WFH Strategies - I’m sinking

[Dubiousdebbie]

Been WFH full time since the pandemic, can go into the office but everyone is WFH still so no point. I work for an international company so all meetings are zoom anyway.

I feel like I’ve lost all motivation, I’m doing the bare minimal to get by and it’s so unlike me, I’ve always been a top performer.

I’m left alone to manage my workload which just leads to me messing around on the internet and watching endless 80s sitcoms. The worse bit is I’m doing so few steps and all this inactivity must be storing up problems for the future.

How do I get myself out of the fug, I’m so unhappy

This.

I was like you OP, top performer, got promoted twice during Covid but felt the least motivated I have felt on 20 odd years of working. Even going into the office was just as depressing as it was empty.

So I moved to a new company. I was approached and after talking to a few people I know that work in my new company I knew it would be a better fit. Most people in the office and face to face meetings and social events are encouraged.

Its been like a breath of fresh air and feels like it’s 2019 again. Best thing I did

it’s ridiculous needing a manager in the same location though - I’m a 43 year old woman - I’m a professional - I should be able to start

It’s not ridiculous. Far more people struggle like this than you’d imagine. There are studies dating back to the 80s/90s about workplace psychology that clearly support the need for present management and that was before the Internet came along to ruin our focus!

I’m one of them and I’m lurking on your thread in the hope it’ll help me.

Same here, I could have written your post op
I feel like I just do not care anymore which is not me at all
We still don't know what's happening in regards to going back to an office so I've been hanging on for a decision but I'm letting jobs pass me by while I'm waiting

I've developed a mindset where I'm task rather than time orientated.
So prioritising tasks and getting them done and not becoming obsessed about how much time I spend at my desk.
Like others I plan my day - I do calls in the afternoon which works best for me.

Routine is important, and all the other things above.

Fresh air in the am is helpful, as it getting up, dressed, video ready on time to start work.

I do struggle with motivation, my Manager is NA based and I'm left to my own devices, seen as high performing. But I have to kick myself from time to time to step up and do more than the general tick over stuff.

Did I write this post? Oh no, I do not have managers in London and Dubai. And I can go to the office, but often choose not to.

Otherwise, it fits exactly. I procrastinate a lot and do not work. No techniques work for me, no pomodoro or other stuff. I now know that I'm getting depressed when I do not go to the office. Then I start to isolate myself, not work, isolate more, so no one would ask about work and then I'm on the downward spiral (I was not in the office last week, and here I am, surfing the Mumsnet, will go there tomorrow though).
Try to find out what helps you, what sends you up or down. For me it's meeting people. Which might seem strange for rather an introvert. I need them to be pulled into interaction, out of my (probably natural) isolation. Ideally to go to the office, meet some one there and have an unplanned, unstructured chat :-)
If that was similar for you: any chance to meet either manager in person, or another colleague? Or schedule a non-work related call with a colleague to have that chat. Before it was enough for me to have list of work, prioritise, pull out the top task, do it and it started to unroll from that.
(and the self-beating by saying I'm very skilled professional, I should know better, this does not help :-)

I have got in the same rut - I live quite close to work though so I spend at least a morning a week at work and then come home at lunchtime to finish the day (dog needs 3 pills a day so I’d have to come home for lunch to let her out and give her a pill so don’t bother making a day of it in the office).

I go into the office at least three times a week. Unless there is a meeting on it's always quite empty with maybe three or four of us there but I love the separation from home. I hate having my work in my house and I find that I eat lunch while I am working and use my break to do some tidying or something. I feel much more productive going into the office, working, then coming back to my home.

OP, how are you watching these sitcoms? Are you watching them through an app or a browser or via the TV? If it's an app or a browser you can install a limit on them so you'll only watch, say 30 minutes. You can put a limit on sites too with a browser extension.

Apart from that, what tasks are you actually working on? Does the work itself still interest you? Perhaps you need review your career trajectory.

Try to find out what helps you, what sends you up or down. For me it's meeting people. Which might seem strange for rather an introvert. I need them to be pulled into interaction, out of my (probably natural) isolation. Ideally to go to the office, meet some one there and have an unplanned, unstructured chat :-)

This has been my experience too, as a massive introvert. I read time and time again that offices are terrible for introverts and the WFH revolution is a good thing for us. I found the opposite.

