To think working from home is a cushy number?

There's employees doing the minimum in workplaces and there's fully dedicated hard working employees based at home. They might not be putting a wash on, but I've seen work colleagues in our office not only achieve nothing in a day but also disrupt everyone else whilst achieving nothing. TBH they would be better off at home doing the washing. Finishing work and straight into home life without the commute is a privilege, but not having a clear physical separation by going to a workplace can cause issues too. But it's all about organisations managing work loads and outputs and people.

I’m about to leave a FT WFH job for one based on the office 4/5 days a week. I’m a little nervous I’ll admit, that I am giving up my cushy number, but having worked this way for 5 years, I am ready for a change.

My current job is intense and the lines between home and work have become blurred… I’ll go from one minute dealing with something really serious/ upsetting to being all smiles when the kids come home from school.

I’ve worked out that I never get time to decompress from my working day before entering mum-mode and I’m done now. I do housework in my lunch break and yes, whilst I do sit in my pjs until lunchtime usually, I don’t actually get a proper break from anything - paid work or unpaid housework.

I’m looking forward to getting dressed each day, going for a walk at lunch, and seeing people irl, instead of communicating via Teams 99% of the time.

But hey, I may also be on here once the novelty has worn off complaining that I stupidly gave up a cushy WFH job for an office job. Watch this space!

I had an office job for 10 years. 7.30-5 Monday-Friday. And commute was 30-45 mins so a long old shift by time I got home. Now I do 9-5 mon-fri working from home. However a) when I used to finish at 5 in an office job that was the day done. Now I feel an inclination/expectation to log back on after 5 and check emails and b) in an office job wow do people chat/stand around/drink coffee so tbh yes I can do a load of washing in the day which takes 1 min to put on and 2 to empty but I get more done wfh than I ever did/do in the office x

Wow...
I've no words.
While I consider myself lucky to be able to work from home, I barely get 10 minutes off my chair every 2 hours to stretch, get a drink or use the loo; and 30 minutes for lunch.
I don't think everyone working from home has time to go to the gym, do shopping or any housework. I do that before I start work in the time I used to spend travelling to work.

It's a bit unfair to assume that people don't work hard just because they work from home.

They get way more work out of me on my wfh days, plus I often work late. Office days are when I’m chatting and being sociable, and leaving on time if my non-negotiable.

That said, I really appreciate that I have the opportunity to wfh, as it apparently “wasn’t possible” in my role before it had to be.

It's not cushy at all.
Not one bit.

But I can't bear the thought of working in an office for someone else so I'm stuck with it for now.

I am struggling in my new role which is WFH. There was meant to be an office for me to attend 60% a short drive away. But it closed down and next closest office is an expensive train ride away. So they said I could work from home and come to office when I wanted.

I didn’t have any intro to new job or training etc. Nobody to build connections with to ask how to do things.

Had a nervous breakdown. Now have to build my confidence back up as feel like failure. Looking for new job and will check that there is space in the office

it clearly depends on the job. i need to be physically log in to the system and have assigned breaks/lunch. if i'm away from my desk out with that then my employer knows and would be questioning why i'm not working. the only extra chores i can do are those completed on my breaks. the only benefit is not having to commute. it’s certainly not the skive people make it out to be.

No, sounds like you need to rethink what it is you do and how you do it. Why are you commuting 2-3 hrs per day and why are you standing all day without breaks? You need a better workflow

Yes you are wrong.

we have data privacy laws in this country that prevent lots of work being sent abroad due to the data that would be disclosed.

also, if you use your logic then all office jobs could be abroad because all office jobs ‘could’ be work from home

I think it’s the commute that’s the killer really, when I had a 90 min e/way commute I always did 1 day from home to make it bearable - but it was a full proper day, not doing house work or popping to the gym! . Now I have a 15 minute walk I much prefer to work on site daily - no extra heating bills in winter, face to face conversations not that blummin teams nonsense and when I leave for the day, I leave - no feeling that I should be doing a little bit more cos I can.

It is not wrong, It is cushy for some people. It is cushy for me. I go out for walks, shop, do chores, get all housework done and get my work done. WFH has been amazing for me.

This can be a big problem with WFH - switching off.

i often envy the businessmen (and very rare woman!) of the olden days who left the office at the end of the day and no emails or phones calls could find them! Yes sometimes the land line would ring, and paperwork could go home but there wasn’t the same culture of constant availability.

when peoples home is also their office the lines can get even more blurred. This can be an issue when people are experiencing workplace stress. We need to get better strategies for managing it that recognise the change in boundaries.

Our policy is camera on at all times. Also, I want at all times to be taken seriously as a professional and that doesn't stack with wearing a hoody, no make-up or being a state.

Hoodie and no eyeiner does fine for our male CEO and similar high folk on internal calls, so does fine for me. 😁 What I do and all problems I solve quickly and well absolutely override my fluffy oversized hoodie and lack of make up. I do my best work when I am comfy. Probably wouldn't excell as barrister...
Not like I even own eyeliner though. Or wear more than basic 3 make up items at any time.

I do think this dependa highly on workplace though. Some still rely on presenting well a lot even remote and on internal calls. So yes, might be of course case in many places.

It's really sad that you think you can't be seen as a professional if you're not made up and dressed up. Your workplace must be terrible.

Absolutely you are wrong. I own my own business and cannot work from home, but my husband does and he works so hard every day. Most weekends he’s still acting like he is on call and he is chained to his laptop. Yes he’s home, but 99% of the time he is in our bedroom working the entire time.

I WFH 90% of the time and couldn’t work unless I did. DH is away all week with work and we have 4DC. If I had to commute and be somewhere else every day they couldn’t do their hobbies, get easily to the dentist etc. But I am hugely motivated, work way over the hours I am expected to and even though I may finish at 4pm to sprint to school and then spend the next three hours taxi-ing them about, I then log back on and finish what’s left over. So I do everything and more.

The downsides are the isolation and the expectations of family and randoms that I’m around and available just because I’m at home

I think its really important to understand that all work from home is not the same. I'm measured on performance, not hours. I'm also treated as an adult so it is upto me how I get my work done. That means sometimes I may take a bit of time out to exercise or prep dinner, but there's plenty of times I'll respond to emails well into the night or still be sat at my desk several hours after a normal finish time.

I wfh 3 days a week start exactly same time as in office - sit at a desk and probably get up to go to make a drink and the loo and back at my desk- might sit on balcony for half an hour lunchtime !

I’ve never really got the whole ‘put a wash on’ thing with working from home, my WFH days are none stop with actual work, I often get to 2pm and realise I haven’t had lunch. The benefit for me is that I will often be able to collect my son from school. But I don’t think it’s cushy, I’ve chosen a job on purpose that allows me that flexibility. It’s a demanding job though, sounds like yours and your husbands aren’t.

I work from home five days a week. I have since 2011. I prefer it. But my job isn't any less stressful or busy because I'm at home. I just don't have a commute, office politics, etc. on top of a busy, stressful job.

I do both - no eye liner though.

Completely, I really struggle to zone out the distractions.

This! I'm so unproductive in the office, get way more done at home!

I am seen as a professional because of my input to conversations, the output of my work and my proven success in meeting objectives. How much eyeliner I’m wearing doesn’t factor into it at all.