To wonder if people who like WFH all live in big houses

[redskydelight]

As per title really.
3 of us who could work at home and DD studying for A Levels.

We have a 4 bedroom house so should be ample for our needs, but the (modern, small) rooms simply weren't designed to accommodate so many separate work spaces as well as space to eat, sleep, relax etc. We're all now choosing to work/study more and more out of the house because of being on top of each other at home.

I really don't know why so many people rave about wfh. I can only assume they must have big houses and therefore don't have to put in place timeshare arrangements for use of the dining table.

I occasionally work from home on my sofa with the laptop on my lap even though I do have a three bed house. Mind you I live alone.
My home office space is in the box room and very nicely arranged but I prefer to work in the living room.

I live in a HA house. It's not big. I work from home alongside home educating my children and i'm a single parent 🤷🏽‍♀️ There is no office for anyone but I LOVE it

Small 3 bed house but I have a garden office so separate workspace from the house. Perfect as when I finish work I can shut the door and switch off.

I wfh permanently and have a 1 bedroom flat, tiny corner of the living room is set up for my screens and workspace

I've also come to realise people's feelings on this very much vary by child. My son was 2 during the start of COVID and trying to wfh while parenting him was a total no go, he needed constant direction and interaction or her literally climbed the walls and created total havoc. Pre covid I took him to a softplay or equivalent half the da and the forest or park with the dog the other half to manage his energy i couldn't understand how any parent was managing. My daughter is nw not far from the age he was and I could absolutely WFH with just her, she potters about, plays with her dolls, does a bit of colouring in, makes pretend food at her kitchen and brings me it to 'eat' and as long as you keep her fully stocked on snacks and take her out for a garden play for half an hour and stick bluey on now and again she's a contented, happy soul.

I like wfh but only me in the house as husband is not wfh.

I do have a downstairs office though

takes away the commute
more peaceful
and many people have dogs they want to be home for.

Small 3 bed but wfh 2 days a week and in the office for 3 days a week. Dh also has a hybrid contract & wfh when I am in the office. If I didn't have this flexibility then I wouldn't be able to work because of childcare issues. We're saving £1k a month on childcare because of this wfh arrangement and it's nothing to do with the size of our house.

I don't have a large house but then don't have school age children in the house with homework and all the other things to consider.

Dining table is for eating and sitting over a cup of tea for me.

Agree 100% if you can’t separate your workspace and personal space then WFH is horrible, it’s hard to stop work and switch off, you can often see you laptop / monitor etc and feel bad about the work you still have left to do.

A big house isn’t necessary always, but enough workspace to work comfortably and ability to complete close door / hide work away is very important.

A single person or couple in a 2 bed house or flat with a large enough 2nd bedroom for an office both both might be ok with WFH. Or better still
with an outdoor garden office or 2.

I considered renting office space just to give myself some work-life balance.

My colleagues in house shares who
worked in their bedrooms and didn’t have other living space ended up working late evenings and weekends a lot during Covid and returned to the office quickly and are back in the office a lot more than the people with gardens and separate offices.

Personally not a big fan of WFH, I can work / read / shop on my commute anyway. The only advantage is having lie-ins and longer gym sessions in the mornings. One day a week WFH is ok, I’d have no problems if had to go back to office 5 days a week though.

Wrap around childcare is expensive in my area and as my kids are older now they can entertain themselves until 5pm. WFH means I don't need to rush back and I often work past my contracted hours. My line manager knows I am reliable and will make up time if needed.

It’s partly house size and partly commute I think. We have ample space and a short (20 mins) commute. I go in once or twice a week but find the commute with school drop off to be a little tricky sometimes. At the office there are a number of regulars who have modest houses (no dedicated office space) and a short (walkable) commute. I go to uni once a month 70 miles away and opt to stay over for that. I find the long drive plus full on day draining. So I think if you live close it’s the space that makes wfh attractive but with a long commute you’d happily work anywhere you can manage within the home.

Love WFH, not too bothered about the space but I have disabilities that I find awkward to manage in an office environment. I also love not commuting and being able to potter around at home on breaks etc, I do have a dedicated office space set up though.

I have also been able to take my job away with me and still 'holiday' when I have no leave available - once I'm done for the day I simply put the laptop away.

