If you work from home, do you actually work?

[fallacy]

I'm a SAHM but I have many friends that work full time. A lot of the time they wfh and from what I can tell, not a lot of work actually gets done.

I'm jealous.

I WFH 2 days per week and I work hard. Sometimes I have a break to go for a walk or hang some washing out, but I always do my hours and my work. I need the time alone to do research and technical writing.

This seems a bit up there with people asking what SAHMs “do all day?”.

I wfh and yes I do grab a coffee after the school run when I can and yes I do put a wash on or have lunch with a gf.

But only when my workload allows. There are days where I don’t even have time for lunch, wfh or not, and if your friends are like that, then those are the times you won’t hear a lot from them.

Also, unless your friends do “volume” work where there is a direct correlation between them for example typing away, not all work requires a strict 9-5 day. I take calls and answer emails all day, I check over the weekend and I sometimes work in the evening when it’s quiet.

There is not a single one of your friends who is day in day out doing NOTHING.

No need to be jealous if you have the luxury of being a SAHM

I sometimes work from home. I often log on at 08:00hrs and rarely log off before 20:00hrs. My job is full on and I get lots more done from home. No commute!
In the office, I see people on their phones and having long chats etc.
Who’s watching really? If the work isn’t done, you get pulled up. No matter where you’re working from!!

Yes and no, I sometimes work from home so my boyfriend can come over in the day when my son is at school. Obviously no work gets done, so I do it in the evening when my son is asleep.

I agree with PP in that when I WFH I get my work done in half the time due to fewer distractions/interruptions, so I can fart about a bit - do a supermarket shop, go for a long walk, meet a friend for a long lunch.

I find it’s often more productive. No silly interruptions. I often think back to the enjoyable, and yet totally timewasting, chats I used to watch, and participate in, when I worked in a office with others. Plus, I work for myself so if I don’t do the work, I can’t invoice the client and thus I’d have no money.

I work from home, my boss says I do twice as much work as those who travel.

Yes 24/7 I'm a farmer!!

Yes. I only work from home so it has to be fitted in.

I work from home and I actually do more hours than when I worked outside!

Yes. I work freelance so if I don’t work or decide to take a holiday etc, I have no income.

Being at home and looking after the children is not working from home, that's providing childcare when you should be working so they're abusing a privilege that isn't often offered to those without children.

I get loads (more) done at home even with putting some washing on and maybe taking in a delivery. I also tend to work longer hours as I don't have a commute but it suits me fine.

Grips my shit when I can see people who are wfh have been 'away' for over an hour....doing what?!

I wfh at least 3 days a week and sometimes struggle to fit lunch in. Kids still go to childcare as it’s impossible to get anything done with a two yr old. In my previous job though with similar wfh, I could watch tv in between work, have my baby with me etc because it wasn’t a busy role
It depends on what you do, if your friends don’t do much work when at home they probably wouldn’t do much work in an office either because they are either lazy or they don’t have enough to do depending on their job.

Oh yes, do I work more and longer....I reckon my employer gets more out of me as I've noone else to talk to (unless I skype...)

I am field based so my home is my office when I’m not out at meetings or assessment centres (which could be anywhere in the UK!)

What I will say is that I am responsible for managing my own diary. My contracted hours are 37.5 per week but there’s no real set time as such I have to work those hours, so if I want to start earlier than 9am to finish earlier I can. If I want to pop out and run an errand or finish a bit earlier on a Friday etc I can, as often I work many hours over or work through my lunch break so I can take those hours back whenever I wish.

Most days I will work my ass off and work longer hours (much harder to switch off at 5pm when you work from home) and so therefore I will often take some time back when I can, which on the outside to some may look like I’m taking an “easy day”. In reality I’m taking back some of the overtime in lieu I’ve worked that I don’t get paid for

Being at home and looking after the children is not working from home, that's providing childcare when you should be working

That's nonsense. I have WFH while looking after children for years, as do many of my colleagues. I WFH 95% of the time and the work gets done even if I have to stay up all night.

Yes I do actually work when WFH. I find I'm more productive as no distractions and I start earlier than when I go to the office as I'm not spending 45 minutes in traffic

I often don't get dressed til noon though!

I mainly work from home. My output and quality is much better than my office days (noisy open plan office). I ensure more sensitive and complicated stuff is done at home.

Nope, no time to put on washing or do ironing - I also work through lunch just as I do in the office. My employer trusts me and I’m flexible back ie the days I’m in office.

Yes. I get more done at home - no distractions. I do work flexible hours so I can see that people might think I wasn't working, but my manager and my team know I am, and that's what matters really!

If I wasn't getting the work done, I'd lose the option of working from home (that's how my employer works!)

Also, my employer has a policy that you cannot WFH if you are also caring for a child at that time.

I totally agree that most people cannot wfh and care for a child, unless the child is probably at least over the age of 9 or 20. I have tried and it’s just impossible unless you stay up until midnight after they’ve gone to bed.

I wfh and in office, I’m far more engaged and present in the office. Occasionally I’m more productive from home but only if there’s s tight deadline. Don’t forget it often saves a good couple of hours commuting too.

I would not let a staff member wfh without childcare on s regular basis, exceptions eg sick child are ok, but otherwise ime it just doesn’t work for anyone, most of all the parent.

Yes Mayborn, I agree it doesn't work for the parent - it's exhausting - but it is possible and plenty of people do it.

I know a lot of people will have given their opinion on this thread, but I thought I'd throw a bit of info in about my situation.

I always knew I wanted to work on my own terms, whatever that meant, and after I graduated I decided I wanted to work as a writer/editor/proofreader. It took years to get to a decent income (£50k/y now) and it also took me a LONG time to learn the art of productivity.

The thing is, there are just so many things to be done in the house. There are things that I have tight deadlines for, but for other things that give me, say, a week, it's too tempting to drag it out for much longer than I should.

I have two main contracts, and take on smaller jobs for one-off clients, too. The two main contracts have to be done, so I'm strict with those and sit at my desk, but then the smaller jobs I can normally stretch over a longer period of time, and that's where the procrastination kicks in. This often means I'm still working at 11pm at night, or at the weekend, because there are things I didn't get done in the week. It all needs to be done eventually.

My partner sometimes has a go at me, as I could earn close to double what I do if I actually sat and worked for 8hrs a day 5 days a week like normal people. But working from home automatically makes me take responsibility for everything else, like cooking, cleaning, washing, shopping etc. Plus the odd social media break - definitely guilty of that!

Now that I have my own place though, I HAVE to work. If I do procrastinate in the day, I have to work later into the evening, or I will lose contracts. I know that doing that only makes my social life suffer, as I have things to do in the evenings and at weekends, so I am getting better.. but it is by no means easy.

So many people think that working from home is a dream job, which it can be, but it also brings with it its own unique challenges that most people don't appreciate.

When I worked from home (self employed) I was great if I had an externally imposed deadline or target to work to. One of my 'hats' was b2b marketing, which I did quite successfully. I really found it hard to motivate myself to market me when I wasn't busy though!

Wfh four days a week. Kids went to nursery and I work until the work is done. There is discipline required and self motivation but the flexibility is there to a degree. I rarely take longer than 15 minutes for lunch and can work on late after doing mum/wife work. It took five years for dh to accept that I was working all day and not available to faff about with PA duties for him. I struggle to stay focussed when someone is at home so prefer an empty house. I can be on call if needed, can work in pjs if I am unwell, can go the day without make up, can be there for deliveries, can nip to the docs down the road and the boss gets the work done.