Best and worst things about WFH for you?

[TakeAByte]

Probably been done before!
I WFH 4 days a week. Soon dropping the fifth day too.

Best for me is, being able to have a bath on my lunch break-that could never happen in the office!

Having everything I could possibly need-food and drink wise.
Working in comfy clothes ad being able to have the temperature I want!

Worst? I honestly don't really have one. I guess seeing colleagues is nice sometimes, but I cannot say I miss it.

Pros:

• no commute
• save time & money on commute
• can do school runs, DC don’t need to be in after school clubs until late
• more quality time with DC
• less stress (train delays & cancellations can be so stressful)
• can do house jobs eg cleaning at lunch which frees up weekends
• can wear what I like
• more time for exercise
• easier to eat healthy
• house is occupied so good for security
• don’t need to call in sick when a bit ill
• dont have to put up with office that is the wrong temperature/ too noisy for my liking
• can concentrate better at home
• around to take deliveries/ let tradesmen in
• easier to juggle medical appointments etc
• can multi-task eg in meeetings where I just need to listen rather than being actively involved I can be doing yoga or housework in the background
• save money buying lunch out
• more involved in local community as home in time to do clubs due to no commute in evenings
• support local community and businesses as I am shopping local now rather than spending cash in Pret or Eat in the City!
• can be flexible about my hours so in the winter go for a run in the daylight hours then do work after dark when I wouldn’t feel safe running in the woods as a lone female
• my mental health has improved
• can experience nature in my local woods at lunch, rather than walking the streets of London!
• no longer waste money in the TK Maxx near my office !

Cons:

The only one I can think of is potential social isolation but I have dealt with this by getting more involved in the local community, which has been made possible by WFH

I bloody love WFH and doubt I would ever go back to full time in an office, unless I literally couldn’t afford to eat and there were no other jobs available!

I go in once a week now. On home days I love being able to prep dinner at lunch, sort the laundry whilst waiting for cup of tea to brew. Shower in between calls. During meetings when I don't have to contribute too much, I wand my hair at my desk

I worked from home long before Covid and now post covid i'm in a different role and now required to work from the office couple of days a week. I live alone.

Best bits of WFH - I can put the washing on during the week,
Can wear what I like,
pop out for local appointments or pick up bits of shopping.
No Commute
I can listen to the radio or whatever music I like

Worst bits - Can go for days without leaving the house or seeing another human particularly in winter.
Work can takeover and end up working beyond normal finish time.
I eat more in the office
Cant listen to the radio.

Pros
No commute, not just the journey time but not having to de-ice and clear the window condensation from the car in winter, saving money, relaxed start to the day, at the end of each day I shut my laptop and it still feels like magic that here I am at home at 5pm.

Doing little chores at lunchtime frees up weekends

Summer lunch in the garden

Not having to dress up every day

Cons
None.

Pros

• I control my working environment: temperature, sound, light. Always found offices way too hot (or sometimes too cold). I play my own music, as loud as I like - or sometimes switch it off if I need silence. No headache-inducing overhead lights. All of this helps me work better.
• I control my own work flow. I don't have fixed hours, so aside from a few specific things that happen at certain times, I get to do my work when it suits me rather than having to rigidly stick to a 9-5 working pattern. In practice - things like catching up on emails and news the minute I wake up over my morning coffee (7am) then once that admin is cleared taking a break at 9am. And sometimes inspiration strikes for the more creative elements of my job later at night.
• I don't feel tied to my desk. In an office most people were glued to their computers all day; I think it would have been frowned on to constantly leave your desk for no real reason. At home if I'm slumping or stuck or something it's often so helpful to go and do something else while still thinking about the problem. A walk round the block, popping to the shops, a quick home workout, even just making a cup of coffee and standing in the garden for 5 minutes - all those things will often give me the mental space I need to work out what to do in my actual work.
• More time for exercise. Because of the above I can either do quick home workouts in a spare half hour, or go for long runs in the daytime, rather than having to cram my exercise into ungodly morning hours before work or attempting to muster the energy after work.
• No commuting. No rush hours. No more feeling like a sardine on the tube.
• No colleagues around me. In an open-plan office you always feel you need to be "on", whether that's being ready to make polite conversation at all times or even your posture at your desk - at home you can curl up, stretch and lean to your heart's content. It's exhausting. Plus, the constant communication is not conducive to actually getting on with work. I actually find that our various Slack channels are much more efficient when it comes to bouncing ideas around and getting to know each other than any office environment I've ever been in.
• So much more energy to socialise with my actual friends. When I log off, I'm never exhausted - I'm raring to go. That feeling of being so knackered from the working day that all I want to do is veg out on the sofa all weekend? Gone.

Cons. Occasionally there is a work issue or disagreement that's knotty enough that you feel an IRL meeting would be much more productive than an email thread or video call. But this isn't often at all, and being in an international team an IRL meeting isn't possible anyway.

