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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Anyone else struggling to feel engaged with work since WFH?

117 replies

Blankspace4 · 13/09/2021 15:11

At the start of the pandemic everyone just got on with it and we were so busy. But now I feel in a real slump and I struggle with enthusiasm and engagement and I can tell I’m not the only one. My work show no signs of getting us back to the office. I’m feeling really low. Anyone else?

OP posts:

rookiemere · 15/09/2021 08:21

I just feel so sad.

Our office didn't have quite enough desks, so they've used this as an opportunity to repurpose the area so there are very few proper desks. I'm actually jealous of people with specially desk arrangements due to health issues as they will have a fixed desk.

I don't think i'll ever get back to the environment where we'd come in and have a chat about our weekend, then all pile into a too small room for our planning session. I went out for dinner last night and no one I work with will ask or care, whereas before we'd have had a chat about it together.

rookiemere · 15/09/2021 08:28

Oh and I did arrange a walk outside with some work colleagues. That was nice but doesn't make the 30hrs stuck in our back bedroom much better.
I could go in but none of actual team mates there as you're not encouraged to book in a group. Also no point getting covid and not being able to go on holiday in October.

RicStar · 15/09/2021 08:30

I have decided to try and find a new job. Our work, which is small, currently gives everyone the choice but most people are happy wfh (fair enough), i will go in once or twice a week but to an empty office, which feels pointless although the lack of distraction helps, I am going to look for a bigger employer where hopefully there will be a bigger minority who want to be in the office.

Window1 · 15/09/2021 08:49

@Strawbsaturno

I’ve started to become desperate to go back on some level. I do have a nagging doubt as I’m high risk, but I’m seriously lacking in motivation now WFH and starting to worry as I keep giving myself ‘little breaks’ during the day and worry about my productivity. The company has said we’re not going back into the office in any material capacity until after winter.I am mindful that even then we will be really spaced out and not particularly sat with close colleagues from same dept as it will be hitdesking. We’ve lost something very important to how we socialise and interact with colleagues.

Hands up if you're also guiltily of frequent little breaks?!

I sometimes feel like a break between tasks is needed to reward myself for completing one task and get my brain in gear for the next. Please say this is common ....

rookiemere · 15/09/2021 08:52

@Window1 I have breaks and I don't feel guilty about it any more. I'm sure I read here that there was an app that would remind you every half hour or however it was set so you could break your day up into meaningful chunks.

RobinPenguins · 15/09/2021 09:20

Little breaks are fine, I’d have little breaks in the office walking or travelling between meetings or chatting to a colleague. I never struggled starting work again after a little break in the office though, whereas I do at home so I end up feeling like I can’t stop, because I might never be able to make myself start again.

myBumJuiceSmellsLikeRoses · 15/09/2021 09:27

@Window1
Daily catch ups sound a bit much.

Are others having check in / catch up calls amongst teams?

Yes, I've had a daily team 1 hour catch up ever since we got sent home. Often I feel a waste of time (I don't actually need to know what every single member of the team is working on) but on the days they don't happen for whatever reason it suddenly becomes a really long day. Those days I may not talk to anyone for 10-12 hours.

RobinPenguins · 15/09/2021 09:28

Are others having check in / catch up calls amongst teams?

We have twice weekly for the immediate team, and once a fortnight for the whole team.

VikingNorthUtsire · 15/09/2021 10:00

I started a new job a year ago and feel so so lonely and isolated. I'm used to having friends in the workplace but it just hasn't been possible to make those relationships. My role is a standalone one too so I don't have a team around me, and my line manager doesn't organise check ins or anything social as it's only the two of us.

I'm really struggling.

ToastieSnowy · 15/09/2021 10:07

Not at all. I love working from home. No commute, no having to do small talk, here when the DCs go to/from school. Love it.

As for work, we’re a close knit bunch (have to be as we have daily deadlines) so talk to someone everyday even if it’s online. Management are happy because productivity has gone up and we’re covering things outside of normal hours because it’s easy to do. Win win for everyone.

Also, the office is crowded with desks and no air con, bugs spread so easily. Since wfh in the pandemic the only virus I’ve had is Covid.

I don’t feel isolated or like I’m missing out at all. Long may wfh continue.

hamstersarse · 15/09/2021 10:08

I don't know what I feel about WFH.

I feel bored, I feel the monotony and I know my productivity is waning as time has gone on.

However I also feel like I CBA going to the office. We are going in 1 -2 days a week and I dread that too. I get literally nothing done when I go there as we all just piss around - I do wonder if that was what we used to do anyway. I hate spending money on lunches and travel, and I miss my dog, who is literally distraught when I go out now having been with me 24 x 7 for so long.

So hate wfh and hate the office.

I don't actually mind my job but seems there is no pleasing me at the moment!

crankysaurus · 16/09/2021 07:33

Thing about looking for new jobs is now not knowing the office situations, I'm looking at jobs and some clearly state working remotely but others I have no clue. I don't want to move to somewhere and find it's even more isolating as a new starter.

Original poster

Blankspace4 · 17/09/2021 09:03

Woohoo - it’s Friday wfhers! Not that there is much of a Friday feeling anymore - used to love going to the pub with my team and having a round of drinks together before going back to enjoy the weekend with smiles on faces. Now it’s just tedious teams meetings through til 5:30 and close the laptop lid.

OP posts:

ATieLikeRichardGere · 17/09/2021 09:16

Hahaha. That did make me laugh.

tootiredtospeak · 17/09/2021 09:22

Due back 3 days a week from October and very worried the government is going to send us back to WFH as soon as I get chance large corporation who will follow even if it's just advice. If yours is permanent with no chance of going back I would have to look for something new no way could I WFH forever I just couldn't.

MoiraNotRuby · 17/09/2021 10:27

I'm divorcing my husband and moving to a new house, this will make wfh a million times better without him listening in and asking 'who I've been chatting to all day'

MargaretThursday · 17/09/2021 10:52

I don't think it's just about wfh though. I think it's a bit of "tired with the whole situation".

I've been in the office all the time, although doing different things, and am conscious of a feeling of "can't be bothered" mixed in with "is it all going to be locked down again so what's the point in working on this stuff when if we're locked down it won't happen."

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