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.

What makes you think they aren't working? I imagine people might think I'm taking the piss when I work from home (which I'm not doing today - I'm on holiday) because they would only see me when I'm not working, and I do sometimes do a supermarket shop, or even meet a friend for a coffee. But I always make those hours up later, which of course no one else sees.

My DP works from home a lot (has his own office room) and really he has to be prised away from it, rather than not doing enough! Which explains why he isn't on social media!

It’s my day off!

"No questions, no distractions, no getting spotted and dragged into a pointless meeting or group confra call or asked to show xyz head-office big wig what our department does."
But presumably colleagues are picking this up?
I wfh a lotband do more than my hours but with amazonf flexibility. It goes both ways and I'm always contactable. Always checking emails.

I've just worked solidly for the last 3 hours, but as a result, the rest of my day now looks a lot easier

Honestly? No. I can work from home when I want to, so I often choose to when I know I can have an easy day because I've already gotten my work done.

I'll be available on email all day but some wfh days I wont even open my laptop.

It balances out though with other days/weeks when I work flat out with barely time to sleep.

When I work from home, I often use a couple of hours in the middle of the day for other things but start early and work in the evening. I almost always work for longer than my contracted hours.

My brother works from home for the council. He is constantly out having coffee in Starbucks and had his son at home with him for the first 11 months while he was working, so I agree that WFH often implies to me that not much is being done!

I WFH full time if I'm not travelling on business.

We only have offices in other countries so there's no choice, really, but even in the countries which do have offices none of my colleagues actually go in on a daily basis.

How much work I do in the working day varies: sometimes not much if I've got other things I'd like to do instead. Other times I'm flat out from before 8am until maybe 8pm or later.

On the other hand I'm always available on the phone and I've never gone more than 12hrs without responding to emails or jumping online to do something urgent, even when on holiday(!) so not sure that stacks up against people who WFH as a 9-5 job.

Oh, also, when I WFH I often go to a coffee shop for a couple of hours for a change of scene and because I find it one of the best atmospheres for me to write in (a big part of my job). Again, it might look like I'm not walking but (apart from the 10 minute walk to and from the cafe) I am.

LOL, I work 8.30-4.30 in an clinic, then I fire up the works laptop and answer emails, sort things for my students, complete trainng etc in the evenings at home (unpaid).

Yes of course. But I am self employed and work from home. If I don't work I don't earn.

When I WFH I might stick a washing in the machine/hang out, empty dishwasher while waiting for egg to poach etc just to get up from my desk and move/stretch as WFH I am sitting at the same desk all day which is not healthy.

If I go into the the office I start and finish at the normal times as I usually car share. When I WFH I start at my normal commute time and find I finish when I am at the end of something so generally work an hour or two longer than usual.

Its all swings and roundabouts, but overall work on average get more than contracted for.

For people who skive at home because they don't have much work, they would be skivving at work too, whats the difference?

(Disclaimer: I WFH and finish at 12 on a Friday so not MNing and WFH!)

So they’re at home with no child, but what makes you think they aren’t working?

I work from home as a freelancer. I'd like to work more but I have to juggle my mummy responsibilities alongside. Plus DH seems to think because I'm home I can do all the domestic side of things. It's not easy and tbh I'd love to actually go to a place of work with real, live colleagues. The grass isn't always greener.

Yes i do and work longer hours as i don't have a commute.

If someone asks me what I'm doing when I'm working from home/or the office/out in the field/whatever I often say nothing much because I can't be arsed to go through the ins and outs of my day just after it's finished. Often I can't talk about what I've done because it's confidential.
Other times because it's just fucking boring - I mean who is really interested in the ins and outs of our Christmas rota?

None of it means I'm not actually working.

I work from home once a week. I work properly all day. I’m often on video calls to the office and have to ask if I can push back a meeting for 5 mins so I can actually grab a cup of tea. It is not a day to skive although I appreciate being home over an hour earlier than usual so I can spend time making dinner and taking the kids to activities. The working though is same as if I am in the office

I often have days WFH and as some other posters have said I generally get more done. My job involves working with many others in the office so a lot of desk chats and (pointless) meetings so when I'm home I can just get on. I might put some washing on or call my mum or something but generally I would say my 'output' is higher when at home.

Of course I do. Work still needs to be done, reports written, phone calls and emails answered etc. As per PP, I may work more flexibly, but am still expected to work my core hours. I appreciate the flexibility of my job far too much to take the mick! I also get a lot more done by not travelling for an hour each way.

How do you know they aren't working?
This really annoys me. I wfh and some people assume I am having a jolly old time (watching netflix and doing nothing). Sometimes I work later into the evenings and have the morning free but I am doing the same hours as anyone else.

It's none of your business what they are doing. If their employer is unhappy with their work, they will be told. If they are self-employed and wfh and aren't, then that's their problem when their business doesn't make enough money.

And BTW there are plenty of people who go to work in an office/factory/laboratory/whatever and not doing very much work either. I used to work in a laboratory and there were people who just sat around all day doing nothing.

So they’re at home with no child, but what makes you think they aren’t working? 

Because they tell me what they're doing!

Well the phone does not ring, colleagues killing time do not stop by. Yes you can shove something in the washing machine, prep dinner. But that takes less time than the unpaid lunch hour you get at work. Add to that, no make up, no work clothes, no travelling. It is a win win.

I often work from home. A usual day would be about 6 hours of conference calls, plus emails, and actual work. I do also manage to drop the kids off, do some washing and maybe run the hoover round.

I could contour with my unpopular opinion that a lot of SAHM’s don’t do much at home other than suit themselves which really just makes them unemployed.

Both a friend and I work from home (full time) for the same employer. She is very much a log on from 9-5 person and likes to stick to that routine. I prefer to vary it as it doesn't "have" to be a 9-5 job. So I might do a few hours in the morning, I might go off and do some other stuff, then some more in the evening. I'll often do a few hours on a Sunday. So, on face value, to others it would appear she's doing more work than me but in reality that's not the case. Part of the attraction for me in this job was precisely not having to be bound to 9-5.