If you work from home, what is good about it?

[Leemoe]

I have just been offered a wfh role, office hours mon-fri.

Currently I work 7-9 three days per week in a field based role travelling a territory which covers 300 miles or so.

Obviously it's quite a big change but it is a promotion of sorts so I feel as though I should have a good crack at it.
DH also wfh office hours. Tbh I'm not relishing spending every waking hour with him...we have a very good marriage but it just seems like asking for trouble. Surely we will be sick of the sight of one another?

However I'm looking forward to the house being more organised, being able to keep on top of the laundry a bit more and being able to do school runs a bit more frequently, oh and being able to clock off at five and go out for the evening with the DCs etc. And I will be off every weekend so long as I don't want to do any overtime, which given the current financial crisis I will possibly need to...

I do feel luke I will lose the will to live stuck in the house all day as I'm quite an outgoing person who likes the company of others.

I just worry that I'm going to hate wfh.
I feel odd saying that because most people seem to see it as a big perk of the job.

Am I missing something marvellous about it which is really bloody obvious to everybody else?

Thanks in advance for any advice and/or experiences

I love absolutely everything about it. But to name a few things:

• getting ahead of chores over lunch or quick breaks, such as making a start on dinner, putting on a wash, hanging clothes out to dry

• going for lovely lunchtime walks. I live in the countryside whereas my office is city based

• saving an hour plus on the commute

• not having to put on makeup or nice clothes if I don't fancy it

• not having to pack a work bag every day or worry about taking lunch/spending money on lunch if I don't pack one

• being able to sign for parcels or be able to keep an eye on our building work etc

• being able to finish earlier if I want and nobody knows or cares

Honestly I could go on! 5☆ recommend it!

Wow, my reply wasn't meant to be that spaced out. How embarrassing.

I love it - trackie bottoms all day, home 1 second after finishing work. And I'm very happy working alone away from the office. But it may not be right for you.

I love it!

No earlier alarms, just DC as my alarm.

Nursery runs.

Food shop delivered on my lunch.

House work done on lunch.

Laundry up to date.

Go for a walk, pop to the shops on lunch.

No make up everyday, hair can go an extra day.

Comfy clothes.

No making baits.

No ironing/washing work clothes.

No money on commute, having to leave early.

No leaving the house in the dark/coming home in the dark.

Enjoy the sun in the summer.

Tea can be prepped on lunch.

I do 3 days WFH, DH is full time WFH. We work in different rooms, me upstairs in spare room, DH downstairs in the extension. We'll make each other brews and have lunch together but other than that we leave each other alone!. I do enjoy my 2 office days but they arent that productive because im chatting 🤣🙈. I think you will need to allow yourself some time to find a routine that works for you as it will be such a huge difference to what you currently do..... oh I love it by the way 👍👍👍👍👍

I prefer a mix, wouldn't want to wfh all the time. I like being able to start at 8am without the faff of looking corporate, being able to just get lunch out of the fridge without thinking about it at 7am. Parcels, boiler service, earlier yoga class than usual. No commute. My animals. being able to work from the garden not wearing a suit if it is hot.

Lots to like but I wouldn't want it every day. Two days a week is enough for me.

Not having to get up stupidly early to travel
To work. If I chose to get up early to go for walk fine but I can also role out of bed 5 mins before and stroll across landing to office.

Not paying petrol to travel to work

Choosing when I chat with people. If I'm in office then I am constantly having people stop and chat about stuff. I'm more productive at home.

Being able to nip out and do school run.

Being accessible to DD12

Being more productive at home, in lunch break I go for walk or run, do weights (without worrying I spend rest of day sweaty) make tea or do bit of housework.

Being comfortable and not having to dress up (I wear a very uncomfortable uniform when I'm in

It allows for more autonomy with what I do.

Being home for Deliveries before Xmas was useful.

Much less tired as not commuting. It's hour trip each way to work. That eats into your day.

I could also go on forever about it. It's enhanced my life loads

I love it. I’m in my 50’s so don’t have the desire or need for that office socialisation I loved in my 20’s. WFH has enabled me to use the commute time to achieve compressed hours. I love that Friday off.

The other benefits are sorting out a laundry load while the kettle boils, being home for deliveries. Working in loungewear. It enabled me to adopt a terminally ill rescue dog and walk her 3x a day for 10 short but glorious months

I work from home mostly and go into the office once or twice a month. Works perfectly for us as my DP goes into the office as he loves that, but I love being at home.

I can get lots more done in the house, get to hang with my cats all day, more flexibility for nursery drop offs/pick ups when we have DSS, don’t have to spend ages getting ready in the mornings and don’t have to stress about running late (public transport where I live is awful) or getting late home for something. I also love getting out on walks where I live.

for me what I love is the flexibility - I am on lots of calls so still get to speak to people but in my own environment.

Working in loungewear. It enabled me to adopt a terminally ill rescue dog and walk her 3x a day for 10 short but glorious months

💖💖💖💖

And I’m so much more productive. No open plan noise, no randomers chatting to you when you just want to crack on.

