So is working from home as straightforward as people say?

[Nanny0gg]

www.ft.com/content/35ba3750-7b38-4fda-bd8c-e0c0228852ed?segmentID=635a35f9-12b4-dbf5-9fe6-6b8e6ffb143e

This article raises points I've often questioned

I've been working at home for 8 years now. The novelty last about a year or two and then becomes deeply depressing. Now looking for a career change

What are the points? I can't see article.

It has its benefits and its drawbacks.

It really depends on the job, the person, the facilities/equipment available and their home environment.

Some people like it, others don't. Some people are more efficient, others not. Some people save substantial time and/or money, others not. etc etc

There is no definitive answer and it's not black and white.

FT is behind a paywall so not everyone will be able to see it.

Generally though I think WFH has a lot of plus points; No commute, feeling ‘comfier’ in your home than at a physical workplace, being able to be in for deliveries/plumber etc, being able to have decent lunches you can cook yourself, easier to go to doctor/dentist appointments close to home without factoring in travel to/from the office, being able to stick a washing load on etc.

Some less good points: can feel a bit isolated, some people like a ‘barrier’ between home and work, not everyone has the equipment/set up they need at home, not as easy to connect with colleagues, increase in electric/gas bills, technology can let you down, some meetings/discussions work better in person.

Overall I think it depends on the individual and how they prefer to work.

But I don’t think it’s all or nothing - solely WFH or 5 days a week at the office. I think most people would like a hybrid model if they could.

I’ve been wfh since March and I would say don’t judge it by the current experience. I really dislike it but then I’m not going to meetings, training etc like a normal wfh job (in pre Covid times!) For me the ideal is 2 days at home, 2 in the office, and one at a meeting / training etc. I now that gives me a good mix of time to get work done, people to see, and time at home for deliveries etc! I can’t wait until I can do that again.

I am finding that I am quite productive at home, but I have a good "proper" setup, proper screen, decent office chair, printer, decent broadband etc. Some provided by work, some I have provided myself (DH and I had always done some WFH informally, so 1 office was well set up, and we decided over the summer to get a 2nd proper desk that can be easily dismantled in the spare room as this is not going away anytime soon).

I've actually changed role 3 times in the period since lockdown, within my organisation (1 was literally as we locked down, 2nd was an emergency project, and latest is a more urgent need within the office than going back to original new role). This has been more difficult because of not having people to just poke my head around the door to ask. But I managed the 1st 2 and I'm getting there on the 3rd.

I don't have decent enough Work-Life boundaries, but am trying to step away from the desk more often at home.

But I also miss the general camaraderie of the office as well. And the fact that being in the city centre, I could go out and get a nice lunch if I forgot to bring one in (not "what is least boring in the fridge"), and do any shopping I needed to (clothes, pharmacy, posh toiletries, kitchen tools/baking stuff etc).

I have been into my office a few times since lockdown - I needed to go in for the urgent project intermittently (briefing senior management, and dealing with Parliament) but only twice since changing again (to print large docs and deal with ICT problems), so the last trip included grabbing 4 extra reams of paper and an extra toner for my printer. And going to the proper stationers for pens etc - I am so used to just running in on my way from the train in the morning that I was not used to planning ahead for small things like more paperclips or staples....

I had been travelling a lot before so was one of the relatively few who already had small tablets which linked directly into our servers - ICT had been starting to give people with those docking stations and removing pcs, so I think it will be a lot more variable once we do return and that there will be more flexibility to WFH occasionally (whether formally or informally) as this period has shown that, generally, the work of our organisation has continued, both responding to the emergency caused by the pandemic and finding urgent solutions for business, and the normal work continuing on (there was a small hiatus but generally now most areas are continuing their day to day work without much apparent difference to the customer, except no face to face meetings happening).

But I KNOW that I am lucky, having decent broadband, and having a separate space for my work which is not in the communal areas of the house. (And that teen DD has gone back to school in person - although in fairness, she did work hard during the school day when in lockdown - but the minute 4 o'clock came, she was off the clock and constantly "bored" and "hungry"). Lots of others I work with have smaller DCs in their houses, are working on their dining table or even sofas, or both adults (or even adult DCs as well) working together in the same room etc and in small apartments etc. So it doesn't work for every household situation.

