Am I sad that vaccine news makes me sad???

[Esbm2015]

I’m happy of course that we’re getting a vaccine which will hopefully prevent deaths and illness and stop us having to have restrictions on our lives. It’s just ... I’ve found I’ve actually enjoyed working from home, seeing my husband more and actually cold fear flooded through me at the thought of having to slog back into the office instead. I’ve felt so much more productive this year at home, so much more relaxed and my mental health and health in general have never been better. I find lots of people can’t wait to be back to the office and find it more productive. I find ours like a strait jacket and not inspiring or productive at all. I loathe having to pay a ton of money out for a train ticket to just go and sit in a room when this year has proved with technology my job can be done if anything much better anywhere. Sadly a lot of my team live in the city so will no doubt want to go back to the office and then I’ll feel like I have to! Office just seems so old fashioned and reigimented now. I really hope we can agree to a few days split office and home and it doesn’t creep up in days having to go in for meetings by people ignoring the fact you’re working from home. Sorry rant over!

Life didn't really change all that much for me this year. Little things I'm looking forward to coming back, but we've worked all the way through as usual. Schools being off was the only big thing but I don't work school hours anyway.

I will be happy for a bit of normality for everyone else. It's hit people I know so hard mentally.

I think your feelings about this may depend on where you live too.
I'm bloody delighted at the prospect of a vaccine as we've been living under the highest restrictions ( bar two weeks in the summer) since March. I'm fed up of it now.
I miss my family, i miss my friends and I'm worried that the very vibrant social life in my lovely village won't exist any more because pubs and restaurants can't open.

We need things to get back to normal now

I hope OP you can organise things so that your work life balance suits you well from now on. Good luck!

I’m the complete opposite. The lack of control in my life this year has caused my mental health to spiral and I’m in a perilously bad position that could tip at any point. I’m desperate to get back to the office and life as we know it and have some semblance of control of my own life.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55133081

Watch the video here OP.

There is nothing to be sad about. Having to go back to the office and endure a commute is nothing compared to what these people are going through.

If you can manage to do your job well working from home, then going into the office should be a minority of the time post Covid. Anyone pressurising you to come into the office full time is a form of harassment in a way.

Not really. Your contract has your place of work stated in it, if you wish to put in a flexible working request you can do that but your employer has every right to reject it and insist you come into the office for whatever reason they want. If you want a job that is 100% wfh then it is up to you to find one.

I'm with you OP.

I love WFH, I have started exercising in the morning instead of wasting time in a commute (zero exercise before that so quite a big step for me and my health!).
Another positive aspect for us is that pre-lockdown DH would come home when the DC were ready to go to bed, now he sees way more of them and it has improved their relationship hugely. They used to push him away and prefer being with me, now it is more balanced.

This kind of thing makes me quite afraid for the people who live places where working from home has been absolutely awful. For a person in their early 20s at the start of their career who has maybe moved to a new place for their first job and whose workplace is where their social life starts, I can't imagine anything worse.

I would not worry, most companies will not be getting rid of their offices. The novelty of wfh has worn off and there is a big competitive advantage to having an office.

Outside of basic tasks people aren't really as productive as they say they are, they like to think they are because wfh suits them but productivity is subjective and it will be down to their employer to decide. A job is more than doing your tasks - working in teams, learning from each other, onboarding new starters with them learning from you, leaning over a desk to ask something or correct someone. People are fed up with faceless zoom calls too where you can't read a room and people just sit in silence.

We flirted with the idea of going fully remote in the summer but recently lost a pitch to a new client and it was fairly obvious our pitch was not as good as our competitor because it was put together remotely whereas our competitor were back in the office collaborating on it when it was feasible to do so.

Once you find companies losing out on customers opting for companies that have an office (due to various reasons) there won't be a lot of choice in the matter. I have noticed that lots of things have taken a lot longer than I would expect such as sorting general queries with HMRC, dealing with solicitors, insurance stuff, etc... I suspect it is mostly due to people working from home and not having the access to things that having an office set-up brings. Our company will be more likely to use other companies that have offices due to this reason.

