Talk to me about working from home

[AlexaShutUp]

My job is soon to be made redundant (thanks Brexit ) so I'm looking around at other opportunities.

So far, I've seen a couple of options that would be a good fit with my skill set. One is on around the same salary as I'm on at present or slightly higher, but it's a significant commute from where I live (around 27 miles down the motorway). The other is a somewhat lower salary but working from home.

I am not keen on the long commute (have a very short one at present) so the WFH option is appealing, and we've paid off our mortgage so probably could afford to take a cut in salary for the sake of a better lifestyle. I'd also save money on petrol, parking, lunches etc. However, I'm just wondering about the reality of WFH and whether it's as good as it sounds.

If you WFH regularly, how do you find it? While I'd love to ditch the commute and have the ability to pop in a load of washing at lunchtime or whatever, I'm worried that I'd miss the structure and camaraderie of having to go to the office every day. Does anyone have any experiences that they can share?

I love working from home. But I am an introvert and I work better on my own.
If you need the company of others or you are not self disciplined then it's going to be difficult for you.

I think I could be quite disciplined about it, so I'm not that worried from that perspective. I struggle to get stuff done sometimes with all of the interruptions in the office, so it would be nice to be able to concentrate properly, but I do wonder if I'd feel a bit isolated at home. Having said that, the job would involve a lot of contact with others, so it might be ok.

May I ask what it is that you particularly like about WFH, Sage?

I am home based, and have been for 12 years now. It is isolating, and can be lonely on days I don't have a lot of meetings. I travel for work so its offset by a lot of people then, but when dh is away I really do miss adult interaction.

I work for an organisation where we WFH at least half the time; it’s great as long as you are reasonably disciplined and have a pretty independent workload. Would there be no office time? Would it be full time work?

I do half and half. On my wfh days I find it far easier to focus on written work but can find myself sidetracked eg if the weather’s nice and it would be a good day to dry some washing. As a result I tend to work longer hours, but nevertheless end up with a shorter day due to the lack of commute (one hour each way).
Our team are constantly in touch on the phone/Skype. I suppose you don’t overhear chit chat but I don’t massively miss that. I find dialling into meetings easier to do from home as it’s quieter here.
Personally I’d go full time wfh, especially if there’s lots of contact with others, as I really hate commuting

I've worked from home for 5 years and now live in a place where working from home is my only real option as I live in the sticks now. So will be doing that for the foreseeable future.

I love it, but I'm a huge introvert and hated working in offices. I love having no commute I roll out of bed about 15mins before I need to work! Done completely at 5, no commute home. Being able to do chores at lunchtime etc.

I miss the chat/friendship of working in an office. I don’t miss the commute and being there when tired and didn’t need to be.

I make it work by booking in exercise and meeting friends often. Else it can get lonely. I miss the feeling of being ‘senior’ but the freedom is great.

Thanks all for your comments. I've made some really good friends through work, so I am concerned about losing that aspect. We have such a laugh at the moment. Still, I guess I could try to meet up with friends more often. I also do voluntary work which brings me into regular contact with others.

Exercising regularly would also be important, I guess. My mental health can be a bit fragile at times, and I'm a little anxious about how WFH could impact on that.

Interesting that you miss the feeling of being "senior", new. I currently manage quite a large team, so might feel this as a bit of a loss. There would still be some line management responsibility in the new role, but it would be a bit different with everyone scattered geographically.

I work from home, it's difficult to stay motivated if you work for yourself. I don't know from the pov of being employed.
You can work in your pj's fit housework into your day, and as you say save money if you've previously woh.
I could never have done with office politics, doing the same thing day in day out. Seeing the same colleagues and having to make pleasantries.
I can't think of a worst way to waste a life.
Go for it, get lots of experience and then set up on your own, you won't regret it.

I’ve worked from home for years and have struggled with motivation and self discipline for all those years.

It’s probably easier l, though, if you work from home for a company and have set jobs to do every day. I’m self-employed, so nobody is telling me to do anything. And often I do sweet FA.

I do get depressed, morose and lose all my confidence when I work alone for too long.

I do 1-2 days a week from home and 2-3 days in the office.

In theory I love my wfh days as my commute is long & I get jobs done.

But in reality I feel miserable on my wfh days from lack of interaction. I spend a lot of time on video calls but it isn’t the same.

I won’t stop the day or 2 but would never switch to FT WFH.

I’d be very reluctant to go back to an office based job now. Working from home allow so many savings financially (travel, coffees, office clothes, parking etc) plus saves travel time.
We are paid an annual allowance to offset electricity, heating etc and get full IT support.
I probably go to London twice a month, at most. Definitely an advantage. We keep in touch remotely via Skype, virtual coffee breaks etc.

Thank you, really interesting responses. I guess I'm worried about the potential for it to be like the experience that Hasthis describes. Lots to think about...

I work ft from home and I love it. The whole company work remotely and we meet up every quarter at an away day type event. I don't find it isolating because we have several Skype calls a day in teams, or 1-on-1 so I still get that interaction but as it is scheduled I can get my head down and crack on with work in-between. I don't enjoy the inane chit chat that happens in the office so it's perfect for me. Plus all the usual benefits - putting a wash on, no commute, no workwear etc. One of the downfalls I found was being less active however DH also works from home so we make an effort to go for a walk at lunchtime.

Weirdly, working in a team where everyone is remote is actually easier - in my current team no one is in the same place, and only one person is actually office based (and thats her preference, she can wfh whenever she wants) - previously we had some wfh and 3 people in one office, 2 in another and it was a lot harder. This way, even though we have a 9 hour time difference between everyone, theres a lot more emphasis on catching up for a chat and getting together where we can

I've WFH for 20 years on and off. In various different roles.

My top tip is use the technology to make sure you are in contact with colleagues, Skype is particularly useful...and always get dressed before you come downstairs in the morning, every work day. Otherwise you can end up depressed and morose. I come down, make a coffee whilst the laptop is firing up and then I'm at the desk at 8am. Also I leave the desk at the end of the day and rarely look at it again until 8am the next day. You have to be disciplined in both directions.