@CutToChase

I've been working at home for 8 years now. The novelty last about a year or two and then becomes deeply depressing. Now looking for a career change

I can identify with this, @CutToChase.

It was an oasis of calm at first, but now it seems quite isolating at times.

Being doing it for 15 years and love it. A mix of WFH going to the office once a week to check in and out seeing people for work.
Having a day or so with work colleagues was the key for me - keeps you in the loop but honestly my work/life balance is terrific and I can start at 6am if I want wearing Pjs then go out at 10am for a run or a swim and then back for a call at 11.30. I manage my own diary much more, there's no presenteeism they way there can be in an office.

I see my kids and have breakfast with them most mornings, I've never missed an assembly or school thing, the laundry is all done during the day as I can do that then, I can prep dinner or nip out for groceries quickly. I'm here for when they get back from school.
I'm measured on output and contribution so the bosses can see how productive I am and I'm trusted to crack on with it. No-one is checking I'm online at 9am or still there at 5pm - they know I get the stuff done, and probably ut in more hours than 40 a week not less.

I've concluded I need a mix. I like wfh, but I need variety and I feel drained with being forced to be stuck at home now. I think if I had the freedom to go to the office whenever I want to, I probably would 1-2 times a week. It's nice to catch up with people, supervise the juniors, train on something together, do some business development brainstorming. It's good for relationship building. Equally, it would be nice to be able to pop out for a coffee or a lunch with a client every now and then. But I certainly wouldn't want to come back to the office full time, commuting is stressful, long, expensive, not good for the environment and not necessary.

I think pp made a very fair comment that judging wfh on the basis of the current experience would be unfair.

Wfh, but with flexibility to get out and to have office days is the way forward IMO.

I hate it and cried last week when they closed our office again.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have a job but I have no work life balance any more as I work at the dining room table and therefore the equipment is always on view. I'm fed up with using a laptop as my second screen and DH feels he has to ask if he can walk through the living room. I've told him not to worry, carry on as normal and work will have to accept it but he feels bad.

It depends on the job. I work 100% at home but because I run my own business I can work from anywhere. I regularly work from my local Starbucks because it’s got great people watching potential

If I had to be in my home from 9 to 5 I think I’d struggle. Being able to pack up and go spend a week working in the mountains or at the beach makes all the difference

Yes that’s another thing to consider - the environment you have to WFH. If you’re in a tiny flat with other housemates (which wasn’t a big deal pre lockdown if you’re young and always out) - that’s a very different set up to someone who has a dedicated office/working space in a larger home.

Also if you can always hear your neighbours/nearby building work or you’re next to a busy road, that could mean WFH is hard to concentrate.

Also if you can always hear your neighbours/nearby building work or you’re next to a busy road, that could mean WFH is hard to concentrate.

I've had that all summer. My neighbour is lovely but has a very loud voice and takes a lot of calls outside meaning I can hear everything!

I e been working from home since March, it was great at first but now I'm absolutely bored shitless of being on my own! I'm actually going in tomorrow and I can't wait, I miss the banter and just adult conversation

Sorry about that, I was able to read it so thought it was open.

It was to do with the legal side of it - firms monitoring your work and organisation of your day as obviously they aren't in the same room as you and what they can and can't expect.
Physical set up in your home - chairs, desks. Supplying equipment etc.
Expecting you to light and heat your home. Not so sympathetic to childcare now if you have a child not at school.

Not all firms are treating their staff well and it's the ramifications of that when staff don't feel they're in a position to rock the boat under current circumstances. This is about people told to work from home, not those whose contracts are set up for it.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat I work from home and found that putting up a camping table in the corner of a room, a pretty cloth and a candle for when I'm not working helps. I shove all of my work equipment underneath it when in home mode, when in work mode I move the cloth and set it up to work. This really helps to create a visual divide between lives.

