Does anybody feel happier WFH?

[Spanakopitas]

I've never done it before, but I've got a new job which is 60% WFH 40% office based, and I've no idea what to expect.
I am just ready for a change. I've always worked in education and social care which involve being around others constantly, I've never had an office sort of role.
I'm fed up of toxic workplaces, cliques, bullying and so on. Not saying the new role will be perfect but I'm hoping that being at home most of the time will help things.
Just wondered if anybody else feels happier now they WFH?

I absolutely love it!

I am one day in office, which is a 25 minute drive away, two days out and about seeing clients, two days at home.

My house is so much cleaner and I just feel much happier. If I didn’t have those client visiting days I would definitely get a dog, as we are allowed to bring dogs into office (people would just not come in/resign otherwise)

My top tip is that I never have TV on during working day, even during breaks. And try to go for a quick walk at lunchtime.

Yep much happier. Put my washing on the line and walking the dog during my lunch break, finishing at 5 means getting the kids from club at 5.10 rather than dicking about in motorway traffic for an hour rushing, same before starting, I can get the kids to school, come home and plan my day before starting rather than rush them into school and hurry to the office. I also like avoiding office politics and having to worry about various cliques.

I went from fully office based to fully wfh as we moved back to the UK from overseas and I kept the same job. Overall I prefer wfh but my ideal would be to do a few days a month in the office. Your new set up sounds good OP!

I hate working from home, I can't concentrate because there is so much that needs doing, the cats mither me all day for pets and treats and accidentally delete my work, I can't concentrate and I definitely don't do as much work as I do in work. I am easily distracted.
I also need to bounce off colleagues a lot to get my job done and when I am at home they don't bother answering my queries on email.
I've heard it said - not where I work as I'm NHS - that bosses would rather outsource the company abroad and get cheaper workers than have their own employees work from home.

I worked exclusively out-of-home pre-Covid (am freelance so didn't have an office), exclusively WFH during Covid and now about 80% WFH and 20% out and above.

I love it. It has transformed my life and the way I think/feel about work. Happy days.

Yes I’ve worked from home for years and I’m really productive as my job demands it. No complaints from employers either

I do 4 days at home and 1 in the office.

I shut the door of my office and spend the entire day on computer/my phone, starting at 9:30 exactly. For a long time I found myself working on beyond 5:30 on a regular basis as it was so easy to do this at home - to 6:30 or even 7. I have consciously stopped this now but it is something to watch out for if this is your personality.

I get a lot of social interaction with my team. Our gossip over phone about managers and toxic SLT is probably a lot more frank than if anyone else could hear us, but we have bonded over that. The work itself is very fulfilling and involves talking on the phone to lots of interesting people.

I love being able to have work calls to clients that nobody else can hear. I perform much better when I don’t feel listened to.

i drink far too much tea working from home.

I don’t do anywhere enough exercise compared to when I was commuting - often a shocking 2,500-3,000 steps a day - something else to watch out for, as my old commute had at least 8,000 steps and a short bike ride in it. Need to be more disciplined about this.

when I do my weekly commute - an hour into London plus zone 1-2 tube, the journey to and from work costs a shocking £60. Huge increase post-covid.

Unsurprisingly there is always a seat, even though it is what we used to call the ‘rush hour’.

I work in international teams, so I would definitely prefer to WFH full-time, and just go into the office on the rare occasions needed. That said, I agree to going into the office twice a week, because that is much better than the pre-pandemic requirement of five days, with occasional WFH days allowed…

My previous job was 100% WFH and I hated it - it was lonely. But now I have a job that's hybrid and I have total flexibility as to where I work apart from times when I have to be present for F2F meetings. I'm working it on a 50/50 model and it's great. I wouldn't go back to 100% of anything.

Me!

So much happier, would not go back to an office or even hybrid if I could avoid it. I am home based but only travel for work maybe 4-5 times a year. If that increases I'd look elsewhere. It's done wonders for my mental health although not my weight lol

I do 2 days at home and 2 days in the office and love the balance!

I love it. I have a job where I really need to focus, and working from home makes that much easier. It also means that I have an extra hour and a half each day because I'm not commuting. My company are quite flexible, so if there's something on, like Sports Day, I can go to it and make up the hours elsewhere (eg by using the time I used to spend commuting). I'm saying that, the company are more "task-focussed" than "time-focussed", so they're more concerned that the work gets done than that I'm there for X hours per day.

I save money in several ways - no commute costs is the big one, but even little things like being able to hang washing out (because I'm there to bring it in if it rains) rather than having to bung it all in the dryer.

Having said that, I'm fortunate to have my own office space in the house, so I can switch off at the end of the day by closing the door and getting away from my computer; I'm also not being interrupted by kids or juggling for broadband width or anything.

