to think some people think WFH should be a constant nose to the grindstone?

I imagine her employer is paying her for a year’s worth of output. How that breaks down to hours per day is pretty irrelevant.

Those saying they can meet targets while still using work time to go to the gym etc, maybe your targets/workload aren't quite right and you could raise it with your manager.
Magnificently pass-agg; I applaud you.
Do you genuinely feel that so many people have managers who are failing to notice that their staff's workload isn't 'quite right' or that they're setting inadequate targets?

Which is why the painter example was a daft one for that poster to jump to. Because people usually wfh in their own house rather than yours!

I think all you’ve done there is prove the point that some posters have made when they said that all jobs are different. Some can’t be done from home, some can but during set hours and some can be done whenever that person feels like it, providing it gets done.

True, but even on a fixed price you’d probably also agree a time estimate with the decorator, and not expect him to be painting at 8pm when you’re at home trying make dinner.

I think people aren’t realising that not all jobs are the same. If you are in a role where the client or customer needs you to be available in opening hours then of course you can’t disappear for 2 hours during the day.
If you’re in a role where you’re paid to do a job rather than set hours or you need to do a set number of hours and it doesn’t matter when those hours are done. Why shouldn’t there be flexibility?
Why does a computer programmer need to sit in an office coding from 9-5 if they work better in the an afternoon or evening?
If your job requires you to sit and concentrate and do complicated projects why shouldn’t you sit in silence at home rather than in a noisy office where you’re distracted every 2 minutes?
If your job requires you to be available to talk to people at odd hours, why shouldn’t you then take 2 hours back during the day?
My employer gets more from me as I’m more willing to take a call with Australia early in the morning or California in the evening, but in return I’ll take a couple of hours during traditional work hours in lieu.

We have an agile working policy. It was introduced during the pandemic when wfh became the default. We no longer have set working hours and work flexibly to suit both our needs and performance.

So, there’s no expectation that we’re logged on for 7.5 hours a day, or do 37 hours a week. If people want to go to a gym class, long lunch, school play, clean the bathroom, whatever - it’s actively encouraged. As long as they meet their targets, it’s all good. My admin team do have to cover office hours as they have to answer the phones. But they do this between them and flexibly and it works really well.

One of my team found it really hard to adjust. We used to record our hours, which seems archaic now. He was convinced agile working was a licence for some to take the piss. But a few years in, he’s convinced. It’s transformed the way we work for the better.

Yes, I'm similar in that a big part of my job is to come up with creative ideas and to link my industry to the wider culture (arts, politics, sports, everything).

The way to do that well isn't to keep my nose to the laptop grindstone and churn through work-related tasks. It's to keep my mind healthy and active and relaxed. So yes, if I don't need to be contactable and there isn't a specific time I need to be at my desk, I'll go for a run in the middle of the day. In the summer I'll sit outside with a glass of wine and a book. On really quiet days I'll even watch a film. My best ideas come from those situations, not staring at Teams for eight hours straight, so I don't even consider that taking the piss.

I work from home, set hours, and I'm at my desk working, apart from taking short comfort breaks, lunch, making a cup of tea. If I need to do laundry, walk the dog, pick up a parcel, I do it at lunchtime or before/after work. DCs are older and at uni so no distractions in that sense.
Those saying they can meet targets while still using work time to go to the gym etc, maybe your targets/workload aren't quite right and you could raise it with your manager.
It's a privilege to WFH, i appreciate it, and I treat it exactly the same as an office-based job, apart from the location.

I think it depends. Yes, I put the washing on and I go to the gym in my lunch break when I'm WFH but I still work my hours and I'm contactable at all times apart from the lunch break. I've managed people who definitely took the piss and were generally unproductive and uncontactable at home.

A "proper" job - so one that ends by 5pm and comes with 13 weeks' holiday, then? Obviously I'm being facetious, but people who work in schools still get time to get home asking done, just not during their working day.