Best:

Colleagues are only in my computer 😂.
No commute.
More time.
More money.
Eat better.
Exercise better.
Am at home with my dogs.
Can get housework done during the day.

Worst:

Big fat nothing.

Best bits - all the good things other posters have already said. I do 2 days on the office and the rest at home and love it.

Worst bits - lack of contact with others but tbh that was minimal beforehand. My team is spread over numerous locations and I go into an office in a corridor and work on my own. Will say hi to a couple of people but that’s about it.

I wfh all week.
No commute.
Don't have to leave my dogs.
Can do odd jobs in breaks like put a wash on.
Don't need lots of office type clothes.
Don't have annoying colleagues interrupting me.

Mood hoovers. Love it. I may have to steal that and use it as my own.

Love WFH

Taking DS to school everyday
Being so close for all school activities and clubs
Choice of food and drink
Exercise routine instead of commute
Being able to do the washing
No driving
Feeling more relaxed of a night

It's a winner

Earlier posters are mistaking ‘more productive’ for working more. I probably work a third less hours. But I get more done. Everyone wins no?

Pros - Saving time and money on the commute, being able to do school runs (shared with DH) and not pay after school club as kids old enough to be fine for an hour while I finish.
Being able to stick washing on or fit in other quick task.

Cons -
I get a bit lonely sometimes and miss interaction. When we train new starters it's hard online. I like clothes and miss getting dressed in nice things sometimes!

Best things...

No commuting
Can do household tasks in between calls
Can be here to receive my parcels
Having nice lunches

Worst...
Not seeing other people
Being around DH all day every bloody day
Getting asked to take in every other fecker's parcels

I rarely WFH - it's just not for me, but here is my tuppence worth.

Pros:
Being able to get my head down on a task without interruption.
Being able to wear my slippers!

Erm.. that's it.

Cons:
Not seeing colleagues for those off the cuff conversations that can lead to something useful
Missing the fresh air on the way to work - I'm lucky in that I only have a 12 min cycle on quiet roads.
Less likely to move from my desk when I WFH. I have to literally unfurl at the end of the day
I can find it hard to switch off at the end of the day. I tend to drift back to my laptop a couple of times before I call it a day.
My desk is in our kitchen. I'm too close to the fridge.

My pros are most of the things already mentioned, so probably no point repeating them!

My one con is my 2 cats. They're indoor cats that I got when I started working from home in late 2018. Add covid/lockdowns into the mix and the time I've been away from the house is minimal. This means they are glued to me and one actually cries whenever I go out. So I have now become a person who feels guilt over leaving them home alone and if I did ever have to go back to an office they would be devastated and I would be constantly fretting about them! I've already thought I would have to ask for some kind of gradual return but obviously I couldn't say it was because of my cats 😂

Best: actually being able to get work done which is virtually impossible in my line of work in the office, no commute, being able to do bits and bobs around the house while I wait for the kettle to boil. Being able to fuss my dog.

Worst: can be a bit lonely sometimes.

Im able to work from home maybe one day a fortnight and that’s an absolute godsend. I have to be around and visible to the whole organisation as much as possible, but the trade off with that is I can’t get any actual work done. I’d love more wfh time.

This is a very interesting point. And if it were true (I'm not saying it isn't in your particular case), then there is a good argument for it.

Most people are only looking at it from their own perspective though. They aren't thinking about it from their employer's view. What about the times when their manager wants to get something done that involves the team and cannot not just call them in to a short meeting to discuss?

Also, my own experience is that the team is less productive working in isolation. Not always, but mostly.

Advantages: No bra. No need to do hair. Comfy clothes. No commute. Bit of a lie in. Washing. Run vaccy around.

Once in office I like it ie. Colleagues. Done hair. Dress smart. Printer etc. Go to.lunch with colleagues.

Do prefer wfh though.

Best - saves on commuting time. Only 20 mins each way though.

Worst - everything else. Isolation, boredom, work clutter in the home. I hated WFH in lockdown so much, thank goodness I don't do it on a regular basis any more and neither do any of my colleagues.

Best - getting odd jobs done in gaps throughout the day.
Worst - no commute. My commute is a pleasant half hour walk, though. On days I wfh I don't move much.

Working from home means that I can more easily keep up with the other chores of life and not get to the stage where I feel overwhelmed by little jobs that haven't been done. There's all the hours saved from not commuting, not putting on make up, hell even not showering if I can't be bothered that day.

If it's sunny I can move the laundry airer outside and vice versa. I can empty the dishwasher while waiting for the kettle to boil. I can have my favourite coffee and tea. I could have a dog if I wanted to. I'm in for parcel deliveries. I can listen to the radio. The toilet and hand basin are always clean. I can have a poo without stressing!

Cons are loneliness, heating bills!! (that's a big one), being very sedentary which is so bad for one's health.