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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate working from home?

97 replies

Ruby0707 · 14/07/2021 18:03

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?

OP posts:
LadyCatStark · 14/07/2021 20:48

YANBU at all it’s making me mentally unwell…

LadyCatStark · 14/07/2021 20:51

Oh and I’ve tried to get an appointment to speak to the doctor about it, they’ll give me a phone call in just under a month’s time. Awesome…

dementedma · 14/07/2021 20:58

Absolutely hate it. Bad for physical health( poor posture from being hunched over laptop), bad for mental health, bad for work/life balance, bad for family life. Desperate to get back to office as is my whole team but fucking Sturgeon has pushed the date back AGAIN to August 9th- at least!

Unsoliciteddeckpic · 14/07/2021 22:32

@Tealightsandd

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.

Who said you did?

You are just very very opposed to it to wfh for anyone in any circumstances.

Society doesn't mean we all do the same all the time and can't ever change

Olinguita · 14/07/2021 22:47

I can't stand full time WFH. DH and I are constantly bickering and need a break from each other. It's really put a strain on our marriage. Work stress constantly invades our home and we live in a flat with no garden so there is no escape

Bombalinabimba · 14/07/2021 22:55

Sorry op, I love it. For me commuting for smt I could easily do from home was madness. Not everyone is the same of course... But I don't want to go back, work a lot better from home, and found my colleagues to be the same. luckily we will continue and most people in my office have been relieved.

Tealightsandd · 15/07/2021 01:00

Erm no I'm not Unsoliciteddeckpic
You must've missed my post upthread about balance. (I've also posted before on other threads in support of more WFH opportunity - where possible depending on the role - in some circumstances, i.e. people whose disabilities make office based difficult).

Tealightsandd · 15/07/2021 01:02

Society doesn't mean we all do the same all the time and can't ever change

No but it does mean thinking of the wider picture and the consequences that the potential change will have on society.

Tealightsandd · 15/07/2021 01:03

Tbf I don't half waffle sometimes! I can't blame you for missing one of my posts. Smile

GoldenOmber · 15/07/2021 01:15

Hate it. I have young children, but I don’t usually work 9-5 so there is always some time in the week when I’m trying to work from home to a background din of children and CBeebies and “MUMMMYYYYY!”

Give me my commute back and my colleagues and some psychological space between home and work any day!

slightlysnippy · 15/07/2021 01:38

I agree, I find myself much more focused and productive in the office. The couple of times I've been back in the office I've even enjoyed the commute, either to focus my brain to get in to work mode and coming home to disconnect from work and enjoy family time.

I also work with so many people that love WFH.

MakkaPakkas · 15/07/2021 07:50

Hate it so much! My work used to be quite flexible and I want to go back to that so much

Rhinothunder · 15/07/2021 07:52

Same. Now happily back in the office 5 days a week. Loving it!

Flev · 15/07/2021 08:10

Can't wait to get back to the office myself - my husband is SAHD but that still means I'm listening to the toddler tantrums etc going on downstairs. I have lost all time for myself - I barely leave the house during the week as the second I finish work I'm back to being mum again with no commuting space to clear my head.

MacSmirving · 15/07/2021 08:13

I love working from home - shorter commute and less distraction - but I understand why it's not for everyone.

However, in my sector (financial services) many companies had already moved to hot-desking. That often means that even in the office you no longer get the traditional experience of sitting surrounded by your own team mates. That in turn means you don't get nearly as much opportunity for those quick, ad-hoc conversations on work issues, which, for me, were the only big advantage of being office based.

KingdomScrolls · 15/07/2021 08:15

I've only been doing one day from home and I hate it, I spend my days up to my eyes in high risk sexual and violent offending, I don't want that in my home

MaMelon · 15/07/2021 08:21

I absolutely love working from home. I don't miss the hellish and expensive commute, the noisy office with colleagues chatting over the desks, carting my lunch into work and having to find room in a shared fridge for it, trying to find quiet, private spaces for calls, travelling all over the country for meetings.

