Working from home forever

[Ehupflower]

AIBU to be honest about how hard it is to be motivated working from home! I've had to work from home since the middle of March last year, (like lots of other people) and we got told today that this is probably going to be permanent! I love my job but I'm so fed up of working from home full time I'm finding it harder and harder to keep motivated and not be distracted......

It's fascinating to see what may well be a societal change come about so quickly. I can't wfh at all and I'm glad, it wouldn't suit me at. OH works from home and did previously too, we are lucky we have the space for him to have his own office but it still drives me mad that he is always here. I can't wait for him to be out seeing customers etc again.

I wonder whether we might get to the point where employers offer non wfh as a point of attraction, it's interesting. I do also wonder whether there will be some backlash towards employers saving massively on office space unless they start paying for staff to go to co-working hubs or paying for home offices etc.

It has been said but bears repeating I think that it doesn't seem the best induction to the world of work for young new starters to be given a laptop and told to crack on with things, particularly if they don't have any space to do so.

I’ve done a mixture of wfh and commuting to office for years. I’m surprised how much I miss the office. Even the train commute, striding out to the station, podcast/music, read on the train with a coffee. Getting my 10K steps in without even thinking about ‘going for a walk’.

However this wfh is very different to normal. We can’t break it up with coffee/lunch with friends. There’s no weekends away or holidays to look forward to.

I can't wait to go back to the office, commute and all! I hate WFH when I have important meetings I need to minute, the connection issues can flare up, or someone comes in the room, it's much easier when I'm in. I do think our work will adopt a part office/part Home schedule which would be great.

I hate it! I'm used to be in different offices, meeting, clients etc and the silence of my back bedroom makes it harder to focus than any office noise ever has! I'm so bored of the same 4 walls and once people can come and visit I want my guest bedroom to be just that! I'll be going back as soon as we can. Don't mind a mix of home and office but if they say home working is a permanent thing (there's no indication they will close the office) I'll seriously be looking for another job. I think it's detrimental to the business too, there's none of that cross-team conversation or things that get picked up on or people asking for quick bits of help in the same way they would in the office. I really feel for people who are new to the business too, especially the new graduates!

I also always presume that people who make comments like this have their own office space at home. They aren't stuck in the living room using a fold-down desk seeing the same 4 walls all day and then all evening

Nope, DH and I wfh in a 500sq ft flat with no outdoor space. My "office" is a tiny desk in the living room corner and his is a fold out desk in our son's room. We both still love it.

And to whoever said office working wasn't forced on me and I could have chosen a job that didn't involve working in an office, did you not understand my point was that the type of work I do always seemed to require office working from short sighted employers, despite the fact it was perfectly possible to do it equally well from home? That's what I meant by saying office working was forced on me.

It has been the default forever, with no thought to those of us who enjoy work that is typically done in an office, but don't enjoy an office environment.

I used to feel like this but am now in a bigger house it's easier. I work with clients across the UK though so would either be flying to another office or on the phone in a small room in my base office as projects tend to be confidential.

Perfect balance for me would be 1-2 days in the office I think. I hope employers we see an increase in flexability for all our preferences.

Wow my above post makes little sense, typing whilst brushing teeth...!

I am self employed but currently home schooling our 5 year old. I love working from home and love my husband working from home. He is not spending ages commuting and can see us more. I really hope some of this way of working continues.

I'd be happy with 2 days in the office and 3 days from home.
It seems a lifetime ago we were all in the office, having a laugh and banter and going out for drinks on a Friday. I miss those days.
However I've gotten so used to WFH now that it would be difficult going back to the office full time. Plus the no commute, less money on petrol and not having to eat lunch from a Tupperware box.

I am also sick of WFH. I hate it. I miss my team. I miss being able to just speak up/ask a question about something without checking a person's calendar. The cheeky office banter. The work discussion that just happened organically but you learned and shared so much.

I miss the commute that I used to decompress before I got home after a tough day.

I miss wandering aimlessly into shops just to stretch your legs at lunchtime.

I miss leaving the house.

I miss the divide between work and home. My DH goes out to work every day and I envy him.

I love our house. We worked extremely hard to be here. We set up a home gym so we could still exercise over winter. I have a dedicated and techy office space. I have space so if DH does WFH and our DS is about, we can accommodate all of us, and I grew up so broke, matching socks was a luxury, so to have all this, would be a dream come true for most. But I hate it. I am sick of it.

I wage to go out to work.

Want*

I have worked from home on and off for years, but I would prefer face to face meetings once or twice a week, and obviously for teaching (ugh, all those names and faces on Zoom). I want to go back to how it was before, which was a couple of days on campus, three at home, usually one on weekend, one day off to laze about!

