Anyone else not enjoying WFH full time?

[Sallycinnamum]

Pre-covid I had a great work/life balance. I used to WFH two days a week and spent the other three days in our London office.

I enjoy my job and have a good relationship with my line manager and colleagues and never appreciated the small joy I got from browsing the shops in my lunch break! I work in a creative role too so it was much easier bouncing ideas of each other in team meetings when we were face to face.

My DH also wfh three days a week so we had all the school runs covered too.

For the first few months of lockdown it was a novelty being at home all the time but I now loathe and detest wfh full time. The endless conference calls, no human contact with colleagues and general worry about job security is really impacting on my mental wellbeing.

I've started to wonder if my general low mood and lack of motivation is really down to me being at home all day. I am a homebody by nature but I don't think I ever appreciated the enjoyment I got from working in London and just being out of the bloody house a few days a week.

I know I am in a fortunate position at the moment and I feel guilty even moaning about something other people would seem as so minor but i just wondered if anyone else was struggling WFH 5 days a week?

Hey, didn't want you to go unanswered

You need to find ways of breaking up the day, so you've a clear delineation between work and home, and are taking time out away from the home when you can.
Are you doing some exercise every day? Even a walk at "lunchtime" would help, it will boost your melatonin production by going out when the sun is strongest (haha- I say we that, but I know it's been completely clouded today), boost your lungs, and will help you recharge for the afternoon.
Are you able to walk for the school run, as that will help too?

Could you try to call someone from outside your family every day/every other day, just for a "hello" as that will help too, and you might not know but others will be struggling with this too.
The hardest thing is having no news all the time!

DH has been WFH since early march, and he tries to do something like a crossword at lunchtime (cryptic) to take his mind away from work and have a break. He can't go out as he's disabled, but he's getting v good at crosswords!

That also gives us something new to talk about... sad people we are!

@Sallycinnamum: you are not alone, I used to love my 1-2 WFH days a week, and 1st few months were fine, but all the time last 8 months is affecting my motivation now

I think exercise like PP states would help me, plus breaking up week a bit. I have a busy job but trying to meet a friend for a walk mid week, I managed it last week and helps my mood

Having a clear routine helps me,.. hard to get motivated but worth it I think

Yeah I think taking a walk each day would help as I've now got into the habit of working through my lunch break.

Just because you're at home doesn't mean you can't take breaks.

I think it's probably hard to separate what's because of working from home and what's because of other restrictions on our lives.

I worked from home pretty much full time pre Covid (1 or 2 days a month visiting the office) but the last 6 months have been much harder.

I'm WFH full time and am missing the office and as you say, the social interaction and lunchtime shopping.

I have to admit I love WFH but would prefer. A better balance, maybe 2 days per week in, 3 days at home.

I was reading some research on wfh and apparently your feelings are very normal.
Initially people enjoy wfh, getting up later as no commute, not having to go out in the rain etc. However over time people become demotivated and lonely and miss human interaction.
Think the author’s conclusion was that it would be better if we could all work from local hubs (this was pre Covid), and mix with other people, even if they were from other organisations.

Yes I had 4 days in the office and 1 at home. Now WFH full time, though with a shielding child I had no interest in travelling in when the office did open up in September. I found that scheduling ‘virtual coffee’ with colleagues has helped - 30 mins to chat about (mostly) non work related things as you would if you saw someone in the corridor or kitchen in the office. Most importantly, this is on a one to one basis so you aren’t lost in a conf call with lots of people.

I was going in one day a week until the latest lockdown and it was a life saver. Some of the shops had opened up and getting a Pret lunch was exciting!

I am now effectively living at work but I do make sure I switch off my laptop at 5pm. Luckily I work for an organisation that is very emphatic about not working over our allotted hours unless absolutely necessary, which helps.

Me, I hate it!

I can’t do my job properly as I work with families. I can’t stand staring at a screen all day long. My work computer is ancient and slow and our ‘specially designed’ system isn’t fit for purpose.

My main issue is I find it really hard to switch off from all the jobs that need doing around the house. I find myself ‘just’ popping a load of washing on or ‘just’ loading the dishwasher constantly. At least when you go out to work, you can shut the door on all the little jobs and do them when you get home. And of course we’re using a lot more cups, plates etc as DH and I are both WFH so no sooner have I put the dishwasher on, the pots start piling up again 🙈.

I am finding it wearing. My idea would be 3 days at home , 2 in the office.

I am shite at making myself have a break and feel a lot of pressure to just keep going and going.

I miss popping to the shops at lunchtime just for a walk. I used to pick up lunch once or twice a week whereas now I have to make my own every day (yes I know this is spoilt but I always do all the food for everyone in my house - no one ever cooks for me so this was a lovely break).

I miss seeing my team who I love. It's not as easy to pick up when something is up with people and they need a bit of a metaphorical cuddle. You rely on people saying they are stressed or busy and some people just don't.

