To struggle to see the appeal of full time remote working?

I'm very introverted but I found full time wfh too much. It felt like home became a sort of prison. I do like hybrid though

Did he become introverted or was he always introverted? It's brain wiring. You can be introverted and put a mask on (an alter ego) to survive the extrovert arena by matter of necessity. I did it for years.

I was only full time WFH during covid, but had a very long return to work phase with 1 day a week. It mostly made me depressed. However the best days were when I took advantage of WFH properly and blocked some calendar time for a work out in the morning/went to a morning Pilates class, made sure to shower & get properly dressed not just from the waist up (lol), walked to local cafe at lunchtime for a coffee with podcast, again blocking calendar so you’re not afraid you’re being called etc.

Generally felt my best when maximising the freedom one enjoys WFH rather than just sit at your desk in comfy pants all day eating cookies.

But in general I don’t think it’s for everyone. I also hate my current office because even though we are officially meant to be in 3 days a week, adherence is patchy and the vibe is very dull - zero culture anymore and everyone leaves at 4pm. I hate it! But it’s a great role and the flexibility is wonderful at my stage of life.

Even though my commute involved at least three changes on the underground, I look back very fondly to the early days of my career before WFH was even a twinkle in its father’s eye.

It doesnt suit everyone but I like it. Ive been homeworking since covid. I get overstimulated in the office, im more productive at home.

Things that help.

• Having a dedicated office space, that you don't use after work.
• Getting away from your desk at lunchtime.
• Sometimes I go for a walk before and after work. Just to get fresh air.
• I also chat with my colleagues on teams, so that I have human connection and collaboration.

My husband is the opposite, he struggles with home working. So he only does it now and then.

It depends on the office space. Just moved from a job that was full time in the office to one that is hybrid. I’m not massively productive at home (don’t have the set up and get cramp/bad back from being hunched over a tiny laptop), but ugh the work set up is:
a) a shared work space/kitchen which regularly has people chatting or smells of fish from lunchtime 🤢
b) a small room with no natural light that 3 of us have to use, but have to vacate if someone is using it for a private interview (about 3 times a day)
c) trying to find somewhere else that is free to work.

I hate it. Coming from somewhere where I had my own space that was very rarely used by anyone else I now look forwards to working from home days as at least I can get something done. I just don’t understand how they think people can work in these set ups.

So be careful for what you wish for!

I don’t think you can assume for other people. In fact there are a large number of people on here saying they love it.

it doesn’t work for some people and it’s brilliant for others.

Same! I took up running which also suits my introvert mind and have carried on as it's a great way to be alone!

I agree there are downsides but I do it for the flexibility with young DC

Been working from home entirely for 10 years now - before covid - and I can honestly say I could never go back. I work better on my own at home, and get more done, and I can pretty much choose my own hours. (I do 20 a week.) So I tend to work when DH is in bed or at work. It can be hard to do it with him at home anyway as he doesn't stop talking some days!

Well, that’s the joy of being an employer. They decide.

And I think you’ve pinpointed something that perhaps younger workers who’ve joined the workforce more recently might not understand - the workplace isn’t, by and large, a democracy. Whether the employee perceives a benefit from it is irrelevant - they don’t get to call the shots.

I do get breaks, thank you! The work I do means long periods of intense concentration but in fact I have a short working day because as long as I get my work done I can do it when I please (no set hours). So I am only in my office for about five hours including lunchtime, and have plenty of time the rest of the day to go for a run, see friends, go out for a coffee, deal with stuff in the house or just get out of the house for a walk or a mooch round the shops etc. I am far more productive at home so don't have to spend as long doing work as I used to when I had to sit in an office.

Same. Covid was horrendous!
Both DSs home - one meant to be home learning, one adult one grumpy about being at home rather than travelling.
Caring responsibilities for older relatives.
Thankfully my manager was very much "family first" and let us self-manage our time and workloads. All colleagues had different situations.

I can't think.of anything worse than remote working. I love going into work and connecting with people. Online meetings leave me cold. My DH works from home nearly all the time since Covid and has become more and more introverted. I have colleagues who wfh often and they miss out on so much. I think it has a detrimental effect on the workplace. OP - I.would definitely rethink your decision.

I can't think.of anything worse than remote working. I love going into work and connecting with people. Online meetings leave me cold. My DH works from home nearly all the time since Covid and has become more and more introverted. I have colleagues who wfh often and they miss out on so much. I think it has a detrimental effect on the workplace. OP - I.would definitely rethink your decision.

