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Original poster

WFH - how much are you actually working?

114 replies

Hardlyworking0 · 25/05/2022 13:09

Long time lurker first time poster 😊

just that really.. I work 9-5 and previously was working with clients and very busy with phone calls, emails, meetings etc. I would often work overtime or skip lunches to make sure I could get all the queries done.
I moved jobs around 5 months ago and my boss has told me there is no worry about being visible but just to ensure that all my tasks are completed. I host/attend a few zoom calls a week but it feels I’m doing hardly anything compared to previous roles. It hasn’t been flagged, in honesty I’m quite bored but enjoying being able to get things around the house done!
So.. if you WFH and are constantly busy or do you have a fair bit of free time?

OP posts:
Lovelydovey · 27/05/2022 06:43

Absolutely manic as we come to the end of a project - working 7am to 10pm barely having time to grab food or go to the loo. Constant meetings from 9-5, and then trying to actually do work outside of them.

Of course it’s not been constantly like that since the start of covid - but people aren’t shirking just because they’re WFH.

Redbluelellow · 27/05/2022 06:44

Yep pretty much non stop here plus overtime - Public sector

Redbluelellow · 27/05/2022 06:45

Am now blocking out time each day as otherwise its back to back teams meetings which was draining

Snowiscold · 27/05/2022 06:46

Flat out - my hours are logged by computer and every minute of the working day has to be accounted for. There are targets to hit, both job-wise and time-wise. It’s the same as the office. I don’t have meetings ever.

CormoranStrike · 27/05/2022 06:46

i work absolutely flat every single day and am knackered, but at least I don’t commute!

Echobelly · 27/05/2022 06:50

I worked the hardest 3 months of my life early in lockdown as the print publication I worked on shifted to digital very suddenly and we had to do a lot of new stuff without much training or previous experience!

But other than that period, similar to the office - I get what needs to be done, done - I stick to 9-5 as I did at office as my workload is pretty manageable. I do find it handy to have time for laundry, errands etc but I wouldn't watch telly or go on a big trip out on a working day.

I'm about to start a new job, so it'll be interesting seeing what that's like. I'll be in 2 office days a, week. Currently it's been one day and entirely of my choice. Very few people are using the office which is not very motivating for coming in, but I liked the change of scene.

camelfinger · 27/05/2022 06:51

The key thing is if you have meetings. Anything that used to be a quick call is now a 30 minute diary slot. Plus other meetings that used to be quick when Teams first started have now crept up to 2 hours. It’s easy to spend most of the day in calls, which I find draining whether in the office or at home. Yesterday I sat in a large open plan office where I could see the same call being beamed out across everyone’s screen. Very unnerving. I think that more effort needs to be made to induct a new member of staff - before as a new starter quite a lot of time was spent meeting new people, picking things up etc. I found it extremely isolating starting a new job WFH, and when I raised this I was just told that we all have to live with this now.

LaWench · 27/05/2022 06:54

Not busy, I have days where I don't stop but generally I'm done by 12, just like when I was in the office.

fedup078 · 27/05/2022 06:55

I'm bored stiff. The job was mind numbing enough in the office but doing it at home is soul destroying. I could go weeks without speaking to anyone.
I'm looking for something else

Thecatwokemeup · 27/05/2022 06:55

I feel there's a few people who aren't 'working flat out'. WFH is like a secret club, you don't talk about not being busy. I work in an office where people have the ability to come in or WFH, with a minimum of three days in. It's incredible how few people choose to come in on a sunny Friday. If there is no difference in work output if you WFH or come into the office, why do so many want to WFH on Fridays?

Oddsocks55 · 27/05/2022 06:55

I work in the offices for an airline. We were the few employees who had work and our workload increased massively during covid, we have been flat out for the past 2+ years.

I am as busy wfh as i am my time in the office, and more productive on my home days (hybrid working now).

Andromachehadabadday · 27/05/2022 06:55

for me it depends.

There’s lots of factors involved. I am one person down on one of my teams. But as they all wfh they are faster at what they do. My team have a finite amount main tasks. Everything else is adhoc. The middle of the week tends to be quiet.

