To wonder how you can work from home without a separate office?!

[anonuser63732]

Just that really. We don't have a separate area with a door that closes. I'm working from my desk in the dining room but as it's open plan, there's no shutting myself away. Our dogs are either barking at passers-by or whining by the back door (which I'm right next to). I find it so distracting to see all the house stuff that needs doing while I'm trying to keep my head down or to hear my husband about the house whenever he's home. Although I'm grateful to be able to be home if the nursery is closed or the baby is sick etc, I'm getting frustrated that I'm first in line to cover just because my work is flexible hours and no office.

So... how do you do it? I'm considering getting a different job part-time locally just so I can be in an office again but with some flexibility! I also miss working face-to-face with people. Bah.

I did it in lockdown from the kitchen work top whilst supervising home schooling and looking back I have no idea how I managed it.

I dont think you can long term. Is there no option for you to go into the office a day a week?.

I can’t. I know some people manage just fine, but I hate WFH, for all those reasons and more. I work in the office every day, unless I have a very fiddly project that I want to work on without my team asking me stuff every five minutes. I’m not sure my own office at home would actually make it any better.

I would never, ever apply for a WFH job.

Most of my colleagues seem to work from desks in their bedrooms

We have two home offices but I’m happiest working on my sofa!

My home is open plan and DH also WFH as well. His noise is less than in the office. I live with it ok.

I only go in if I want to catch up with people and do little work.

I don’t think you can. I had to do it through the lockdowns and it was awful. Have got a study now as had the loft converted. Sat in bed with my computer on my knees at one point.

Don’t need it so much now as no one else is here during the day, but it’s good to separate work and home life by at least having a room.

Imo you really need a separate room even if it's a tiny one. Unless you live alone, no kids or pets.

My dad used to work from home even 30 years ago before it was fashionable. He lived alone in a one bed flat, no pets, but even so he had a Japanese screen to block off a section of his living room to form a sort of office space.

So either a separate room or use a Japanese screen to separate a section of your living/dining room. The room or section can be tiny but must be separate ideally imo.

My dh wfh everyday and luckily we have a spare room for that. It's pretty tiny but the size doesn't matter. Dd knows not to go in there while he's working

Earphones- just blocking out the sound . Time working hours .But I own my own business so what I put in is up to me . Ignore the crap in the house

We have a study so when o need to wfh I can shut myself away I’m there. DH wfh most days and he sits in the lounge/diner but he is the only one home until the kids get home from school around 4pm.

I don’t really like wfh, I prefer being in the midst of it at the office but our work needs a lot of collab/chat/interaction which is really hard to replicate at home.

I think it only works if there's no one else in the house all day, otherwise its too distracting and too invasive.

DH can do it but only if the kids are at nursery. It wouldn't work if they are home. He doesn't mind if I'm here. We don't have any pets.

We have Spare bedroom/office but if DH is on a call I'll often work sitting on my bed. It's probably really bad for my back but cosy under the duvet.

I don't have pets, my DH (also wfh) is always working when I'm working so not doing things to distract me. We each have our own office area that's properly set up, and we don't interrupt each other when working. As a rule, I ignore household stuff during work hours unless it's something trivially easy that doesn't interrupt me like maybe spending a couple of mins emptying the dishwasher.

Me and DH both try to get all major housework jobs done before or after work so it's not stressing us out whilst we're working. We both like working from home and not having long commutes.

Lots of people do it, I couldn't do it long term without a desk and office chair though. Lots of people upsized because of exactly this since the pandemic.
Is there nowhere in your house or bedroom you could squeeze a desk in?

It's not effective in the long term if you don't have a separate office space. I have a colleague who, for some reason, won't come back into the office after covid. She works from a desk in her lounge. During work zoom calls there's a succession of family members traipsing through the room shouting to eachother, loud telephone calls to their mates in the background and a blaring tv playing daytime television, not to mention the dog making random appearances. It's a complete nightmare from a work pov, and I'm sure the family are none too impressed with her presence in the middle of the family home too. People made accommodations during the pandemic (hell, I had conference calls with the kids literally playing at my feet), but patience is wearing thin now. If you're wfh you should have a proper space to do so. If nothing else, to protect your own sanity and help maintain some sort of work / life separation and balance!

I have a little IKEA desk in the bedroom - bought just before Covid when I thought it was going to be a dressing table. I pack everything up at the end of the day.

my partner is freelance and often at home; we just make sure there’s nothing he needs from that room.

The only person in my organisation who seems to have has a separate home office is the CEO, who has an amazing cabin-thing in his garden.

I like the three days per week WFH that I have. A separate room to work in would make it better but certainly won’t be happening in the foreseeable.

I wfh most of the time in the dining room and I can work absolutely fine. Of course it is possible! Nobody I know can afford an office! That's a privilege.

It does help that I don't have a noisy household. One teenage DS who is out at school. Only pet is a hamster who sleeps all day.

It’s fine for me. I work from the dining room. I don’t really stop, apart from lunch and going to the loo. I work in a time-critical job, so I just can’t get distracted or decide to do the washing-up instead.

I feel very lucky to have a small home office and it definitely makes a difference. During Covid in our old house, I just had to work at the dinner table or in my bedroom and I found it hard. I wfh permanently and I don’t think I could do it without a dedicated space.

I used to work at one end of the living room but it was a total nightmare. I’ve moved house now and have an office thank goodness. Could you repurpose a bedroom in the day?

I hate working from home on this basis, it’s so intrusive!

Maybe I'm lucky?? I really like working on the kitchen table/living room desk as it's so easy to access refreshments and pet the dog. I have a calm dog and about 3-4 hours of meetings a day so it's doable

Our fourth bedroom is now my office, but I often find myself working on the dining room table - we have a kitchen/diner that overlooks the garden and it’s nice to have the view. But this only works as DH is out the house all day so I have peace, and also I can’t concentrate unless the house is tidy!

I sometimes feel like I live in DHs office rather than him WFH... not helped by the fact we run a business from home on top of his "proper" job.

My desk is in the living room. No issues! I did buy a really nice big standing desk and standing stool. Couldn't stand sitting down all day. Much nicer than the office where I had no option of how I sat/moved my body. Back pain is 5% of what it used to be.

If you're distracted by looking at mess then move your desk to a different room, it doesn't have to be this much drama.

Likewise the dogs barking, put them in doggy daycare ..