Teams calls are draining all the time. I get so talked out by the end of the day then it's straight into the wife/mother stuff with no nice 30 minutes drive listening to an audio book or the radio to decompress.

The one positive though is sex. Once or twice a week dh encourages me put aside half an hour. Genuinely is great for wellbeing and whilst we're talking about Sainsbury's basics rather then an m&s feast, it makes all the difference so I really do recommend it to those where it's practical.

I think I'm going to restart my yoga routine as I was going 15 minutes a day and it really helped on all sorts of levels.

I have no excuse really as the DC are at school and I've got the lounge to myself. I have got so lazy over the last 6 months too!

I absolutely hate it, it's done horrible things to my already dodgy MH, although we need the money I am considering leaving. I don't want to get signed off as it's savage on the rest of the team, but with talks of it being for the foreseeable future I can't. There are a few people who have been 'allowed' in the office, and if they have a child off isolating etc can have the time off paid even though they have laptops; I'm going into my 3rd week of working more hours than ever with a toddler at home.

I am happy to do it for good, but two of my colleagues have admitted they don't, partly because some people won't respect boundaries and expect joining of meetings at times when they were never in the office.

I hate it too. I worked about 50% from home for years and since last year have worked mostly in an office but from home whenever I had a particular reason to, which probably worked out at about once a week. Doing it full-time is nothing like that, and it's also so much worse when working at home means you actually have to be at home - I used to work in coffee shops etc sometimes before to break it up. I'm really struggling with what feels like low-level depression (I've had several episodes of depression in the past, a couple of them quite severe) and I really don't think full-time WFH is helping. I asked to go into the office one day a week but wasn't allowed because I'm pregnant. I've got myself into a really bad habit of being slow to start in the mornings and so then feeling like I can't take a proper lunch break later because I have to make it up - I'm going to try and break it this week because it's really bad for me and for my mental health.

I definitely think there's a novelty to WFH that wears off - everyone else in my team was raving about how brilliant it was to begin with, and I was a bit more ambivalent having done it before (it was seasonal in my old job, so although I wfh about 50% of the time it was a lot more in the summer). I've noticed that everyone else is now a lot less enthusiastic about it than they were eight months ago.

WFH full time since March.I miss everything everybody has already mentioned,pluss with us all at home now all of the time nothing stays clean or tidy, so I am doing more housework than ever...

I long for the days of leaving a clean house and eight hours later returning to a still clean house.

I hate it, pre this lockdown I was doing 2 days in the office. A great balance

I'm fed up with it as well. It's very hard to switch off and I'm really missing the people. It's the humour that gets me through and that's gone as we're all on our own.

I could have written your post. At first I loved WFH for the obvious reasons, no commute, no mental load of having to get clothes set out for the next day.

But now it’s really making me struggle with my mental health. I’ve found it particularly bad when I’m not as busy as normal, and my imposter syndrome is multiplied and I’m convinced I’m going to be fired. I’m less productive but also find it harder to take breaks, so spend my day feeling guilty.

My office has recently said we can go into the office 1 day a week for ‘well-being reasons’ and I am loving it - seeing other people has really lifted my mood. Could you see if one day a week could be an option? Or even work in a coffee shop a couple of mornings for a change of scene?

Agreed that the work involved has increased especially when we're all at home. I'm lucky, I like my family and we have a small office for one of us and the children have rooms each even if they are small but it's now feeling very claustrophobic.

I was fine but then work really piled the pressure on and the demands became unachievable and relentless. We're essential government workers, working well over our contracted hours each day and people are now breaking and going off on sick leave.

@Tigger03 that is me to a tee re imposter syndrome. I am constantly stressing that I'm not doing enough work and if there were redundancies would I be for the chop. It's exhausting.

Unfortunately we can only go into the office now for exceptional reasons but once this lockdown is over hopefully i can go back in for at least one day a week.

Loathe it. Our office opened up in September on a part time, rota basis and I started going in 2 days a week which was SO nice. Now with the new lockdown we’re back to full time wfh. I find it difficult to switch off in the evenings, find myself more anxious about work generally, and get thoroughly fed up of my own four walls and being with DH 24/7.
Helpful things - fresh air every day if possible. I don’t manage it every single day but try to take a 30 minute walk either at lunchtime or in the evening (less so now it’s dark).

Lunch away from my desk. I go and sit in the living room and watch an episode of friends or something while I eat.

Lots of screen breaks.

I am really hoping that this lockdown will only be 4 weeks (wishful thinking I’m sure) and that I’ll be able to go back to the office again in December. It genuinely made such a difference to my state of mind.

Im not loving it either tbh. I work PT 3 days and look after my 3yo on the other 2 days. I used to wfh one day and be in the office two days. I miss office life but im enjoying not having a 3h daily commute. I also work through lunch but start a bit later in the AM. I'm pregnant and enjoy that flexibility. But dear God its dull wfh. DH is too but we don't really see each other 9-5.