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Working from home made me cry today

52 replies

Ghostlyglow · 02/09/2020 21:22

Through sheer frustration. The vpn connection kept dropping and I couldn't figure it out. No one was answering phones that we're supposed to ring for help and when they eventually did they weren't any help! I lost 3 hours of the working day. I know I shouldn't care because technical stuff isn't my fault but I just wondered - how do you cope with days like that when you're wfh on your own? It's different when you're in an office and you can talk to people. I didn't handle it well at all. If anyone has any tips on keeping calm on days like that I'd really appreciate them Smile

OP posts:
thedevilinablackdress · 03/09/2020 08:34

No one should have to give personal mobile no.s except for emergency use. If the systems aren't in place to support you, you can only highlight this and get back to enjoying a coffee or hanging out a washing ( one of the few things I enjoy about WFH)

DelurkingAJ · 03/09/2020 08:53

I hear you. My employer has genuinely been amazing through all this but I have moments where I want to cry at the thought for WFH for the next six months (a guess...but I suspect a reasonable one). They’ve polled us on how many days we’d like to be in the office when we event they back and I said 3-4. I never realised I’d miss the place so much!

FinnyStory · 03/09/2020 08:54

But but but, I thought everyone was loving wfh and being more productive than ever Grin

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Ghostlyglow · 03/09/2020 08:59

You can only go back (to where I work) if you can prove it's causing mental health issues - you have to go through an assessment process. Lots of people didn't want to WFH. We didn't get to choose.

OP posts:
HamishDent · 03/09/2020 09:06

Just make sure your FM is aware of your issues and the impact on your work. Keep calling the help desk and logging your calls. Keep records of the issues and associates downtime in case you are asked about it in the future and make sure you are logging that time appropriately (assuming you have to complete a timesheet). Any IT issues should be non billable. Apart from that make sure the issue isn’t with your internet connection. If it is, get it sorted ASAP.

That’s all you can do really.

thedevilinablackdress · 03/09/2020 09:06

I think we all work in the same place 😂

Sallycinnamum · 03/09/2020 09:08

I've stated going into the office one day a week and it's made such a difference to my overall wellbeing.

It's been great to speak to my colleagues and be away from my bloody kitchen table!

I noticed the streets around my office in London were much busier than it was a few weeks ago so I presume people are starting to filter back in.

And the joy of having a lunch I hadn't made was amazing!

MarshaBradyo · 03/09/2020 09:13

@Ghostlyglow

You can only go back (to where I work) if you can prove it's causing mental health issues - you have to go through an assessment process. Lots of people didn't want to WFH. We didn't get to choose.
How do you feel about starting the process? If it’s having an impact on you then this may be for you too
BiddyPop · 03/09/2020 09:19

My current section doesn't have a WhatsApp group, and I don't know if the one I'm moving to next week does (I'm going to suggest setting it up though) but the other 2 sections I've worked in this year do (I was in 1 section for 5 years, got transferred just as Covid happened, and got moved to another to do something short as an emergency and moving to the other new one next week as they had a more urgent need than the original new one - so it's been particularly frustrating learning new work and new teams 3 times over the past 6 months!!).

But the 2 I'm still on, while mostly used for general news and funny chat, have both had occasions where they have been used to figure out some people's tech issues. And to pass work from 1 half of a team to the other in a couple of instances (sometimes its an issue in our city and 1 of those teams is split between this city and another so they have a different set of servers etc).

DH understands computers better than me (hell, my 14 year old has sometimes resolved an issue I couldn't understand!), but I am not dreadful compared to some I see on the chats. I just take my time and work through the steps I can do. I get in touch with the IT helpdesk if possible to assist. But sometimes you can't get them or they already have a queue of urgent problems ahead of me - so I have to wait.

So if I have to wait, and if the system is properly down, I pull out a report I was meant to read before now, do some organising and filing, or shredding confidential docs for disposal - well actually its burning them at home), or handwriting things to put into the system when it gets up and running again. Maybe with a longer cup of tea and a biscuit to cheer me up on a bad day.

Because it is probably not my fault the system is down, I'll do my best to get up and going again, but I am only 1 person and fixing IT is not what I get paid for and is not my expertise - so I will do what I can to keep doing some aspect of my job, or something else useful for my job, until I can get back to what I was at.

And the bosses, who are all dealing with similar, are generally very accepting of that.

Or I have very occasionally decided to do something else entirely at home, knowing I can't get back to the computer for a couple of hours - and then gone back into it later in the evening for those couple of hours instead and done what was needed then, when I should have been finished (but had taken that personal time earlier instead). Using the flexibility of working from home to its advantage. (In reality, I usually end up doing way too many hours at work and going back to it too many nights, so the odd time I take a couple of hours during core work time are very rare).

BikeRunSki · 03/09/2020 09:23

OP, I hope today is better for you. I think we’ve all had days like that in the last few months.