I have never been so focused. Miss the office chat but it was not productive. If I had time I would be very interested to look at my output. My guess it's up by 50% ish. I am a different worker now. I work like I am going on a two week holiday the next day and I know I need to get everything done.

It's like work now means work. Work previously was sometimes just being in the office and chatting to colleagues. Much of the chat was work related but we all do the same job in different ways so these chats became highly charged debates about what the 'right' approach should be. Now I just get the feckin job done.

Very thankful to WFH. Work has kicked off massively and I would have gone under if I was in the office.

I'm hoping for a mix long-term partially because all my most moany, miserable colleagues apparently love working from home - seeing a lot less of them while continuing to see the nice, fun ones would be a big bonus!

I work 4 days a week and prior to lockdown worked 1 or 2 days each week from home. DH was office based full time. My work / life balance was perfect. I could get my head down when WFH and was really productive. And I had my days in the office for face to face meetings, catching up with colleagues and running training sessions.

Since March both DH and I have been WFH. It was ok at first but I’m so fed up with it now. I’m getting less motivated every week and I don’t even have my day off to myself anymore as he’s here all the time. It’s looking like they are going to close most of our office and we’ll just be required to go in a maximum of 1 day a week on rotation.

I’m seriously considering taking early retirement. I used to love my job. Now it’s a struggle to get through the working day.

WFH for me is crap. Kids at home . Noise. I’ve volunteered to go in on Friday to do training as I need to have the company of adults even if it’s just for one day

I've done a mix of wfh/office for years. I was frequently asked to go in 2 days a week to sit in meeting rooms and then Skype to colleagues who were sat in their offices doing the same! Made no sense whatsoever. Trying to work at my desk with people talking all around me did me no favours, and I'm a real introvert, so the whole "meeting at the coffee point" thing just isn't for me.

During the pandemic my company decided to close multiple offices, anyone in a role like mine has got a contract variation stating we're all now homeworkers and the only time we'll go into an office is for client facing meetings which are quite rare in my specific role. What it has done though is open up promotion opportunities, because someone who lives in the north can now apply for roles which would only previously have been advertised in the south and vice versa on the basis that they're now home working roles.

I think a lot of employers have taken the opportunity to listen to people who want a better work life balance, close office space and save costs, and they've been able to try it out this past year to see how productive people are.

I do feel some sympathy for people who dont like WFH - because I felt the same about working in the office....

A daily meeting on Teams can’t replace a quick “What do you think..?” when a new idea comes to you.

Oh, you're one of those people who interrupts others when they're trying to get work done?

I started a new job moments before the pandemic hit.
I hate not knowing my colleagues.
I miss meetings where you can read the room and get a proper debate/discussion going.
I miss friendly colleagues and nipping out for a spot of lunch together
My job can be totally done from home but not by me. I made myself go for an hours walk this morning. I have a dry as dust job and the only thing that adds colour is other people.

I hate it! I'm used to be in different offices, meeting, clients etc and the silence of my back bedroom makes it harder to focus than any office noise ever has!

Same. I listen to office background noise videos on YouTube whilst I work. Its actually made the world of difference.
I just like being round people.

@BlackForestCake

A daily meeting on Teams can’t replace a quick “What do you think..?” when a new idea comes to you.

Oh, you're one of those people who interrupts others when they're trying to get work done?

This post just highlights what different people need to be productive at work. Some need to he head down, beavering away. Some need to collaborate and be creative. Its horses for courses.

I'm an interrupter I'm afraid. But I am equally happy to be interrupted. I know those who work in the same way as me.

Its really hard for me to be productive in my role by sitting working away by myself.

Dunno how you guys do it, working from home!

I would get to distracted working at home and would end up being sacked I bet!

I'm leaving my job next week and starting one where I will be office based. The fact my current job has said WFH permanently was a big factor as I hate it. Current job gobsmacked that I left, but they had not assessed any impacts of permanent WFH and losing staff had apparently not occurred to them.

My place is going to be doing a hybrid model split between home and office working so we’ll be in the office a few days a week. The idea is your office days will be for things like bigger meetings, collaboration, training - things that are hard to do over zoom. And then your home days will be more for admin, catching up on emails, finance etc.

Obviously it’s easy to say that in principle and we won’t know what it’ll be like until we start, but I think it’s a good move and it’s the best of both worlds.

This 100%:

Office working has been the accepted status quo up til now with zero fucks given to those of us who found it demotivating and bad for our mental health.

Yes, absolutely this! A million times over. It's OUR turn to be happy and comfortable now so too bad.

I genuinely don't understand people who want to spend their days in office buildings and who get excited about seeing their colleagues. It seems quite sad to me!