Working from home- tell us how you actually spend your time-lighthearted

[MsMiaWallace]

So I've got to wfh as from today.
Due to my job role there's no way work will supply me with enough to fill 7.5 hours everyday.

Does anyone watch a cheeky box set or have a bath etc?

Not at the moment but had a stint in the past.
I did the washing and enjoyed hanging clothes out. I know it's a weird one but it felt nice getting 15min fresh air in the sun that particular summer - simple pleasures!
Now and again I'd go for a half hour beauty treatment

Working from home for the next 4 weeks here and so far busy enough that I start at 8 on my laptop and could carry on past 5

It’s quite hard to stop to get things done once I’m focused.

However, I’m not expecting it to be like that every day and I know tomorrow will be less pressured so after working manically I will take some time out.
Get some washing done.
Make a tasty lunch.
Lots of loose leaf teas.
A bit of meditation and yoga.
All between answering a few emails.

If I wasn’t part of the high risk group I would be popping to shops or seeing friends but if I want to go out now it will be just for a walk somewhere quiet.

Lucky enough to have a big garden I can potter I’m for a bit

Well yesterday was my first day i didn't get dressed and drank several tequilas so I'm not hopeful but I'm going to do better today I did actually get a surprising amount of work done

I work from home as a freelancer so self employed. When I'm busy it's head down get on. When I'm quiet I like to play my Xbox once I've finished my graft

I've got some quilting on the go.

Tequila!! 😂 😂. I thought I was living it up having baileys in my coffee. 😁

I wfh a lot anyway and I've found the most important thing is to get away from the idea that doing anything other than working solid is skiving. I work hard and get more done because of fewer interruptions but I also put washing on, put dinners on, do a bit of cleaning, etc. Chances are most people are up and about at work all the time to speak to colleagues, the toilet and kitchen are probably further at work if in a big office, so if you don't move around and take breaks at home it can make your body ache, you can get dehydrated and you'll be knackered and stiff at the end of each day.

Yes I've never had to work from he before.
I can't help but think that doing the washing or a bit of telly is skiving lol

My lunchtimes are glorious. I have a nap, or a shower, or watch a bit of TV. I can sometimes crochet whilst on a conference call too. The only thing I miss is the social contact, but we are sending IMs to each other and putting funny stuff on our MS Teams pages.

This was me trying to work from home this morning. It took me an hour and a half after these photos were taken to actually get out of bed and get the laptop

I used to work from home every wednesday. I would take a break every 90 minutes or so and woukld load the washing machine etc. I certainyl had enougn to do in my day (I used to write funding propsoals and evaluation reports) but enjoyed being able to largely manage my time.

Now I shall be trying to keep an office afloat and have swtiched all client meetings to telecons and skype. I am anticipating that for a week or so we will be as busy as ever and then as time goes on things will gradually taper off.

I have bought potting mix and vegetable seeds in case of the worst.

Today was my first ever day working from home. I logged on at 8:30 and cleared my emails. Workload is light just now so I had everything done by 1pm, so I had some food and then worked on my Master’s dissertation until 5pm

I answered any emails as they came in and kept an eye on work appearing but nothing came in. Another week like this and I’ll have finished my first draft

DP WFH anyway but he's not been able to do much because the VPN is overloaded. Currently he's working 6-8am to download stuff to work on, then again from 6-8pm to upload and send emails. In between he is working a bit but mainly not.

Today he was scrubbing skirting boards

I cant stop eating when I'm WFH. When im in the office I just have breakfast, lunch and dinner, but at home I just eat eat eat

My workload is crazy at the moment.
But none of it seems important in the grand scheme of things.
Work just being piled on me due to other colleagues self isolating yet I’m pregnant, part time and not based in the office and with only a few weeks left until maternity leave.
I’m more stressed then ever and glad to be going on maternity leave.
Before I would have offered to extend my work a few more weeks to closer to due date but I’m not coping.