It’s because I’m an introvert that I need that unplanned and unstructured interaction with people at work; because I don’t spend all of my evenings and weekends meeting up with other people as I need the down time after work (whether that’s at home or in the office). In the absence of working from the office, I found myself never really speaking to anyone aside from husband and 4 year old for months on end.

I have always worked from home or been in client premises. DH is a new home worker.

He has a set routine. Same lunch break, samish coffee/tea break. He has a dedicated room and leaves it 3 times a day only. He doesn't have a personal laptop or phone in there and only checks them on his ' breaks'

Gets up, walks dog or cycles. Shower- desk by 8.45. Leaves desk at 5-5.30 daily.

He has an excellent WFH balance.

I have a sofa, tv, laptop in my office. I do loads of jobs and then moan I dont get my work finished (I am self employed so not taking the piss). I am in the process of stripping my office out to make it like a work office- zoom on the sofa is not longer acceptable when client are in the office. I do write a daily list and am pretty good at getting that done.

When WFH first started, I think lots of people felt it was the way forward, for all sorts of reasons. Now that it’s a couple of years further on, I think the pitfalls as well as the advantages are recognised. Humans thrive on real contact and it’s hard to maintain that WFH. Perhaps hybrid is the answer.

Can you go into the office 3/4 days per week for a couple of weeks to get back in the swing of things?

I struggle with the lack of structure at home so following with interest.

Following with interest - this is exactly me at the moment.

I’m self employed WFH. I have a notebook that I use to plan out my day first thing. I block out time in 1 hour chunks and in each hour I only do one task. I listen to alpha wave music I think helps stay focused. I also schedule in work out and lunch. Anything left undone ( tasks always take longer than planned) goes into the next day task list. I put a focus mode on phone and turn off all notifications on laptop off while I’m focussing on a task. Sometimes I use a blocker to stop me accessing certain websites on laptop too. I have some days more productive than others but overall being disciplined like this helps. I also won’t get paid if I don’t work!

Going back to the office a couple of days a week has definitely helped my health and my perspective on work.

However... maybe it's worth saying that I am just a year older than you and I was exactly your age when (through MN) I realised that staring into space and inexplicably not giving a crap about work were symptoms of perimenopause.

I'm the same. Can't find my mojo at all. No one seems to care if I work, or about the work I do, including me. I warm up as the day goes on, then find myself really busy just when I have to stop.

Thank you so much everyone for your ideas. Glad it’s not just me.

@inininsomnia I did wonder if it was anything medical? Maybe I was depressed or going mad or something. I’ll look up perimenapause

I worked from home for 2 decades and never had this. I never, ever watched TV in the day, still don't even though I'm retired now. [Unless it is breaking news].

But you need a proper set up. Not just a laptop on the side of the sofa. Proper desk and chair.

Whatever it is you need to do, put it in your diary. So 4 hours writing a report, get it in. Then schedule in your diary breaks and lunch. 3 hours on a spreadsheet, get it in there. Meetings with X or Y, get it booked. Prep for presentation, book it.

So you actually have the things you need to do, in your work diary, which you sit down at that time, and do them. Dress in proper clothes, not pyjamas. Make a coffee and walk to your work station. Mute your own phone. Get on with it. Set your own targets and work to them.

I’m in the same position. I hate it. It’s so lonely, boring and unmotivating.

That lots of people prefer wfh baffles me.

For me I don't think it's anything medical or any sort of routine etc will help
It just isn't what I signed up for
I'm waiting on a decision on if or when we go back to the office
If I know we will never go back I will look for another job but feel like they're taking the piss now leaving us in limbo for this long

I really felt like I was going mad! I found MN threads discussing perimenopause experiences incredibly useful.

@BobbinHood Good points on introversion, thank you. I'd rather lurk at home but those small interactions in the office are more necessary than I realised before.

I have so much sympathy for this. I also struggle with motivation and find I end up pushing all my hours to the end of the week because I lack motivation at the beginning.

One thing I do find helps is Trello - I have a board which is all the work jobs I need to do. Every morning I move the ones for that day into a "To Do" column. It's simple but it does keep me focused on my immediate goals, and seeing my "Done" column grow means I feel a bit more motivated. I also have a "productive procrastination" column which is full of little, boring jobs which I can do if my brain feels like flitting off-task for a bit. It's not working perfectly, but it has helped slightly.

I go in once a week. Chit chat and do a week’s work in one day !

Rest of time- check at work every hour and do a load of exercise and keep the house lovely and tidy, plus walks when it’s sunny.