I am able to get stuff done like the washing etc whilst WFH, but my "core" hours of 9-5 have only ever been the minimum expectation in my field of work, so getting those jobs done does not take anything away from my employer. Hanging the washing is a healthy break for my eyes and a chance to stretch my legs for 10 minutes!

A lot of the comments stem from jealousy - and a total lack of understanding of what other people job's entail. My comment above about schools is in jest but there are a lot of people who genuinely believe teachers clock off at 3.30 every day.

Agree a lot is jealousy.... when I worked from home I could do my job in half the time as I wasn't constantly interrupted for things that were nothing to do with my role. If you are getting the job done theres no issue

I think lots of it is failure to understand different types of jobs.

Lots of my job is decision making, thinking about things, weighing things up, deciding which direction to go.

It’s not really about speed typing or constant zoom calls.

Exactly

Whereas I work from home with timed breaks and lunches and no flexibility in hours
My shift is my shift and I need to be at my desk

Depends on the job. Although I am part of a team I work in my own projects and often in complete isolation from anyone else. I rarely get an email that needs to be responded to immediately - that’s just not my role.

So I can easily go to the shops or do an exercise class and not get any emails at all in that time, let alone any that need an immediate response. I never have any meetings, either in person (I do 2 days in the office) or online. I don’t use Teams at all. My phone rarely rang.

Not everyone’s role is the same.

Tell me you don't work for a law firm without telling me you don't work for a law firm!

Yes and no. I WFH but think there's a big difference between taking an exercise class (presumably that's at least an hour out) within working hours and sticking a washing on (5 minutes, so same as a chat over the kettle in the office).

We have core hours. It's hard enough getting hold of people some days, never mind having to take their exercise routine into account. Those sort of things should be done outside core hours if it is going to impact the rest of the team.

There are people who wfh and regularly take the piss, though. And they seem to like gloating about it.

Yes I do washing in the middle of the day. And I might tidy up the kitchen for 10 mins. But I work in a senior role where I do above my contracted hours each week, often work through lunch, and tend to work late one evening a week when email traffic is quiet to keep up. It's accepted that we can do things like go for an appt for an hour or so if our diary is quiet and we make the time up as needed. Often we probably don't need to due to the extra we do, it's very much a culture of trust and being available to meet business needs. But I would be taking the piss to do a gym class in the working day. They will be fine with me going to do the school pick up and logging on after bedtime though, because they're supportive of family life.

I think jobs vary and obviously some you're required to be available for certain hours, although I imagine most wfh jobs have a degree of flexibility to them.
I understand when pp say they work 37 hours a week but it doesn't matter when those hours happen. I'm slightly more surprised at the amount of people on MN saying they can get all their work done in eg 2-3 hours/day. I get that in any job there might be dead time, breaks for the loo, chatting etc but is there really only 25% of the day active working? (I chat at the same time as working!) Why would companies pay people ft money for a 10 hr a week job, surely that's pt? But I'm always shouted down for that argument and everyone is being paid for their knowledge, experience and expertise rather than their time

It is jealousy.

I have worked at home for a few years; when I first started I did not stop, I seriously thought I should be working at 💯. My manager told me to slow down as I was going to burnout. I get everything done and more but I also clean the house, get life admin sorted and exercise a few times a week.

I am so productive at home and rarely go into the office.

I think people don’t understand different jobs.

Sums up a great deal of the discourse on remote working!

I think it’s jealousy. I would love to be able to do this, I’d get so much done and it would make life easier. Unfortunately WFH would never be possible with my job.

I think people don’t understand different jobs. When I was in the office full time (and on most office days now), I’ll end up taking a long 2 hour lunch to meet friends. I might go and grab a social coffee with a colleague in the afternoon. None of that is frowned upon if work is done to deadline. The same sort of attitude extended to WFH. I always have my phone on my in case I’m needed urgently, but otherwise I can be pretty relaxed about where I am at any specific time.