I didn’t stop today until 8

We can both work from home quite often anyway and as lots of people are out of the office the things like meeetings that we would go in for are mostly happening remotely (and taking longer).
So atm we both have normal to heavy workloads, expectation that we can do our jobs as they aren't affected but we have the kids at home to look after.

We aren't in the UK, but are expecting full school closures in the next week or so, - we really need to work out a plan for working that doesn't drive us both crazy.

I work from home permanently. I use my getting a drink time more productively than when I was in the office - the washing gets loaded/ tumble drier on/ dishwasher sorted while the kettle boils. If I'm on a conference call where my input isn't massive I often put myself on mute and fold laundry or some other task that allows me to listen easily and drop back in if needed.
My hours flex around international meeting times, so I often start early, have an extended lunch break to run and another break when ds comes home then some late work. I'm way more productive than in the office

I wfh once a week usually but we've just closed our offices (in Australia) so now wfh until Mat leave kicks in.
I get up at the usual time (have a pre-schooler so no luxurious sleep ins here), have breakfast in peace and quiet while DH does drop off. Go for a walk, shower and get dressed. Casual comfy clothes but it helps me get in the right head space.
Make a coffee, washing on while waiting for kettle to boil. Boot up laptop and get cracking. Always plenty to do as I'm part time but historically was a full time role.
I have big jug of water that I work through which also means regular bathroom breaks and forces me to stretch my legs. Will often do something quick like strip a bed and leave to air, wipe surfaces in a specific room etc each time I'm up. Gets the blood flowing and a quick mental break. If I'm on phone calls I'm often folding washing or similar.
I like to keep order as I can't work when the place is a mess and we are in a small apartment!
I do find I'm much more productive at home though as there are less interruptions but I miss the social side.
I also find I often do more hours from home because I'm not stressing as much about leaving to pick up DD from daycare. On the upside these get logged and paid as overtime.
I do love that I can squeeze in a nap before I do pick ups in the afternoon some days though!

Everyone in my office works from home on Fridays anyway do it feels like Friday every day this week! I get the full washing baskets emptied, washed and dried on Fridays. I did an extra towel and flannel wash today due to CV and nearly forgot to pick the kids up cos I forgot the day!

Taking phone calls so unfortunately not too much chance to even put a wash on as it's all monitored. I did enjoy a cheeky bag of pombears around 11 am though.

I'm WFH at the moment but as of next week will have to go into the office in London to do something that I can't do at home at least one day per week. I will be going on late and not staying long though, and the trains are so quiet there will be very few people about so I can distance myself.

I snuck out to the pot shop for cbd oil for my cat, then dropped into Popeye’s for a box of chicken on the way home. The guilt is killing me. 😳

I’ve done one day and I feel cooped up! I emptied the fridge out and cleaned it, I know how to live...
I think tomorrow I will drive somewhere and go for a walk for a while to clear the cobwebs away. I actually missed my drive home tonight, I felt like I didn’t really leave work!

Spent much of yesterday morning cursing at the VPN. Got it sorted and have been absolutely flat out since, worked through my lunch breaks and finished later. In fairness we’ve been hectic for a while but in the office I was much better at taking breaks. Have decided I’m going to make sure I go out for a walk at lunchtimes moving forward - I usually walk to and from work so am missing that bit of activity and fresh air. Being able to bung on some washing between calls/emails was nice though - did all the sheets and towels so feel like a proper clean mnetter and not the slob I usually am

I’m feeling sorry for colleagues that either have young children to wrangle or live in shared houses so have housemates clanging around. Also some colleagues can’t work from home and are stressing about falling behind on workload due to absence etc so we’re doing our best to support them. I suspect if it gets worse we may be asked to volunteer to go out and plug the gaps, so am quietly planning out my team’s workload into priorities to see what we can juggle.

The next few weeks / months will be challenging but I am very grateful to a) still have a stable job; and b) have the ability to work from home.

I'm similar to CMOTDibbler - I've wfh for > 25 years , the last 15 or so part time. Except I seem to get as much done as some full-timers.

If you really don't have enough work and feel guilty about it, maybe find online courses to hone your skills or learn something new which would benefit your job.