To hate working from home?

[Ruby0707]

Everyone I speak to loves it and never wants to return to the office.

I'm the opposite, we've gone permanently from home and I am so sick of endless days without interacting with anyone during the day. I have nothing to talk about when my partner gets home.

Am I the only one?

I prefer it but recognise others will not like working from home. Especially if home is not a haven of peace and quiet, or if they are a young person house sharing.

@Tealightsandd

YANBU

WFH as a necessary temporary pandemic measure is one thing. Permanently it would be terrible on both an individual and societal level.

It would create an insular society of increased inequality.

Full-time permanent WFH may be welcomed by a privileged minority - those who have a home environment suitable for WFH and who are at a settled stage of life. Not so good for anyone else.

People unable to afford a WFH environment will miss out on career opportunities, and young people will be stuck starting their working lives spending all day everyday in their childhood bedroom or crappy room in a houseshare.

Public services (nurseries, libraries, social services, domestic abuse organisations, mental health care, park maintenance, etc) will suffer badly. The loss of the billions that the office based industries contribute to the economy is the very last thing they need. George Osborne's failed austerities policies (that left the country in more debt) have wreaked enough damage.

Ah I remember you from other threads now.

You actually have very little evidence that wfh is negative for most people. It is not something that's enjoyed by only a privileged few at all. It's not enjoyed or practical for everyone. But certainly not just a privilege few.

Do you not like wfh?

@Unsoliciteddeckpic

Yanbu. How could you be? No one thing is good for everyone.

I prefer hybrid, which I did pre lockdown. So I get the best of both. I had a great day in one of our offices on Monday.

I think the only problem for people who don't like it, is going to be that offices won't be the same when you go back. Especially, if your employer isn't making everyone go back FT. Even then, I don't think it peukd be the same

Theres no way to make everyone happy.

But you have my sympathy that you are having to do something that you really aren't enjoying.

That is a very good point about it not being the same if I do find a job where I can do a but if both. I hadn't thought about that!

I hate full WFH (I like being able to do it sometimes, but we always had that even before Covid) too. I'm currently on mat leave my employer has said we won't go back at all until January at the earliest which means I'll go back to full WFH - which particularly sucks as I've lost the spare room to the baby now so I'll be working on the dining table...

If I didn’t have small kids at home I’d hate it. For me it saves me and OH 1.5hrs a day each on commute, which means our kids are in childcare an hour less a day and we aren’t so rushed all the time.

But if that wasn’t the case I think I’d defo struggle from the lack of social interaction, the change of scenery and the ease of working face to face.

I love it, but that’s because I’ve always seen work as an interruption to my real life anyway, so regaining the time lost to commute/lunch break at employer’s location = more of my real life. Never socialised with colleagues and have a job that’s easier when I can focus without chit chat around me. Plus it fits in better with nursery runs, etc.

I do see how bloody awful it must be if your home circumstances don’t give you the space to work/demarcate, or if you thrive on interaction (unlike me, I thrive on hating office chat – fuck off calling my lunch “being good”, no I don’t want to give my spare change to the daily brown envelope of birthday collection doom, etc – yes I am a great to work with ).

@Ruby0707 yes but if its a new place, it would feel different, if you see what I mean.

I am not saying you must change jobs, but the days of busy bustling offices may be over for while. But a new environment may feel better to you.

for you though. it must be hard if you don't like it

Unsoliciteddeckpic
Erm there's tons of evidence. Including re the economic contribution of the office based industries. And in any event most of what I've written is stating the obvious.

I don't like (full-time) WFH from a customer and client perspective.

@Ruby0707 I BLOODY HATE IT. One long monotonous week. End of day I crack open a bottle of wine just to break up the crap. Can’t wait to get back to work in the office.

It’s obviously personal preference, but I love WFH. Being somewhat introverted I hate noisy open plan offices so home is definitely better from that perspective. Also, I’m saving £200 & 30+ hours per month in commuting costs & time. The time saving, in particular, is priceless.

Downsides? I find I need to get out of the house at least once a day. I walk every lunchtime and often go to a supermarket after work just for a pretext to get out.

@burritofan

I couldn’t agree more.

Sometimes when I wake up feeling knackered I breathe a yawn of relief that at least I don't have to get dressed up and run for the bus rather than 'commute' to my living room. But generally, I hate it. I find it soulless and depressing. Nobody will ever convince me that Zoom 'meetings' are anywhere near as good as the real thing. I hate the loss of structure and feeling part of a team, as well as the incidental banter and gossip. Sure, it's more convenient. But life isn't only about convenience.

@Tealightsandd

Unsoliciteddeckpic Erm there's tons of evidence. Including re the economic contribution of the office based industries. And in any event most of what I've written is stating the obvious.