But I am Senior management, so they may be quiet but I am not. I have weeks where I am working into the evening. Or from 6am. Then I have times I am quieter.

I need to be available on the phone. That’s it. Yesterday afternoon I had two hours off. Did some washing, took the dogs out locally. Today will be flat out from 8am, possibly through til 6pm or 7pm

ColouringPencils · 27/05/2022 07:01

@Thecatwokemeup well on a sunny Friday WFH I might go for a walk around the park before work, spend my hour lunch break sitting in the sun and as soon as I finish at 4pm that is the start of my weekend, no commute to get home. It doesn't mean I am not doing my job for the hours I am paid to do it.

ImplementingTheDennisSystem · 27/05/2022 07:12

I'm constantly busy, but I've always been someone who makes their own work to fill any downtime. So take yesterday for example, the tasks that I HAD to do would have taken 6 hours. But I thought "it will benefit everyone if I put together a guide on how to do X, which I can circulate tomorrow", so then I ended up doing that for the rest of the time that I had.
I do try to take a full hours lunch break on days where its possible to though.

Thecatwokemeup · 27/05/2022 07:13

@ColouringPencils but someone has to be in the office. Who do you think is in there, working through their lunch break so you can walk around the park on yours?

Nutellaspoon · 27/05/2022 07:16

Im an academic and now setting my alarm for 4am to get a few hours in before the DC are up, I work a full 9-5 day and then work 7-10:30 each evening. My to do list is growing every day.

Animum2 · 27/05/2022 07:17

9-530 here and I only stop for lunch and 5 min screen breaks every now and then

ColouringPencils · 27/05/2022 07:17

@Thecatwokemeup that is not how it works at my work - everyone could work from home and it would be fine, we don't have an office cover. Also, my time on my lunch break is my own. We can all take our lunch break at the same time and that would be fine. I see if you feel you are covering for other people who don't want to come in, that is not fair. Can you set up a rota?

ImplementingTheDennisSystem · 27/05/2022 07:18

@Thecatwokemeup
I feel there's a few people who aren't 'working flat out'. WFH is like a secret club, you don't talk about not being busy. I work in an office where people have the ability to come in or WFH, with a minimum of three days in. It's incredible how few people choose to come in on a sunny Friday. If there is no difference in work output if you WFH or come into the office, why do so many want to WFH on Fridays?
I sometimes go in on a Friday and sometimes not. But when I don't it's because I enjoy knocking off work at 5.30pm and heading straight out to do something fun, without spending time on my commute.

CallMeNutribullet · 27/05/2022 07:19

More than I did in the office. Fewer distractions, often log on early, no 15 minute coffee breaks with friends

BackToTheTop · 27/05/2022 07:19

My boss is the same, he's really flexible and as long as I'm happy and my customers are happy he leaves me to do my job as I see fit. Some days I'm flat out, others I can put my feet up for hours. I agree with your dh, enjoy it whilst you can as it's unlikely to remain that way

Neu · 27/05/2022 07:20

I have worked from home permanently for the last two years and never been busier! I have actually accrued enough time-owing to have 6 separate weeks off work 🙄.

ColouringPencils · 27/05/2022 07:21

But @Thecatwokemeup I don't agree that anyone should be working through their lunch break so I can take mine. That seems weird and I am trying to think what kind of job you work in. Your lunch break is unpaid and you really shouldn't be working to cover someone else having their time off. You are all entitled to that time off. Obviously I do sometimes work through my lunch, but that is because of my own workload, not to cover someone else.

TulipsGarden · 27/05/2022 07:23

@Thecatwokemeup I have a long commute, so choosing a day in the office when I don't have much on the next day (i.e. can sit at my desk, not run around after a three year old) makes sense for me.

Also I've noticed a lot of schools seem to finish early on Fridays, so working parents might want to be at home to see their children.

No-one has to be in my office, we all worked from home without any problems and are only back in for catch-up days now - when very little work gets done. If your office needs to have someone in it there should be a schedule.

TulipsGarden · 27/05/2022 07:25

@Thecatwokemeup Oh and also, on a sunny day I'd much rather be working two minutes away from my own lovely garden for breaks, rather than in central London.