My crowning glory was when I managed to break my laptop screen. It was so bad I couldn’t see enough to log on through the internal government security to run it off a external monitor. I was put on an 8 week wait list, despite having an incident response role and all my work having been deemed “nationally critical”. It was very frustrating, and made me incredibly anxious.

I think the pre-Covid WFH “dream” was always unspoken “when I want or need to”. As you say, nobody ever chose isolation or being at close quarters to their household 24/7. I certainly didn’t chose to mix and match delivering nationally critical infrastructure schemes with KS2 teaching for 12+ hours a day!

It’s easy to say “all you can do it report it to IT”, but I am always fearful of the work building up in the downtime.

notacooldad · 03/09/2020 09:26

I just text my manager and say the IT is down. I'll do something else uf I can but if not 🤷‍♀️
Its not a biggie for me although I can see how it is hugely disruptive and problematic in other sectors.

Couchbettato · 03/09/2020 09:44

I'd bang netflix on my phone and watch some TV, or go and get an early lunch.

They can't be that desperate to get you back online if they're half arsing it, so just meet their efforts and then do what you want.

ragged · 03/09/2020 12:15

how do you cope with days like that when you're wfh on your own

I fire off emails to people who are supposed to fix it. If truly nothing else I can be getting on with, I go for a cycle ride (or browse twitter) & try again later. I quite like my job & put in extra unpaid hours & mutter dark things about poor IT support, but no way am I gonna make the job important enough to cry over.

Lazysundayafternoons · 03/09/2020 12:57

My wifi has been off for over two hours so have been disconnected from work.
Have rang the wifi provider and there is a fault they are working on.
I messaged the team covid 19 WhatsApp group to let them know and got no reply.
I'm really mad cos I always feel like I need to make up the time (even though the policy says we dont have to) so I'll be making up any time I've lost this evening Sad

EasilyDeleted · 03/09/2020 13:39

That's what I ended up doing yesterday. By the time I got into the office it was 10.30 so I ended up doing a couple of hours in the evening to catch up (VPN fortunately working by then again). I know no one would have minded if I'd left it but it all just ends up piling up and I couldn't do any of it offline.

thedevilinablackdress · 03/09/2020 13:47

Don't make up the time. The policy is there for a reason.

Lazysundayafternoons · 03/09/2020 14:12

Were not even allowed into the office on a situation like that @EasilyDeleted so I'm just sat here twiddling my thumbs waiting for the wifi to be fixed.
@thedevilinablackdress the policy is written by HR/higher managers but that wouldn't stop my immediate manager and teammates from holding a grudge against me for not making up the time

Sexnotgender · 03/09/2020 14:16

I feel your pain! I’m still WFH with a toddler as nursery isn’t back until Monday.

My connection is super slow for no bloody reason, everything is taking 3 times as long.

We had someone in to fix our boiler and I didn’t realise he’d left the door to the room open and my toddler fell down the stairs 😔 thankfully he’s fine but feel like the worst mother ever. That door is NEVER left open and I thought the engineer was downstairs.

EasilyDeleted · 03/09/2020 14:33

I'm half and half home and office at the moment and because of the bank holiday several people are off this week so it wasn't a problem going in on my "home day" social distancing wise.

Ghostlyglow · 03/09/2020 15:17

It's shit for all of us sometimes, isn't it? Thanks everyone for replying and reassuring me I'm not on my own Smile

OP posts:
Lazysundayafternoons · 03/09/2020 21:05

My wifi came back at ten to 8 this evening! (It was off for 9 hours).
Work rang in the meantime and said i dont have to make up the time, but I have a couple of things I needed to get done before the morning so am doing them now.

Lazysundayafternoons · 03/09/2020 21:09

And when I logged back on I had an email confirming an interview for a promotion Confused

KatherineJaneway · 04/09/2020 06:47

I thought I'd go back to work 2 - 3 days a week but in reality it's only 1 at the moment. The office has hugely reduced capacity so it is nothing like the office of old and it is such a huge faff to get ready and go in. For me it is a break in my week doing something different and I get a lunch I don't have to make.

BiddyPop · 04/09/2020 10:39

@Lazysundayafternoons - I hope it wasn't too awful getting things done for this morning, and a nice surprise getting that interview notification!!

Lazysundayafternoons · 05/09/2020 07:38

Thanks @BiddyPop so glad it's the weekend now.

Oh the interview is via video so I have to contend with potential technology issues then aswell Sad

Absolutely dreading it as I know the two interviewers. I think that makes it worse as if I mess up/dont know the answer to a question that I should know, I will make a fool out of myself and have to go back and work alongside them anyway. They are in my dept but are VERY senior. This weekend I need to get some smart clothes and some new makeup, I've been living in comfy clothes since WFH started in March.

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