Working from home isnt all that

[SleepyEyes1]

Posting here for traffic.

I currently work as a TA, in a very busy inner city school. I have been offered a position working for the civil service. I've been told the job is hybrid working, and in a 4 week period I'd be required to go in for 1 week. Initially this sounded great but the more I think about it, it makes me feel a bit unsure. I'm a fairly quiet person and usually just blend into the background however I do like the odd laugh and joke and feel this makes the day go faster.

I feel a bit sad knowing that there wouldnt be that work place banter/vibe. It would be hard to form relationships with other colleagues. General moral support from others. Seems like it can get a bit lonely.

However there are things that I do like such as the idea of being able to drop and pick up the kids (dont actually know if both will be possible), no long commute, no work place dramas, being able to just get on with work and just less faff in general.

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Also what would you do?

We are supposed to be doing hybrid working now but in reality we still have a choice about whether and when to go in.

Overall I like working from home for the convenience of having no commute and being able to pick the kids up from school. We still don't have the same level of wrap around care as before covid so this is important. I can also get more done without distractions.

On the other hand I do miss seeing colleagues in person and feel sorry for people who have joined the team since we started wfh as I think it makes it harder to learn the job and get to know the team. Even if you go into the office, the chances are hardly anyone else will be there.

The increased fuel prices this winter are a consideration too and I may end up going into the office to save on heating!

Is it possible you can go in more often if that's what you want? It may be in office one week in four is the minimum expected rather than max

WFH is honestly one of the best things that ever happened to me. I understand for practical reasons it's not for everyone as not everyone has the requisite space to work from, among other reasons. But I sometimes just ponder in bewilderment that it took a global pandemic to adopt hybrid approaches to working life.

I bloody love WFh

No long unpleasant commute wasting time

No stress of train delays worrying about getting home to kids on time

Save money as no commute, need less work clothes

Can concentrate better as no noisy colleagues

Can fit in odd housework tasks during the day

Can exercise on my lunch break

See more of my DC

Am in for deliveries

I’m healthier and happier. Love it.

It’s personal though - I would have hated WFH in my 20s when I was single

I'm joining the Civil Service soon too, but would prefer 100% WFH. I'm autistic and have benefited so much from my own gentle sensory environment here - I don't mind admitting I'm more than a bit worried about going back into an office again. Partly just because of covid but more because being physically out of one has done me so much good.

I love it. My contract is in office 1 day a week and normally miss that a couple of times a month. Losing the commute has been the best Thing. I was wfh 2 days a week pre covid anyway.

I hate wfh. I don't get as much work done as I go on twitter instead of emails in any breaks. I flag for concentration mid morning, and early afternoon so I am only productive first thing and from about 4pm to 7pm, which coincides with when the kids want me so I feel like I fail at everything. And hate teams and am not the hugest fan of the phone, I just much prefer 5 mins in the corridor or a face to face chat.

I can wfh 2 days a week (in a policy I set myself so it could be more) and manage one day which is generally ok but with all the limitations above. I much prefer to drive 59 miles in a round trip and do my work in an office!

At the end of the day, if you don't particularly like your job you won't enjoy working from home or going to the office. You'll basically have a preference of which is more bearable.

I loved wfh for 18 months, but it does get lonely and isolating.

I’ve just started a new job wfh for now. I’m struggling with the solitude - I think it will be ok when I know what I’m doing but possibly feeling more anxious than normal without having anyone to just ask a casual question. And it’s harder to figure out personalities virtually. It all feels a bit temporary.

What I’m really appreciating is not having to get out of bed early, being able to drop off and pick up DC, not having to buy new work clothes and putting on makeup.

It is so personal.
Some of us love it and some hate it.
Some have the space for a separate work area but many don't.
Some love the time saved through not having to commute.
Some don't like the fact they need to heat the room they are working in during the day but other love they don't need to pay for fuel or a rail or bus ticket.
Some love the fact it makes every day flexible timewise (in many jobs - not all) but others find it difficult to discipline themselves and get distracted at home.
Some love not being interrupted and get so much more done, others like to be able to check an idea or process with colleagues easily.

I think it is worth establishing whether you only have to go in for a minimum of one week in 4 or if you are only allowed to as they are different concepts. Also, is everyone in the same week - for Team meetings etc - or is everyone in on different weeks for social distancing or for covering phones or whatever. Again, two very different concepts.

There have been loads of threads like this.

People like different things. It's fine to like different things.

I love working from home. I love not spending 2.5-3 hours a day commuting. I love eating lunch with my husband, finishing work & walking my dog, not catching ever bug and having a permanent winter cold.

I love the improvement in my mental health. I love not taking betablockers to cope with commuting. I love not getting trapped at Liverpool Street station for hours on a regular basis when the trains are fucked. I have (diagnosed) anxiety and really struggle to get on super busy trains, so I would end up nursing a hot chocolate until the backlog passed.