I've worked from home for the majority of my time for over 20 years and would hate to have to go into an office regularly. The first 25 years or so I still went into an office for about five hours a week to copy papers, send them out etc., but that became less necessary as it became more acceptable to circulate documents electronically. I've been self employed for about six years now, doing the same work, and really appreciate the freedom. I love being able to choose to go out for the morning when I fancy it, and to have the flexibility to work at 11pm if I want to.

I LOVE working from home. I’m lucky because my hours are flexible but it means I can get a few hours in before the baby wakes up, while he’s napping and after he’s in bed. So a full days work and no need for a babysitter. I’m about to move the other side of the country and stay in the same position, the flexibility is amazing.

Another plus is I’ve tried to involve myself in the community more to stay social as I’m not seeing my colleagues face to face.

I absolutely love it and will never take a job now that means I'm back in the office regularly. A few tips that helped me -

Try and ensure your working space is not in your every day living space. Looking at your office set up when you've finished for the day can be depressing. Being able to close the door on it is great.
Make sure you take your full lunch break away from your desk.
When you finish work go for a walk, even just round the block. I didn't appreciate that my commute before WFH gave me the chance to switch off of work mode before getting home. The walk helps with this as when you come back into the house it feels like home and not your workplace.

good luck!

I WFH three days a week and I don't think I could ever go back to working in an office FT.

Work/life balance is an obvious one: my DD has just started secondary and I love being able to be on hand for her. I don't miss the commute at all.

But the biggest factor for me is productivity. My productivity more than halves in the office. Much is made of the benefits of the social element of being in an office, the mentoring etc and this is nice but the distractions are endless and I find it almost impossible to concentrate enough to actually get work done undisturbed. The endless meetings, gossipping, general chatting and messing around, tea runs etc. It's such a drain on productivity I actually can't believe I ever worked under those conditions.

I am perm wfh due to disability, probably couldn't work otherwise. I am also a huge introvert so find offices very overwhelming, too loud and overstimulating. Cannot concentrate.

I just wouldn't take a job that was office based, wouldn't even do 3 days. Up until recently I was literally doing the job of four people and having a few minutes to step away from the screen really helped. Also I get a life now as the commute I used to do meant going to bed once I got home as it exhausted me.

I was 100% wfh, with occasional office visits to get stuff signed/ pick up documents etc during the pandemic and up to about 6 months ago. Am now at a new company that wants 3 out of 5 days in the office. I work part time so it’s only one day for me.

It is a large multi disciplinary office of around 500 people with everyone hot desking. I can’t see the point of me doing an hour+ commute each way to sit next to another random person that I have nothing in common with and am unlikely to meet again, and zoom meeting with my team who are currently all over the UK.

As well as the benefits that others have mentioned I prefer wfh as you don’t have all the faff of preparing a packed lunch and having to have loads of ‘office’ clothes.

No. I hated it. I like being in an office, the job is easier and we are more efficient when we are near each other and can hear phone conversations.

I would personally prefer 60% in office - as long as there are other people in the office when you are there!

It totally depends on your personality and your outside of work life situation though.

I am mostly based at home and for me the cons outweigh the pros.

I’m literally resigning on Monday from a 100% WFH job after accepting a hybrid job because I simply can’t bear it anymore

admittedly it’s partly the job itself as I’m bored to death as all I do is sit off camera making notes and then writing them up. No one speaks to me and the loneliness is crushing and quite frankly, soul destroying.

so yes whilst it’s got a great work life balance for my kids, it’s come at a price and I can’t bear it anymore so I’m starting in a hybrid role and I genuinely can’t wait. Whilst I wouldn’t go back to a 5 day a week office job, simply going in twice a week sounds a dream

I resigned and early retired because I hated it, I didn't expect to have to use my spare room as an office

I worked full time from home from 2006-2010 and found it really lonely and soul destroying. However I was in the civil service and was the only full time homeworker in the directorate at the time so really felt forgotten and left out of the loop which to be honest I was.

I now work in children's mental health in education and do two days in schools and three days delivering interventions online from home.

I hands down prefer wfh, I don't get lonely as DH and DD both wfh. I have a long-standing walking lunch date with a good friend every Thursday.

I absolutely despise getting in my car and going into schools on the days I'm not wfh. I find the environment overstimulating and everyone just seems miserable in schools.

The three days I wfh everyone in the organisation wfh. I have a lovely team and a good manager who understands how to make remote teams work and checks in with us all every day.

I also find that in fully wfh organisations there is less toxicity. I think perhaps because there is just less opportunity for cliques and bitchiness. I feel really positive about being part of my workplace.

I work 4 days pw.

I wfh 2 or days and do one or 2 in the office. I love the balance. I’d hate to do either exclusively now.

Same here, it’s been a game changer for me