

 

[Hollis]

I'm meh about it really... now back working 3 days in the office each week and it's fine. I think if I was working at home on a regular basis it would need to be in an isolated house with no neighbours within 200 meters. Then everything would be fine... probably..

 

[rubbershoes]

It's working well for me as I can start early and finish early. Normally my commute is only half an hour but I have to leave home by about 7.30 every day to drop my daughters at the school bus . It's them not going to school that makes as much difference to me as the WFH. The downside is that I don't have decent size desk to spread out my files, and that the files are 15 miles away in the office. Much of them are online but not everything can be. So I go into the office once a week or so to get any files I'll need

I'll be staying WFH for a while but might go back one or two days a week in time. Mrs Shoes has been furloughed and her job won't be coming back for a while. I'm hoping she could take the girls to school when that restarts as I can't see there being a school bus