I don't really enjoy office "banter", I have friends to socialise with, & I now get to go to a jewellery making class and a games club after work, activities I couldn't do before as I didn't get home in time.

But that's me. If you like being in the office that's fine. I work for the CS and some people go in once a week, some go in more, a few work totally from home. Flexibility is the key - for some people, it is life changing.

Lots of people don’t like wfh and are going in more often than the minimum these policies set. I would imagine that you’ll end up getting to know the others who go in every day or most days very well - could be a good way to bond with colleagues quickly.

In your position, I would want to know if I could go in more often, how often, if I am guaranteed to get somewhere suitable to work on those days and whether there are other people who also choose to go in a lot more frequently.

Personally I really like wfh, but it is just that, a personal preference. One thing I would say is that when everyone is dispersed you do form strong relationships with people on video calls, etc. Even when fully office-based I had many colleagues I rarely if ever saw in the flesh - we have a good laugh on Teams or wherever and I don’t feel lonely at home because I have those relationships. Again, might be worth finding out more about who you’ll be working with. If it’s your main contact will be within a team who have all worked together for years in the office it may be harder to than if colleagues in the business are used to working closely with people not based in the same building.

Sorry - organisation, not business. Never worked in the public sector, but I think the same principles apply!

Personally WFH most of the time (with the option to go into the office occasionally since August this year) has been amazing. I am fortunate enough to have a home office with everything I need in it and have so enjoyed having lunch in my garden, being able to make coffee in my nice machine, putting the washing out in a break and best of all no long commute. It has made the day seem longer in a good way and helped me cope with the misery of loss and loneliness of the pandemic so far. I'm a really sociable person, but met up with friends for walks etc when that was permitted and didn't mind only seeing colleagues on MS Teams or Zoom as they're not my friends just co-workers.

Lots of good points here. For me it is absolutely not about space. I have an office all to myself,well equipped and warm. I just don't really like to be in it. I prefer my slightly cooler and badly equipped one at work.

The only thing that keeps me at home is atoastie or homemade soup!

I have it all though, as I love my job and can be as flexible as I like.

It works fine for me.

I love working from home and I do it full time.

I think it really depends on the person and personality and you can't make blanket statements.

I’ve worked from home for about 7 years. I absolutely love it. Listen to loads of podcast during the day and sometimes the odd film or tv series, get to do school runs. I really get my head down and am very productive compared to when I used to work in an office. So many distractions there. I do miss the chat and the work friends but I feel like I’m at a different stage of life now anyway and I have ‘mum’ friends that I meet up with for walks and coffee if I need to. It shocks me when I remember how little work I got done in the office, just seemed to be chatting all the time or having ridiculous meetings, and the commute 😤 don't miss that at all.

I've been wfh since November. Prior to that there was a big restructure so I returned from furlough, with my colleagues, to a small team who had never met each other and managed by someone we hadn't met.

It's brilliant. We have a 'team chat' on the go all the time, we talk about work, share silly memes, take the micky out of each other and generally get on just like we would in an office. I've had some bad news this week and honestly, the messages I had were so lovely and heartfelt they have made me cry.

Add to that I have no commute, I can walk DD to school and collect her, I'm able to flex my time so so easily to go to sports day or appointments or whatever. It's absolutely brilliant.

And I can listen to whatever music I want without worrying about colleagues not being in the mood for whatever I fancy hearing!

I've worked from home for years and love it. But I do have lots of customer and internal meetings in a day, on video, and there's a fair bit of joking and banter that goes on, because we're all in the same boat.

I hated it and I did have a spare room to work in, I only lived a mile from work so no savings, I decided to retire as it was so awful and one of the reasons I worked was the change of scenery.

I think it depends on how many meetings a day. Because even zoom interaction is social interaction.

I used to work in a school and the pace is so fast. I was always frazzled. I now wfh and it’s so quiet as most of my work is me on my own. I am looking for a medium!

I got really used to working from home and loved it, but when we started to go back to the office I realised how much I missed the interaction with colleagues. I have a fairly new job and can work from home as little or much as I like. I do 4 days, so tend to do 1 day at home one week and 2 the next and so on. I love that I have the best of both worlds. When at home I can walk the dog during my lunch, get stuff done around the house (just quick tasks like putting a wash on or bleach down the loo), less rushing about, comfy clothes and no make up.

I feel like a much happier, healthier and less stressed person. I think everyone should be given a choice if it can work for the company and the individual.

WFH is brilliant for busy mums. Can do the school run, get chores done before and after work, have dinner on at a reasonable hour and my children aren't up at the crack of dawn to go to morning club. Also saving a fortune- car wear & tear, petrol, work clothes, before & after school clubs/child minder. The benefits are endless. I absolutely love it.

I much prefer the office.
When I was in yesterday I talked to about 10 different people, all 121 conversations. At home I might only speak to one or two other people all day or be in meetings where there are at least five other people (or 20+) so you don't get proper conversations.
I've been in my job for 5 years so it's not like I was new, but when I'm at home its 'out of sight, out of mind'.