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Original poster

WFH is driving me crazy but I have no other option... anyone else?

22 replies

WFHpain · 15/09/2020 21:09

My company is working from home full time now. All meetings have switched to virtual ones, and they have even got rid of our city centre office during lockdown as the bosses have decided we don't need one.

The problem is that I just don't think I can deal with it much longer. I am so very bored of sitting in my house; the work is usually quite dry (writing up reports and phone calls, online meetings etc), to the point that in the last week or so I've barely been doing anything. I seem to have lost all motivation, as I move from my bedroom to the bathroom to the table, then to the kitchen and back to bed!

What can I do to reinvigorate myself - it's not like I can disappear to the local cafe or library all day for a change of scenery. I'm really struggling and I'm afraid that soon it's going to be noticed that my productivity has gone downhill.

Has anyone else felt like this? Everyone else in the department seems to be loving it...

OP posts:

JamSarnie · 15/09/2020 21:19

Things I do are:-

Exercise before work then get dressed and set up for the day to make up for the lack of commute.

Have drinks etc in the fridge that I used to buy at work.

Make sure I take breaks and sit outside or away from the laptop.

Take a decent lunch break.

Clear boundary of stopping work at normal time.

Essentially trying to keep some of the routine of what I had in the office but modified for home.

penpotted · 15/09/2020 21:30

Agree with exercise before work.

Set yourself short bursts of work with allocated break times.

Get out for a walk at lunch.

Is there any reason you can't go and work from a cafe even for half a day?

Can you get out to see people in the evening or meet friends for a walk so you're in the house less overall?

I love working from home but am also getting slightly fed up of the same four walls so you have my sympathies!

DespairingHomeowner · 15/09/2020 21:31

I have my ups & downs with WFH

Like PP a routine helps massively:

walk or exercise before work
make up / tidy outfit helps my mood
breaks
a set place & start and finish times for work

Could you do something social to break up the week: walk or coffee with friends, or video chat with colleagues?

Eng123 · 15/09/2020 21:33

Admittedly I like working from home!
Would it help to schedule your day so you know what you will be working on when. Can collaborate on projects with colleagues?

wheresmymojo · 15/09/2020 21:34

Why can't you go to the local cafe?

Are you in a local lockdown?

wheresmymojo · 15/09/2020 21:37

Also if you have friends working from home you could take your laptop to theirs and sort of co-work...

So both still working but taking it in turns to make tea and having a chat now and then plus different scenery...

I don't know your financial position but are there actual co-working spaces near where you live that you can pay per day?

CorianderLord · 15/09/2020 21:39

Reach out to your company and ask for support. They should have some provision in place for people struggling with WFH.

GreatestShowUnicorn · 15/09/2020 21:48

Someone near me has set up a weekly wfh coffee meet up, Friday lunch I think.

dementedma · 15/09/2020 21:50

I really sympathise OP. I hate wfh, really hate it and have lost all motivation and interest in my job. Sitting at my kitchen table looking at a screen is just mind numbing. Our bosses would let us back but Scottish govt says we can't as we are "non essential". Bizarrely, we could take our laptops to the pub and work from there! There is no rhyme or reason to any of it and I fear a full mental breakdown before much longer

RichardMarxisinnocent · 15/09/2020 21:57

It's all very well people suggesting pop to the local cafe or round to a friend who is also wfh, but some jobs are difficult to do on just a small laptop screen. In the office I have two monitors, at home I was using my laptop attached to a monitor, I would be really slow and unproductive working at the local cafe on just the laptop (not to mention not very comfortable if tables and chairs not very ergonomic)

OP my solution was to go back to the office, but obviously that isn't an option for you. Things I was going to try if I had to wfh for any longer were:

go for a walk before work
video call a colleague sometimes instead of messaging on teams
pop to a local coffee shop for a takeaway coffee some lunchtimes
make I took regular breaks throughout the day - I felt as if I had to be working full pelt at my laptop for every second of the day, whereas in the office I would stop every now and then and talk to a colleague about a different project or piece of work, or have a quick chat about something non work related. I needed to make sure I took those same small breaks at home to give my mind a rest

Original poster

WFHpain · 15/09/2020 22:08

@wheresmymojo

Why can't you go to the local cafe?

Are you in a local lockdown?

No, thankfully, but the cafes round here are on very short opening hours, and tables are only allowed to be reserved for 1.5 hours or so.