I'm now going into the office 2 days a week to show face and have realised how utterly pointless it is for my role. I have a quiet office at home, I don't have to commute unnecessarily (which in turn means I and many others are not taking parking spaces that patients need), I am far more productive without the noise and chat going on around me, I can dip in and out of very focused Teams meetings with colleagues across the Board and country, and I can work more flexibly at home.

I will genuinely be devastated if I have to go back to long commutes 5 days a week to sit in an office to do the same work I could do at home in my own office and to drive to endless, waffly meetings.

I recognised everyone is different though and for some, working in the office is better. I just really hope that we move forward and work more flexibly as needed, rather than a one size fits all approach.

StrongArm · 15/07/2021 08:26

I'm back in the office a few days a week at the moment and I hope it stays that way. I've got aircon, I've got peace and quiet, I've got a very fast printer that never runs out of ink because someone else is looking after it. On those days we actually have face to face meetings and collaborate! Without people pretending they are in a meeting while browsing websites and doing the washing! I wouldn't want to be back 5 days yet but 2-3 days feels about right.

The best part is having that psychological distinction between work and home. On the days I'm in the office, I don't do any work at home around the times I'm in. Makes a huge difference.

I hate my commute, absolutely hate it but I'm hopefully soon moving house to make the commute a bit shorter

BusyLizzie61 · 15/07/2021 08:48

@FSPea
Not locally I don't think. A couple of pubs do a deal where you can use their wifi for the day but it's not the same. It's also a cost I'll have to pay for.

Is that not just the same as commuting costs though?

Hardbackwriter · 15/07/2021 12:26

[quote BusyLizzie61]@FSPea
Not locally I don't think. A couple of pubs do a deal where you can use their wifi for the day but it's not the same. It's also a cost I'll have to pay for.

Is that not just the same as commuting costs though?[/quote]
Only if you used to have high commuting costs - not everyone does. I can cycle to work so WFH is always going to cost me more just because I use more electricity, let alone starting to pay for workspaces.

Emmazebra · 15/07/2021 12:28

I absolutely love WFh

But I respect everyone is different

GreenLakes · 15/07/2021 12:31

Absolutely- I’m looking forward to going back to the office for the majority of the week at least. The novelty has well and truly worn off.

I have absolutely no desire to spend 5 days a week for the rest of my working life barely moving from my bedroom. It’s not healthy for anyone or conducive to work imo.

I’d be looking for another job if my place went permanently wfh.

Hardbackwriter · 15/07/2021 12:33

@Flev

Can't wait to get back to the office myself - my husband is SAHD but that still means I'm listening to the toddler tantrums etc going on downstairs. I have lost all time for myself - I barely leave the house during the week as the second I finish work I'm back to being mum again with no commuting space to clear my head.
Much sympathy to you. DH and I both work a four day week and I found the day where he was off work and so home with our toddler really tough - it upset DS to know I was there but not available and either I had to deal with a lot of distracting noise or DH had to try and keep DS quiet, which is a bit miserable. I'm on mat leave now but planning to apply to say I have extenuating circumstances to go into the office on that day each week when I go back because we all hated it so much. I really don't want to have to do it with a baby at home as well. Like you I don't recognise the description of having all this extra time for myself when WFH and found the exact opposite.
MaMelon · 15/07/2021 12:38

Only if you used to have high commuting costs - not everyone does

It doesn't have to be a high commuting cost to break even or make you better off though. Most people in this country (around 85%) have commuting costs according to this - that's a heck of a lot of people who could potentially be financially better off www.statista.com/statistics/300710/preferred-transport-for-travelling-to-work-in-the-united-kingdom/

GoldenOmber · 15/07/2021 12:46

I barely leave the house during the week as the second I finish work I'm back to being mum again with no commuting space to clear my head

God, yes. I used to read a book on my commute