To think that everyone WFH thinks they are more productive but this view isn’t necessarily shared

I'm more productive at home because there are no distractions and interruptions!! Nobody comes to talk to me at home. There isn't constant noise from people gossiping at home. I can't really listen to music as I have to make telephone calls on and off throughout my day.

Interestingly I've not had any time off sick since I started WFH. Whereas when I was office based I would. I would just get to a point where I felt burnt out/ mentally exhausted. I don't have that now. My job hasn't changed. Nothing in my life has, other than the swap from office to home working. I'm an antisocial bugger, so I put it down to not having to speak to other people. This in turn makes me more productive as I'm not off sick like I used to be. Ive never even felt close to being burnt out. I love the solitude.

I think it totally depends on the job.

DD1s company is going back to full office as they tend to work two or three together on a project and they find they get much more done when all together.

DD2s company are getting rid of their offices and only retaining a small number of office based staff. They basically have X number of things to do by Y date. So it’s easy to monitor. For her personally with health issues the lack of travel and being able to set up her work space specifically for her has been ideal.

I’m more productive WFH. It’s a fact. It’s proven. I’ve posted about this before on here and had lots of people saying I must not want to go back to the office because I’m lazy. It’s not true for me or most of the home workers I know. The office is for socialising, which isn’t always a bad thing as you can build helpful relationships, but you’re definitely less productive as a result.

I do love going into the office though as it's like a day out. But I usually split my shift when I do that or I would struggle to get everything done in time with the distractions and getting lured to Starbucks etc, so I do first half in office and then use my break to get home and do the other half at home to catch up.

Heads down, heads up and heads together - only the last one needs for face to face interaction

I don't understand this obsession, every time this comes up, with the idea that people in offices are busy. I remember working in offices. They were not the hive of focussed activity Mumsnet would have you believe.

I agree.

I talk more to my workmates when I am in the office. Also, I have one tiny laptop screen that I struggle to see with my poor eyesight and a monitor screen. At home I have two full sized monitor screens and can see them better and can get more done.

Our productivity is fixed, really. We have to achieve a certain thing every night, there's no option not to do so, and everyone has specific roles to do, all of which are vital, so you just can't not do them or slack. So WFH makes no difference for us in terms of getting the work done.

Surely it depends entirely on the individual and the particular role??

I work 4 days a week, 3 of which are from home, 1 from the office. Today was my day in the office this week and I have got barely anything done!! Whereas yesterday (WFH), I got all my daily tasks done, 2 extra pieces of work and made a start on some planning for upcoming projects/tasks.

My productivity and work speaks for itself and my boss regularly comments on how well I work from home.

I personally struggle in an office environment as I am very easily distracted by others, struggle with background noise and generally get a bit of a CBA feeling when around others. When I'm at home I love my job and don't mind working over or earlier, whereas when I'm at work, I can't wait to get home and would never actively choose to stay and work longer or get there early!

In my experience, the only people I know who are very anti WFH are either managers of very large companies with no decent managerial skills, or people who have jobs who aren't able to work from home and don't understand, thinking they are sat watching telly all day.

It's almost like people are individuals and have different preferences 🙄

Some might work better in an office, need constant face to face support or endless chatter. But there are others who are more competent and able to work alone from home.

The sensory bombardment in most workplaces can be crippling so wfh makes employment accessible. Some areas really struggle to recruit so wfh means they can recruit from a wider area. so many reasons wfh is a valuable thing that should be embraced where it's appropriate without ignorant and stupid comments straight out of the daily fail.

It's productivity vs presenteeism. I think it's much, much easier to see who is getting through the work when someone is working remotely - there just isn't the output, delays and tardy responses start to creep in, they don't pick up messages quickly enough, don't answer calls etc. In an office it's much easier to look like you're working and do nothing at all.

Ah, I miss those days of walking purposefully clutching a notebook or a binder, then jumping in the goods lift and disappearing out of the building for a coffee or a cocktail. I miss having a doze at my desk under the guise of studying a plan or document, or a sleep in a storage cupboard. I miss writing my novel entirely at work.

