What do you do on a quiet wfh day?

[BakersKitchen]

My whole team including my boss seem to be on annual leave today and summer is a quiet time for us anyway. Altogether - not much to do!

Work-wise I have monitored my emails in case anything comes in (it hasn’t), so I have:

• done some life admin and made a few phone calls
• walked into town to get a few bits
• made my husband some lunch
• started on some baking I wanted to do at the weekend
• watched some of the series I’m watching

Anyone else had a quiet wfh day? What do you do with it? I always feel like you can’t actually take it “off” because you are meant to be working but I also don’t see the point in being chained to my desk when there’s not a lot going on.

This would really annoy me- spoilt things for everyone else

I'm in a professional services role where I bill my time to clients, and my performance is assessed primarily by my billing figures, so a quiet day would mean me having to make the time up at some other point. Not really worth it but at least means the days normally go quite fast.

Some people get a real bee in their bonnet about this OP.

We also have (occasional!) quiet days in the office where people are not doing much work, sit around chatting, go to the coffee shop etc. It's really no different in terms of the actual amount of work that gets done.

On a quiet day I would make sure I'd done everything that needed doing and then I might work on some personal project, do some chores etc.

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with that. I have as many super busy days in the other direction where I am working overtime and it's non stop.

I'm paid a yearly salary, as an adult, and I balance my workload over the year. Working to the clock is outdated.

I don't have any guilt about the odd quiet day (and my manager is fully aware and supportive too, and does the same!)

This literally never happens🤣

Precisely. That or they should be paid part time . If not enough work to occupy.

No wonder the country is in a mess. Do you think people in countries competing for business have this approach?

I don't work in a corporate business setting.

The sentiment remains whatever setting you work in.

OK.

I WFH private sector and it's a work list of cases. 90 % of the time there is work to do so I am working with breaks in-between where I make a cup of tea and get the washing out etc. however the the other 10% you might be waiting for a case. Sometimes I will catch up on work housekeeping but other times I will watch TV, hoover etc. we are reviewed on how many cases you have worked and scored on the so as long as your hitting the target its fine. I am also judged along side office workers so there is no difference in productivity. I would not however, leave the house to run errands or get my nails done. When I read the op I was thinking tis will not go down well !!!

The ‘sanctimonious reactions’ are from people who value wfh and don’t take it for granted. We don’t want to lose it and be called back to the office because employers think we are doing things other than work.

I am very concerned that wfh culture and acceptance will be scaled back dramatically due to the press and constant anti-wfh stories from the likes of the DailyMail, some political parties hating it, and employers realising that some employees may be taking the piss.

In the old days pre-Covid, if you were in the office and had nothing to do you would be given something to do. Or managers would quickly realise you had a lot of free time and your role would probably be changed in the next restructure.

I think some have got too comfortable working from home and are taking it for granted now, to the point they are boasting online about all the non- work things they are doing in the work day while their employer is paying them a salary.

If your employer is cool with you doing that - fine. If you genuinely have nothing to do and you are doing non-work things to fill the time, you do you.

But boasting about all the these things publicly is a step too far and quite stupid. Working from home is a perk and can easily be taken away.

I delete all my old emails, tidy up my files, and make plans for work for the next few weeks.
i wouldn’t dream of watching a Christmas movie, but i do put the washing in.

I do the backlog of work admin I’ve put to one side, mandatory training, update my PDP, go through and organise the hellhole that is Sharepoint etc etc.

I’ll also strip the bed before work, whack laundry on, hang it out, update the food delivery, put the bins out etc.

The way I see it, if I’m doing those things whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, it’s no different to me spending 10 mins chatting to a colleague whilst we wait for the coffee machine or gossip at our desks.

No wonder lots of companies are being forced back to the office if some people are dicking around watching Christmas films and getting their nails done on a work day.

I'm retired now, but I had the sort of job where there was never nothing to do. We had quieter periods, but I always used the time to update and clear stuff that was low priority. We used to call it "housekeeping".

Also, our Teams was set so that people could see if you were away from your desk for any length of time, and questions would be asked if it wasn't pre-arranged.

It wasn't at all Big Brother like, but it would be the same as if you were spotted in the office just chatting and not getting on with your work.

Yes they’re going to ruin it for the rest of us. If you’re doing these things you should keep it quiet.

When we were all in the office 5 days there’s no way people would walk out in office hours and get their nails done, or watch Christmas movies and do jigsaws at their desk.

I don’t think we should abuse the trust that goes with working from home, or at least don’t shout about it. It can be taken away!

Not doing the 'work from home' people any favours here, or doing anything to dispel the belief that people who work from home swing the lead and take the piss @BakersKitchen

It's because of things like this - doing your admin and 'bits and bobs' and jobs and the like, (in work time) that employers are wanting people back in the office.

When it's a quiet day in the office - I mean actually AT WORK, no way would anyone be doing the laundry, walking the dogs, catching up on life admin, walking into town to get a few 'bits,' preparing dinner, starting to bake a cake etc. They would find something for you to do!

The absolute nerve of some people who work from home never ceases to amaze me. No wonder employers are demanding people come back to the office. I know people like this in real life who work from home and take the piss.

A neighbour of mine does. Her DC are at home all through the holidays because she refuses to pay childcare fees, (ya know, like every working parent has always had to!!!) so she's looking after them as well as 'working.' Also, she takes the dog for a walk twice in her 'working' hours, she has an hour and a half lunchtime, she has about 12 cigarette breaks a day, and she finishes 'work' at 3.45 to 4pm.

Absolutely shameful. Work from home needs reining in. Enough already!

Exactly. The anti- wfh Daily Mail will love this thread.

There is always work to do. Yes, a few breaks to take, and you if you can quickly do things during those breaks fine. But if the breaks are so long they are not a break really and you seemingly do nothing much all day, you are not needed at work. You should be paid part time if you only work part of the time.

This.

Whilst there are some people who work from home, do a decent job, and don't take the piss, this thread is clear proof that many people do. One poster said they make a craft item in works time when it's 'quiet!', FFS! Some of the examples people have given are an absolute joke. Imagine trying to pull all this shit in the actual office!

It is actually insulting to colleagues who do work hard wfh.

I use it to catch up on work stuff:

• Housekeep emails
• File all the random documents I have created or saved into the right folders
• Listen to replays of calls I have missed (i.e. non-urgent but useful calls)
• Do any training courses that have been recommended to me that I haven't got round to

That kind of thing.

My previous line manager encouraged us to do a bit of laundry on WFH days just so we would physically move.

I sometimes do a bit of Girl guide admin, but I do that at the office too if it is very quiet.

Employers could call us all back in the office 5 days a week if they wanted to. It wasn’t long ago the majority of us were doing that.

Even if you have a remote contract, you’re only a restructure or redundancy away from losing it. Your employer may decide your job can be done remotely abroad and cost them a lot less.

So please, let’s not take wfh and flexibility for granted.

All new recruits where I used to work are now recruited on the basis that they work in the office 4 days a week and WFH one day a week.