I don't like (full-time) WFH from a customer and client perspective.

Yes, and that's been discussed at length as to why that's not actually accurate and its not the responsibility of office workers, to go back to the office, if their employer isn't bothered about them coming back.

It never going to go back to the way it was.

I didn't ask about it from customer perspective. I said, do you not like working from home?

@IcedPurple

Sometimes when I wake up feeling knackered I breathe a yawn of relief that at least I don't have to get dressed up and run for the bus rather than 'commute' to my living room. But generally, I hate it. I find it soulless and depressing. Nobody will ever convince me that Zoom 'meetings' are anywhere near as good as the real thing. I hate the loss of structure and feeling part of a team, as well as the incidental banter and gossip. Sure, it's more convenient. But life isn't only about convenience.

You nailed it on the head there. Exactly how I feel.

I love WFH. I've got the opposite problem. I've been told I have to start going in once a week from next week and, 'gasp' I have to wear work clothes!!!!!! 😭😭😭

Sometimes when I wake up feeling knackered I breathe a yawn of relief that at least I don't have to get dressed up and run for the bus rather than 'commute' to my living room. ha @icedpurple - there is that I suppose. I have also taken my teenage daughter to school for the first time ever every day because the bus services are now so unreliable - school vs non school ones and socially distancing - that it means she gets there. Nice little 10 min bonding session in the morning. But gosh I miss the hustle bustle of going to work.

YANBU. On the one hand I like it because I can do a bit of housework in my lunch break and I could carry on working when we all had to isolate.

But disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. I’m in my bedroom 16 hours a day. Don’t have a meaningful conversation with anyone in person. My mum looks after my kids 3 days a week after school at my house and even though she is there they come and pester me, make noise, want to be with me, want me to be the one who gets them a drink etc. It drives me up the wall. I’ve signed them up to ASC for this reason but the waiting list is 2 years long. My next hope is a childminder but I know they’re all full too.

I realise I am still very privileged. But I just want an office space

@Blessex

Sometimes when I wake up feeling knackered I breathe a yawn of relief that at least I don't have to get dressed up and run for the bus rather than 'commute' to my living room. ha *@icedpurple* - there is that I suppose. I have also taken my teenage daughter to school for the first time ever every day because the bus services are now so unreliable - school vs non school ones and socially distancing - that it means she gets there. Nice little 10 min bonding session in the morning. But gosh I miss the hustle bustle of going to work.

"Hustle and bustle" is right. Just the 'buzz' of being part of a team, the ebb and flow of the day. I live alone and can easily go from one end of the week to the next without seeing a single person. I guess if work is just a way to pay the bills, WFH is great, but for those of us who actually like our colleagues (well, some of them!) and appreciate the sense of community of the workplace, it's a tad depressing.

I can see why people don't like it. But I am in the love it camp. I don't drive so hated either relying on someone or public transport. I love the amount of time I spend at home now too.

Going forward my employer is having hot desks so people have a choice

I guess we underestimate the stimulus we get. Watching people on the tube. Walking up the Thames and looking what’s going on. Having breakfast with a colleague. Gossiping having coffee. Laughing with people next to you. Drinks after work. Work event. Work trips. Going abroad to meet teams. Hell yeah I miss real work life !

Got all nostalgic there

@Gumboots29

If I didn’t have small kids at home I’d hate it. For me it saves me and OH 1.5hrs a day each on commute, which means our kids are in childcare an hour less a day and we aren’t so rushed all the time.

But if that wasn’t the case I think I’d defo struggle from the lack of social interaction, the change of scenery and the ease of working face to face.

I always feel like the only parent of little children who doesn't like WFH - it is a bit more convenient, but since having children I've really valued work as a space where I feel like an independent adult and not just mum, and sitting in my house, having no work-adjacent social contact (we have endless online meetings but not the chatter as you walk over to the meeting or make a cup of tea etc that you get in real life), and doing laundry at lunch massively reduces that. But then I live a 15 minute cycle from work so there was no commute to lose (and maybe makes me feel a bit resentful of full WFH - we paid a lot of extra money to live so close to that building I haven't been in for 18 months!)

Offering employees a balance is the ideal. One or two days a week at home (if they want), two or three days a week in the office.

YANBU
but I think it depends on your office and the people who work there as well as your desire to not be in the house anymore.

I don't really like my office. It hasn't ever had a great vibe and I detest where they put my desk (with my back to the door) There's no chatter, no radio. Just deathly silence pretty much ALL DAY LONG.

Didn't see your question @Unsoliciteddeckpic

I do actually. But it's not just about me. I don't subscribe to the Thatcherite no such thing as society mantra.