So I think if you live close it’s the space that makes wfh attractive but with a long commute you’d happily work anywhere you can manage within the home.

I don’t think it’s even that - I was desperate to get back to my 1hr+ commute. But it’s maybe also how you feel about commuting. For me, my commute is fine, it’s a way to build in exercise into my day and some time to sit and read a book quietly on the train. If commuting is just a hellish slog with no redeeming features then it’s probably different.

Same with whether you can squeeze work into your house if you don’t have dedicated space for it. I want my work-life balance to give me some space between life and work, other people value getting more time in their day more highly and will compromise on sharing living space with their work stuff to get that.

I have two spare rooms, one with a desk but prefer working from my bed - more comfortable!

I wfh but not through choice which is different I suppose. My employer closed the local office during lockdown and my nearest one is now a further 40 miles away. Luckily wfh is an option otherwise I would have had to give up work because of childcare (am part time, but part time roles are never advertised in my line of work so I would have had to either go full time with a new employer or give up work completely). I love the flexibility (easy to slot in school run, can throw a load of laundry on during my lunch break) but the lack of space caused by it is stressful (modern box sized rooms). If I had more space I might well love it, although that said I do miss speaking to people in person.

I worked from home before lockdown - 2 of us in a 1-bedroom flat. No children. I work from a laptop and move around. I liked it then and I like it now. I would like a bit more in-office time - a couple of days once a month - but company offices are in America, India, and Ukraine. Tricky...

Before I worked from home I only had a 10 minute commute but the traffic was always dire with the school run and I always started off the day in a foul mood.

What does make a difference now, post-lockdown, is that the company is committed to fostering connections, both business and social, where it didn't feel the need to before. I had lonely moments pre-lockdown when I was the only one WFH - now I don't.

I think you are right. It's about what the individual gives priority to.

Personally, like you, my commute isn't a big deal, but I hate work invading my home space so I would rather travel into the office.

I have concerns about the musculo- skeletal health of all these people.working in bed or on the sofa.

In the first few weeks of lockdown I was working long hour on a surface pro on my dining table with no laptop riser and ended up needing a lot of physio as it did damage to my shoulder and arm.

Things are better now I have a proper laptop riser, arm rests and a wireless mouse and keyboard. Still not as good as the three screens, adjustable desks and ergonomic chairs we get in the office.

Yes, it's priorities. Plenty of people just don't recognise this idea of work 'invading' the home space. Simply doesn't feel like that for me. In the same way as being physically alongside one's colleagues is energising and essential for some but exhausting for others.

Ultimately, it's not a good idea to generalise. Which is why OP is BU. Different strokes.

Certainly whether or not you enjoy wfh will have more than a little to do with the space you have available to work. Which will be related to the size of your house, relative to the number of people that live there and how they spend their days.

e.g. I live in a 4-bed newer house like the OP, but there are only 2 others here so one bedroom is my office/guest room. Plus, the others tend to be out all day or downstairs and quiet so I am not interupted much.

Yes, it is much easier when you can have a dedicated space and the peace and quiet.

Mr Monkey did not work during lockdown (his industry shut down) and I was thrust in to a world of ridiculous hours and far too many calls. He was bored so kept on talking at me and I was totally peopled out. There would be a point where I would sneak out the door after work just to get an hour to my self. Poor man - it wasn't his fault but god it was hard.

oh gosh, yes, @Ginmonkeyagain spending the entire day on Teams / zoom absolutely broke me!! It's so nice to be able to talk to people face to face again. I find it so hard to concentrate in online meetings and i've noticed so many people on calls are also doing other stuff on their computer or browsing their phone whereas you'd never do that in an in-person meeting. I'm sure half the meetings also wouldn't have been necessary if people had been in the office as things would have been discussed throughout the day.

Don't have a big house (3 bedroom terrace) with smallest room being a box room. Both me and DH work from home most of the time. We have turned the box room into a office and the other works in the bedroom or kitchen. Doesn't bother either of us and is great for dropping the kids off at school/nursery at 8.45 and starting work at 9! Our office days feels an absolute pain now getting everyone up earlier, sending them to breakfast clubs, doing a one hour commute and paying for the privilege.

Totally agree with this.

When I worked at home, I was only allowed to do so after a workstation assessment had been undertaken and photo’s supplied of the set up.