Not to mention that those that wfh will subconsciously be sidelined in their careers from not being in an office. It's human nature. Someone who is seen daily in an office is far more likely to be promoted or get a pay rise than someone who only comes in once in a while.

I am ecstatic for everyone who has suffered so much with lonliness and fear. That by far outweighs the slight sadness of the less wfh and spending such lovely time with my little family.
I do get how you feel, although I can't wait to get back to some normality but I will be wfh a few days a week going forward. Our company is fine about it. I am so much happier at the thought of a mix of both.

I am also not so keen on the commute but I happily commute again if I can also do all the things I cannot do at the moment.

Meeting friends properly, seeing and hugging them, visiting family abroad, going somewhere spontaneously instead of prebooking for weeks in advance or not getting a slot at all, trying on clothes instead of online shopping and sending it back.

The list goes on and on.

Work wise there are already noises about being mor open to flexiworking and I think most of us will do it. But I also know enough who really struggle with no space at home, not everyone has a spare room with space for a desk, lots of people I know still work from the dining table or a tiny desk stuffed in a corner.

@sally067

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55133081

Watch the video here OP.

There is nothing to be sad about. Having to go back to the office and endure a commute is nothing compared to what these people are going through.

Oh give over she’s allowed to feel sad about whatever she feels sad about! Who are you to judge what upsets people?! It’s like telling someone who’s broken their foot they can’t dare say they are in pain because someone else in the world has broken their leg which is clearly worse, how inconsiderate .

I guess it’s swings and roundabouts. I have to say I won’t be sad to see the end of Covid 19. I work for NHS in Critical Care and I’ve been keeping a diary, making notes and taking photos ( where appropriate ) with the intention of writing a book.

Well I've worked from home for the past 5 years and will continue to do so when this is over so no, I don't feel sad about that.

I don't know a single person currently working from home whose organisation hasn't said they can continue working at least partially from home when this is over. DH works in finance in the city in a very corporate, bums on seats, 9-6 type role and he's been told he basically only has to come in once a fortnight post-covid.

Frankly I think organisations who are unwilling to let staff WFH will find themselves at a disadvantage.

I can see where you're coming from and I know we're a long way from being back to "normal" but I am so so happy. We're heading in the right direction. There's finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I will never take the way things were for granted. I also don't like working from home, I find it isolating and difficult although I expect it to continue for some time still.

I understand how you feel OP. It sounds like you need to either persuade your work place to offer true flexible working or find somewhere else that does.

I think when the Covid risk settles down there will be quite a lot of people who feel as you do, but also quite a lot who have hated working at home. I'd really like to see workplaces that are truly flexible (ie. don't just say you can wfh 2 days a week then expect you to 'drop in' every day and/or treat you as less committed for not being in the office all hours). This would, however, mean everyone having to be more organised. In my experience of trying 'flexible working' the biggest problem was managers who were very bad at delegating and planning so almost every project/task became urgent. It's much harder for them to cover up their own incompetence if they don't have their whole team in the office every day. Unfortunately, all too often I've seen the person who's not in the office used as a scapegoat when things go wrong (easy to make a passing comment intimating that a missed deadline is because [name] was working on it but hasn't been able to be contacted all day).

@Esbm2015

I’m happy of course that we’re getting a vaccine which will hopefully prevent deaths and illness and stop us having to have restrictions on our lives. It’s just ... I’ve found I’ve actually enjoyed working from home, seeing my husband more and actually cold fear flooded through me at the thought of having to slog back into the office instead. I’ve felt so much more productive this year at home, so much more relaxed and my mental health and health in general have never been better. I find lots of people can’t wait to be back to the office and find it more productive. I find ours like a strait jacket and not inspiring or productive at all. I loathe having to pay a ton of money out for a train ticket to just go and sit in a room when this year has proved with technology my job can be done if anything much better anywhere. Sadly a lot of my team live in the city so will no doubt want to go back to the office and then I’ll feel like I have to! Office just seems so old fashioned and reigimented now. I really hope we can agree to a few days split office and home and it doesn’t creep up in days having to go in for meetings by people ignoring the fact you’re working from home. Sorry rant over!