OP posts:

Original poster

WFHpain · 15/09/2020 22:08

Just going to read the other replies now!

OP posts:

NekoShiro · 16/09/2020 07:57

I might be wrong but is it the fact that there's no work to do that's getting to you, lots of time doing nothing? Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy that you could do in the down time? My partners in the same position as you, barely any work maybe an hour a day max but still has to be sat at his work laptop incase and be there for meetings, so he's making a video game in the other 7 hours, he used to spend those seven hours at work wandering around looking for stuff to fill the time while counting down until he could go home to work on his game for just an hour but now he's getting paid to work on it and he feels so much better about his situation.

You could read, create art, take a free course on one of the many free online universities, you could use Pinterest to plan out decorating your house for the upcoming seasons or new makeup/hair/fashion for fall, you could go onto the earn £10 a day September thread that's on here and start earning some extra money, learn a new instrument, a new language, you could download Blender a free 3D modeling program and learn to create 3D sculptures or animations, learn how to knit/crochet from YouTube.

Whatever it is that you're interested in I'm sure you can find something to put a bit more joy and variety into your day.

Original poster

WFHpain · 22/09/2020 18:36

Oh god so now we know there’s another six months of this to go. Is anyone else in the same boat?

@NekoShiro the work is plentiful, just rather repetitive and can be monotonous, even though it does require brain power and can be tiring!

OP posts:

Yamashita40 · 22/09/2020 18:43

I was just the same. I was doing very little at home. I thought once the kids were in school things would improve but they didn't and as my job is constantly changing I found I had no idea how to do it anymore.
I begged to go back to the office and I'm so much happier. I love chatting to colleagues, being able to ask people questions without ringing them.

Can you look for another job?

TheSpottedZebra · 22/09/2020 19:00

Do you normally chat throughout the day with colleagues?
If so, could you have a phone or videocall with them open for a few hours. So NOT a meeting, but just for the type of random shite that people chat as they work alongside each other?

LindaEllen · 22/09/2020 19:40

I've worked from home through choice for the last 8 years, and what I've found helps the most is to work in short, sharp bursts. So, I'll do an hour, then go for a walk or a run (or even a swim but I don't fancy that at the moment), then another hour, lunch, another hour then maybe a bit of housework ..

I also find that working from home means I don't have to put the same number of hours in that I might at an office. I can get much more done in 4 hours from home than I might in 7 hours working in an office with all of its distractions. So don't push yourself to work super long days unless you have to. But try and break the day up a little bit, keep in touch with your friends from work, and remember that this WILL pass :).

DominaShantotto · 22/09/2020 19:53

I'm a mature student stuck with online learning all year and it's soooo fucking lonely and such a bloody trudge to just get through one lecture recording - normally I have such a passion and enjoyment for the subject and right now I'm having to do things in 10 minute chunks with the pause button (thank God I started really early so I'm waaaay ahead of where I need to be).

Tis shite and I can see my grades taking a nosedive this year - the staff are really really trying - but it's such a crap mode of delivery compared to our "lectures" which were always more Q+A seminar-esque anyway as we only have a tiny course cohort.

Priddypuddycat · 22/09/2020 20:25

I hate it too , give me an office any day, living in my own I find it really boring and so hard to switch off

Lovingitinlockdown · 22/09/2020 21:21

I'm really struggling atm with WFH. I was fine at the start (even enjoyed it) but I'm now sick of sitting in the same room endlessly and being unproductive. I've asked to go back into the office and after today, I don't think that will be allowed. I'm really struggling with motivation and I'm getting behind with my work. I've asked for some counselling via work in the hope this will help. I'm exercising (swimming) early on at 7.30am which I'm pleased about. I'm also eating better/less but just can't crack the motivation! Today's announcement hasn't helped either.

DespairingHomeowner · 22/09/2020 21:55

Easy to say but hard to do - focusing on 1 day at a time & making plans to have some fun is what I’m trying to do ...

I loved WFH at the start (vs exhausting commute) but even I’m finding it a drag now..

Teenageromance · 22/09/2020 22:06

This is a bit old school but I find making a list at the start of the week of all I need/want to achieve that week. Not just work but home life as well. Then tick off as I go - then wfh feels like an advantage as you get through your to do list quicker but also shows up the days I procrastinate like crazy.
Works for me.

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