Dreading going back to work

[Sarah510]

Is anyone else dreading it? Had a meeting this morning and they are talking about re-opening in May. I don't want to go back - I love working from home! I have so much more time to myself, to do the things I love, plus I'm dreading the commute, and being crushed into trains again. Plus my job is just not that busy, so I do what I have to and then I'm "free", rather than sitting in an office pretending to be busy :( I'm scared. I know we all have to get "it" at some stage, (have no underlying conditions, am pretty healthy so I should be ok if I get it), but I don't want to get it

I’ll be really surprised if work and employment reopens early may like I’ve read.
I’m looking forward to going back to work though but I don’t think mine will rush us back after the costs of getting us running on wfh.
I think when everything reopens it’s going to be a gradual thing too

I think the recommendation to wfh if possible will remain for a good while yet.

I have been given access to systems which Make my job much more doable at home and I don’t miss my grimy airless office a bit . Not having to make dull small talk with colleagues and waste half an hour on public transport is great .

YANBU. Hate having to look busy, hate office small talk/gossip. Noisy, can't concentrate.

I’m dreading having to return to the office - wfh is good for my mental health

I'm dreading going back. I thin the weathers so good because of lack of pollution. Wildlife is happier. Eveeywheres so quiet, I love it.

It took me a good couple of weeks getting used to WFH and now I love it. We are due to move to new offices where we will be sat much closer together so I am really not looking forward to that!

Can't you put in a flexible working request to work from home partially? I work from home 2 days a week usually. They can't say your job isn't doable from home now!

I want to go back to work, but I am frightened at how dirty the office is (was?) and sharing desks made things worse, as twice I came in to find other colleagues coughing and sneezing all over my desk I'd cleaned myself with anti-bac wipes!

I've already had a conversation about a mix of WFM and going in to the office when things are 'back to normal'.
Well received - but we have a lot fewer hot-desks than needed, so it will save employer money as well as my sanity.
I expect other colleagues will do the same.

This makes me want to retire. I usually have facial muscle twitches and feel angry often, i commute 2 hours a day on the train (and people are gross). I've been above to go for walks every, have lots of silence, my twitches have gone.

Gosh yes. I'm loving working from home. So much so that I'm trying to work out how I can do it full time.

I love working from home too! I am so much more productive as I can start early with Asia, finish a bit later with the US and take some time in the middle of the day to do something useful like a load of washing or tidy the kitchen! However, I did wfh 2 days a week anyway, which made the transition very easy as no tech issues. Not looking forward to going back to the 2-3 hours commuting (round trip) and squashing on to the tube.

Love working from home. Do what I have to do then free to get on with my life.
I think and hope there will be a sea change in attitude towards wfh after this. In any event a return to work in non essential roles will probably be staggered with people being asked to continue remote working if possible until at least July, and possibly for further periods until a vaccine is available.

YANBU

I absolutely love my actual job. It's interesting and makes a real difference to people.

It's the commute - angry red faced drivers with piss poor driving skills

Having to attend long boring meetings

So much wasted time. I will also be trying to make a case to WFH more often than I already do.

My employer has always been fairly against working from home, but think it will be tricky for them to deny that mostly people have been keeping up the essential aspect of roles.

One of the posters here commented on putting in an application for flexible working - does this include working from home?

Being at home, I've realised that work was making me very unhappy. It was miserable. There was no team spirit apart from the all-boys-together drinking brigade which I'm not keen on.

I'll be looking for a new job once lockdown ends. I think I was so absorbed in making the best of the job, I hadn't realised just how grim it was.

Be mindful of you say you arent busy you could be made redundant

I’m self employed , and furloughed It’s made me realise how much I dislike what I do , and I need to think of something better
Or retire , which is what I really want to do ( am 60 )

I’m a teacher, don’t think I’ll be back until my mat leave ends so it won’t be until September 2021 for me which is pretty crazy!

I'm looking forward to re-starting work but it's different for me because I already worked from home before this.

I'll be going back into my childminding job as a stronger person though: no longer an easy-going pushover. It's given me the opportunity to change my business so I only have to work for people who respect me, as I now realise I don't have to go the extra mile for those who are happy to drop me when things get difficult. Less children, less money, more self-respect.

I am looking forward to going back. I hated having to tell them I am in the shielded group. I am normally very private about my medical issues and did not want anyone at work to know this. But I enjoy work.

I'm 30/70 on this
30% Yes, I'm dreading it, as I'm a teacher and I'm worried about how we're all going to catch up on the curriculum, but at least we've all been in this together.
70% though, I've missed my students faces, the rapport, teaching, my colleagues. Seeing the students.
Though I've loved loved loved having time to have a proper Easter holiday and spend so much time in my garden, first time n 25 years. Plus I don't miss the commute.

Totally with you on this!
I love my job but it is totally do-able (as in, no different to being in the office) at home and I've felt for years now that the 3 hours a day I spend in traffic is slowly killing me and is a complete waste of time (note that I only actually live 25 miles from work - it's just an insanely bad traffic area!). I was already WFH one day a week pre-Covid but I'll be requesting to work 50% at home once we all go back.

The 3 hour commuting time has given me an extra in bed in the morning so I can get up at 6am, not 5am. An hour to go and exercise in the morning (when I'd normally be sat in traffic), and an extra hour of working time during the day. They would literally get more hours out of me if I could WFH more often, because when I'm in the office I have to leave at 4:30pm in order to start the 1.5 hour commute home to get DC's from CM/preschool before it all shuts at 6pm. If I WFH I just work up until 5:45 then potter along to get them.

My job without the commute is brilliant. My job with the commute makes me a miserable and permanently stressed out parent.

I'm a SAHM but I'd totally be the same. DH feels the same as you and I don't want DC to go back to school any time soon either, I'm loving this. DH is so much more relaxed not having to drive for 2 hours a day to get to and from work and he's getting so much more work done.