That's a good idea @littledrummergirl but unfortunately I really don't have the space for another table of any sort. I think I'm going to have to throw a sheet over the dining room table when I'm not working! When I was going into the office a few days a week I was disconnecting all the equipment and tidying it away but it hardly seems worth it for 2 days at the weekend.

I'll definitely do that when the office reopens though

It's variable for me. Before lockdown my job was about 2 days wfh, 1 or 2 days in the office and the rest out and about meeting partners/visiting services. That really suited me as it offered a variety and I could wfh much more effectively on days when I had a lot to get though. Also my job is extremely flexible so I could arrange a lot of stuff to suit me.

I am now ft wfh and I still like it most of the time. I am still able to work flexibly although I don't really need to so much now. We have a daily team call so we are more in touch than we have ever been and that's a good thing - things change really quickly in our work so it is great to know people are on hand.

On the whole I'm happy to carry on BUT there are just some days when I am sick of being in my own house, I want to stand in the work kitchen and talk to someone from another department just to see what other people are working on, I want to wander over to Waitrose for my banana and free coffee with my work mate and get some fresh air, I want to sit in the office and have that gentle banter that comes with being with others.

It can be isolating and it has cut us off from large swathes of people we would normally see on a reasonably regular basis.

We have great IT, we have been given some money to set ourselves up at home and we have good support - I feel very lucky and grateful but still sometimes I do crave the office setting.

I have WFH for about 18 years and love it, but I do have a good set up and like being able to be flexible - some days I work 5 hours and some I work 14 hours, to achieve what I need to do. My colleagues are similar personalities too, so we have always talked on a Friday for a 'natter' as well as a work catch up.

We put our call centre out to remote at the beginning of lockdown (c. 100 people) and about 25% couldn't hack it and left. The rest have maintained and in many cases increased productivity. A substantial majority have asked to be able to continue to work at least part time from home moving forward.

I’m hating it. Loved it at first. Have the space so set myself up with nice new proper desk, got my comfy chair from the office, was all good, got loads done.

Now I hate it. I am lonely, struggling to focus, easily distracted, miss the ‘leaving work and leaving work behind’ feeling at the end of the day.

I’ve gone back into the office 3 days a week as hate it. Working at a kitchen table is no fun

I have been working from home full-time for years. I live 150 miles from the office and I go once a year for two days and stay overnight in a hotel there. I often wonder about legal issues. If my house were burgled and the company’s equipment damaged or stolen, who is responsible? Or accidental damage? I have a shredder to dispose of confidential documents - I am not putting them into our household recycling bin.

The biggest personal issue I have is the lack of separation from work and home. In fact, sometimes I don’t think I work at home, it feels more like I live at my workplace when it gets very stressful. I have a separate office with all the equipment. I have a Varidesk, two monitors, printer, shredder, professional chair, camera for meetings, multi-line phone, etc and my office looks just like the offices in the company building. But I feel I lack a separation.

Concentration is not a problem. We live on the beach of the Pacific Ocean and I can hear the ocean while I work. I also have a very nice view from my office which makes for a very nice place to work. But I hate finishing work and trying to empty my head of work things and opening the door and immediately my husband wants to discuss household things with me (he’s a SAHperson) such as what arrived in the mail and that we have run out of something. I often just sit in my office for a few minutes after I’ve finished work just listening to the ocean before opening the door to home life.

I think WFH is terrible if you are a naturally introspective extrovert which is the case for me.
I need interactions to feel happy, and left to my own devices I won't Potter around happily, I'll sit and chainsmoke and brood. Years of WFH ultimately greatly contributed to a nervous breakdown.

If dh had an office it would be fine most of the time. As it is he's at the dining room table which means I can't even get on with cooking without disturbing him. He's being pretty good about it, but if he's got an important (or sometimes confidential) meeting then I have to work round him.
My dc are teens so can work around him. If they'd been preschool/infant that I think it would have been far more challenging.

I have worked from home for 17 years.

Total bliss.