And like a PP it has reduced my sickness absense

My productivity is measured based on how many audits I run over 8 hours.

On an average WFH day, it's around 7 or 8.

On an office day, it's 3.

My productivity more than halves because I have distractions that I cannot ignore when my team ask me something rather than directing a question towards their entire senior team, as they would do over Teams chat, meaning I can let one of my colleagues answer it if I'm pre-occupied with something. I can't do that in person because it's rude.

This is it for me too.
Companies are more than a collection of people working through tasks on their own.

My company 'reorganised' during covid and my office was shut so I have no choice but to wfh unless I change company.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between me in the office and me at home as I am equally productive as I have to be as I'd be out of a job otherwise.

I don't think all wfh people can be tarnished with the same brush as some take the Micky some work very hard.

Voted yabu as I think some people are genuinely more productive at home. I know, however, that I'm not and mainly worked from home as we desk share so couldn't go in every day. But I definitely believe some people work a lot better at home.

We are completely remote.

I detest travelling on public transport, I detest other commuters, I detest noisy, tappy, pen clicky interupters.

I get far, far, more done at home on my own than I do in the office. I'll never go back if I can help it.

My productivity is higher at home because 1) I work during what would have been my normal commute hours so I have more time, and 2) I'm happier WFH so do find I work more efficiently.
That's not to say I'm unproductive in an office setting. But I stick to 9-5 religiously as I have to factor in the commute so I have fewer working hours on those days, and I can't afford any distractions so no additional work is taken on.
So, for me, it is a fact that I'm more productive when WFH.
What I will say is that I do dedicate some days in the office specifically for face to face interactions where it will add value to my ongoing work. There's definitely a balance, but it'll be different for everyone so I don't think we need to enforce blanket policies to suit one camp or the other.

I have a much better set up at home. Docking station, 2 large screens and external keyboard and mouse. Wireless headset and good quality webcam.

Loads of people at my place are remote and whilst I like getting out and going in for 2 days a week I can definitely get more focussed work done. Plus I can collaborate better as I can sit on a teams call with another person and talk without disturbing others .
As with all things there are many variables

My dh is clearly less productive at home, but they don't seem to mind. He wfh two days a week and then quite long hours the other days. It all works out and he's less burnt out.

I think this is the thing. If I have solo tasks to get on with then yes I am equally productive at home. I don’t exist in a silo however.
if wfh then I can’t supervise and mentor people the same. There are a lot of very useful but spontaneous conversations between team members that wouldn’t happen if we all wfh.
it’s not a task orientated job so it’s not a case of giving instructions or telling someone where to find the information . People are reliant on others knowledge and experience . That’s very difficult to achieve if we all work at home.

productivity isn’t just dependent on indiviudal output . There’s a lot of other factors to take into consideration.

i reckon its easier to manage crap people you can see Think this is true.

Also crap managers who don't understand what their staff do need to see them to make them feel like they are 'managing'.

It’s very easy to measure and manage productivity. The problem is that a large proportion of those in a management position are unable to manage or have difficult conversations, which results in the easy option of wanting everyone back in the office (which doesn’t actually stop people from being unproductive if they are going to be!)

I used to love wfh when it was an odd treat. After the lockdowns I like it less. I’m now hybrid with at least 3 days in the office.

I definitely do less on my wfh days because I will stick a load of washing in, get the dinner on or even work out during work hours if I didn’t have chance first thing. I find that I make it up easily on my days in the office as I get my head down and crack on. I’m not the only one as productivity has definitely dropped and we’ve had complaints about our customer facing team from clients struggling to get hold of them. It’s likely we’re all coming back to the office with wfh on an irregular ad-hoc basis only. It’s the right thing to do to reassure our clients.

It's really hard to train new people if everyone is at home, especially if you have a complex work environment. I worry for young people and newly qualified people being able to build a career when al their more experienced colleagues are at home.