Yabu. I'm an introvert and I love it. No office politics, I get so much work done and I'm less stressed by work than I've ever been.

Covid was a nightmare. I had the rest of my family in and out of my space, including demands to print out homework sheets, scan essays to hand in, and give my input into gardening decisions or food shopping. Friends kept saying 'I suppose nothing much has changed for you, has it?' and I was like 'ACTUALLY I'M HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME - TOO MANY PEOPLE AND TOO MUCH NOISE'.

This was me too! I went from peace and quiet all day to having 7 people here full time. Although in the end, because I was already used to WFH, I fared much better than those who were not home adjusted. To start with though...
I ended up getting very, very fit, as the hour(ish) outside each day was spent running as far as I could to get away from them and then reluctantly running back. 🤣

Being sat at your desk all day, even with soup maker and fridge etc is really not healthy or a good idea. I do hope you factor some proper breaks into your day, no matter how busy you are.

For some jobs it does
mine was on the phone so I couldn’t work anywhere else and I also needed 2-3 monitors

It very much depends on the role. My job is computer networking at a university and as long as I'm using the work VPN which is protected by two-factor authentication and various other cleverness, there's no realistic risk. If you want to watch over my shoulder while I run a traceroute, come up with some inventive expletives in response to someone else trying to make their problem my problem, or answer an email about how we can't guarantee wifi coverage in the toilets and stairwells, then fill your boots; you're really not going to learn anything useful. I make very sure I don't go anywhere near the systems that have GDPR-relevant data because I have no reason to.

To be honest, the biggest reasons I tend to work from home rather than the local cafe is that my home set-up has got two big monitors and a better keyboard, I can spend 40p per cup of coffee rather than £4, and I don't have to wear socks.

I’m fully remote bar maybe an office day every couple of months.

Love it. I’m a much nicer person outside of work when I don’t have to put a sociable face on all day every day. Happiest I’ve been in years.

I'm aware, yes. People can chase promotions if they want to, they know where their bread is buttered.

Some others are fine as they are, want to be left alone and are sick of being considered low quality or low performers for wanting to stay where they are. I've seen this happen and the way people speak to those people is abhorrent. They don't want to be forgotten just because they choose to not be visible, they want to get work done and get paid. Another way of putting it is that they work to live, not live to work. Once the day is over with, the office politics gets dumped in the doorway before they exit the premises.

You must know that in some industries, working with or speaking to the “right people” helps massively when it comes to promotions? I don’t think that’s completely unusual? Well, visibility in the office comes into that.

It’s fine if it’s not for you, but you don’t need to be stoppy about and make weird comparisons.

I am surprised people are allowed to do this. Rules around confidentiality and data security mean we are only allowed to work in the office or at an agreed (non public) location.

I have worked entirely from home bar a very occasional (like twice a year) in-person meeting for over twenty years, and I love it. But I do think that you need to have very firm boundaries about not getting sucked in to working outside your actual working hours.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated office room. I have a tiny fridge, one person soup maker, small kettle and comfy chair as well as my desk and PC set up. I go in there in the morning, having loaded up the fridge with what I need and only really come out to go to the loo or if I want a hot lunch that isn't soup. At the end of the day I come out, clear the fridge and wash up whatever I've used - and work is over.

If I was working at the kitchen table or whatever I think I would struggle with it a lot more. As it is, I'm basically working in an office which doesn't contain any annoying people or distractions and also doesn't involve commuting. This suits me really well. I'm an introvert doing very detail-oriented work and need the quiet to concentrate.

Covid was a nightmare. I had the rest of my family in and out of my space, including demands to print out homework sheets, scan essays to hand in, and give my input into gardening decisions or food shopping. Friends kept saying 'I suppose nothing much has changed for you, has it?' and I was like 'ACTUALLY I'M HAVING A TERRIBLE TIME - TOO MANY PEOPLE AND TOO MUCH NOISE'.

I have been fully WFH for 12 years (overseas companies) and love it. It came at a good time in my career where the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
I am neither strongly intro or extrovert.
I do have a rich and varied social and sporting life (clubs) outside of work and also have people in my village I go for a walk with during the day sometimes.
I am a lone parent and the flexibility it gives me has helped enormously.