What do you suggest your company does regarding renting a building ? Just rent it the days you want to go in ?

We've been asked to do the unexpected and live lives totally alien to who we are for months and months. In order to get through this, some have had to adapt their lifestyles and alter their expectations in order to cope - it is not unreasonable that some of these will struggle to go back to the life they had before and take the opportunity to make radical changes. We're all different and there's no right or wrong about feeling sad.

I understand where you are coming from OP. While I am delighted there is a vaccine the slower pace of life has suited me and highlighted that I was doing too much beforehand.

I also felt a bit sad when I saw the notification this morning for what I'm aware is a horribly selfish reason.

I live abroad in a tourist destination and due to the lack of tourists this year prices have dropped off a cliff. My rent has more than halved, there are food and drink deals at every restaurant.

There's less traffic, the beaches are cleaner and less crowded. 'Tourist activities' are cheaper and better because there's barely anyone there.

Nothing has closed / we've not been in a lockdown so there's been quite a few upsides for me. Apart from not being able to come home for Christmas this year, that really sucks.

I am looking forward to things being able to go back to normal so I can see my friends and family, but I've also quite enjoyed the cheaper prices.

On the other hand, I can see first hand the devastating effect that travel bans have had on the local community here who rely on tourists so I'm happy for them they will start to have some stability again.

A lot of people will feel the same way you do. The restrictions have made life easier in some ways. Less choice, more time free of obligations.

I think many people feel comforted by being able to check the government website and find out if they can sit inside a pub, outside a pub, meet 1 friend in a garden etc etc. It’s become like a modern day Torah. We live in a secular world where moral judgements are often ambiguous. Now you can feel comforted that you’re living a good and moral life if you’re following the prescribed COVID rules.

I’m actually sad I’m going to have give up my mask!!!! I really enjoy the anonymity it gives me.

@Lounging

To be honest OP that opinion really doesn't come across well and I would only advise you not to express it like that in public. It makes it sound like you're really selfish, only concerned with your first world problems and have been happier than ever at the expense of many many other people. I'm sure you're not really like that.

This opinion comes over as extremely sanctimonious. I am sure you're not really like that, either.

The world is usually run for extroverts - this year, it has been run for introverts. Think about that for a moment.

I've liked WFH but I do want to go back into the office at least some days. I do know our work is expecting to go much more flexible and is changing everyone's contracts to office & home located. I'm waiting to see what option my team will go for - I suspect 2-3 days (or 2, with option of 3rd as needed?), I guess we'll hear in spring.

It's interesting how I've been talking about this year with friends and so many have said WFH has been great for them and their families.

I did think at the start I'd die of boredom just seeing the inside of my house, but then I realised that the office is only one more place. This has all made we wonder if I was overstimulated before with so much coming and going - I have actually slept much better than usual since March.

@Esbm2015

I know my firm was and will still be happy for flexible working but previously when a colleague had two days set working at home, people still put meetings in that then required him to come in for a third day, a fourth day... and so on. I also don't want to have to pay out for a season ticket but then end up paying more in travel because my two days becomes three days etc... Also it's the old concern isn't it that you're less 'seen' working from home. I just worry despite this year, it'll soon be forgotten and we'll fall into old habits and old fashioned expectations... especially from those as i say that don't have long commutes who can't wait to get back into the office and feel we all need to be face to face to get stuff done! I think *@Cavagirl and @AuntieStella* have both hit on something, especially the weight of expectation and the different view on life and what's important. I'm also over the moon at normal life - being able to travel again and freely, museums, go to the pub without need for a substantial meal or pork pie or whatever. I think this is more about work life and work/life balance that this year has highlighed for me.

There are ways to set up calendars that prevent people booking meetings into days when you wfh automatically. They can then contact you to talk options of online dial in vs face to face. I was doing that 4 years ago...no different than if your work involves a lot of travelling and you aren’t always in the office. It just needs to be managed and you to be a firm gatekeeper. If people know you are “only at home” and you can be flexible they’ll just abuse it.