No money wasted on commute / lunches etc

Save money on work clothes

save time on commute

less stress in mornings / evenings (I have a child to drop off & pick up)

can go for county run or cycle at lunch

Can use lunch break for chores - saves doing them at weekends

in for deliveries

it’s quiet so I can concentrate

downside is the social aspect & cost of heating house in winter

Being able to take my son to/from school & after-school club

Being able to attend school events

Less panicking if son is off school sick or if chilcare falls through

Being able to socialise/go to classes on weekday evenings - the commute never used to leave time for that

Having time to cook proper dinners

Leisurely showers in the morning and being able to let my hair dry naturally

If it's a quiet day at work, I can do stuff around the house (or go outside or just watch TV...)

A major downside for me is the lack of interaction with people though, I won't lie. I miss getting to know colleagues and customers and it really brings me down sometimes.

I hate it, just about tolerating hybrid 3 days in office / 2 at home because it suits my other activities better to be home those days but I’m increasingly thinking about going in the office more.
I walk to work, maybe get the bus once or twice so I don’t save anything on commute costs.
I don’t have a dedicated space to work from home so it takes over the dining table and is hard to escape.
I miss the interaction with other humans and finding out what’s going on in the business. It definitely impacts on ad-hoc training / development opportunities if you’re not sitting around people having conversations.
my waistline suffered due to lack of exercise and constant access to the snack tin.
teams meetings, zoom meetings and more bloody teams meetings.
i have to make a point of leaving the house for exercise or there’s a risk you could never leave the front door for days.
i find my evenings are actually less productive than when I’m in the office.

sorry to be negative but I’d rather have a laundry backlog and dirty house than WFH full time!

• Save time (2.5 hours each way) and money (>6k per year) on commuting
• I can have late meetings with US stakeholders and not have to worry about staying late in the office
• I have my own home office, it's easier to focus on solo work compared to being at work with disruptions
• lunchtime I can use for me (e.g., cleaning, cooking, exercise), in the office everyone eats together and talks about work
• I get more work done: I'm not going to the loo or for a coffee and getting caught talking to someone
• socialising drains me, I felt a lot more drained when going into the office (even when I worked closer to home). I didn't realise this until I started to WFH

You must have a very long lunch break. Or could you be doing some of those things when you should be working.

You must have a very long lunch break. Or could you be doing some of those things when you should be working.

😂 obviously not all at once

Can start very early if I need to, and finish early.

No need for work clothes, no toxic office drama, no more Pret.

Have saved £600 a month on train fare.

Always here when the kids get home, more time for exercise, life admin and social life.

Downsides: having to heat my house; can be difficult to switch off.

Three things have stood out for me- not having to get up at a precise time, cooking my own lunch, and being able to walk each late afternoon around the local common or one of the parks.

Getting some housework done on breaks so not spending evenings doing it and not wasting two plus hours on a train when I could be doing school run.

Me and DH work in separate parts of the house we might see each other at lunch for 20 minutes.

But if I were you I would look into a local co working space? Change of scenery, social events but a short commute and maybe get the best of both worlds?

Oh yeah, being able to have a decent, cooked lunch is a big one for me too!

And not having to get up at 6am to catch a train just to go sit in an awful open plan office all day... Seems absurd now

Not having exercise automatically built into my day is a drawback. I struggle to get motivated to exercise for its own sake.

I work hybrid but also have weeks where I am at home all the time.

DH wfh since 2012, we have a good set up. He has an office in the loft, I have a proper desk set up in the guest bedroom a floor below. While we talk a bit to each other or bump into each other while getting a drink we are not joined at the hip, we don't do lunch together etc.

I love that I have time in the morning to sort out laundry, read a bit, tidy up and at 5pm I don't have a 1 1/2 hour commute but can relax, sort out DD if necessary and just enjoy the rest of the day.

But - it can be lonely. There are days I am not talking to others a lot and unless I am out in the late afternoon, I don't leave the house at all. Worse in winter as in Summer I make the effort to be out and do something.

DH is running twice a week in the morning to exercise.

I don't think I could go for 100% wfh, I found the informal chats and meetings in person a lot more rewarding and informative than a teams one.

Bloody love it. That said, I've a great setup with a dedicated office space downstairs and my dh in the attic.

I love the comfort - working in trackie bottoms and slippers and being able to recline on the sofa for certain calls.

Access to my own food and snacks, and toilet.

Much less tired dragging myself out in the car or into the city.

When I have my period, it just makes life a million times easier.

Being home from work at 5.31 and having the BBQ on at 5.35 on those long summer evenings

Being able to walk the kids to school, 40 min round trip, and get my walk in before I start work at 9.

I WFH 4 days a week, with an optional choice to head into the office when I like. It's honestly the business.

Good things - no tedious commute, home made lunch, putting supper in the slow cooker at lunchtime, less mileage on the car, reduced need for office clothes, easy to do the school run, good for deliveries.

not so good - heating the house, loneliness, harder to develop friendships.

I love it.

no commute and no travel delays and no money spent on all that

housework up to date as you can quickly do bits at lunch/ in your old commute time

no interruptions by colleagues blathering on about tv or whatever

more time for walks/exercise as hours back in your week from not commuting!

it’s bliss!