To dislike WFH. Am I the only one?

[PrincessBananaH]

I appreciate how privileged I am to be able to WFH when some people can’t but, even though I can see the practical benefits (lower commute costs, easier to manage childcare drop off and puck up etc), I really hate WFH.
When I started wfh during the pandemic I thought it was lovely whereas now I find it incrediblh boring and i truly struggle to focus, to the point that on the days I am at home I am much less productive. Does this happen to any of you?
All my colleagues say they focus more when at home so I wonder if I am the only one or perhaps not all pf them are saying the truth.
I likw getting ready in the morning, wear some nice clothes, make up, sip a hot drink on the drain and meet real humans. Am I the only one?

I feel like you about it.
I think some people fib about being productive.

I think everyone works differently. I am definitely more productive at home but this is due to my ADHD and ME. It's easier to pace myself at home, I don't have to waste energy on a commute and I'm in an introvert anyway so I'm not wasting energy on social interaction. For some people these things energise them instead of drain them. I think the problem is that people seem to insist that others must work the way they do - and this is just not fair.

I have my own office space, with a proper desk, dual screens etc. It's a better set up than in the office tbh. I leave my 'office' at the end of the day and don't see any work related stuff until the next morning.

This is my set up too. I'm not a "people person" so don't miss the social aspect of it. I love the fact that the time I would have spent commuting is my time now, so I've gained an hour + a day.

I like a mix, so that is what I do.

I don't really understand posters who say "I hate it but no-one in my team goes in so there I no point in me going in". Surely that's a self fulfilling cycle?! And do people only talk to people in their team when in the office? Why?

As an adult, developing a social group takes effort, when wfh you have to be more conscious at making that effort

I hate it too, I can avail of it some of the time but I prefer to come in. My colleagues think I’m weird.

Not the only one no! My autistic dd is currently out of school and I'm having to work from home four days a week. I'm climbing the walls and feel so low. Like you I like to make myself look nice for a day at the office, grab a coffee on the way in, indulge in some office chatter etc.

YANBU. I don't mind it for days with lots of calls or sending emails, but for any work requiring real concentration and focus, I just can't do it from home.#

And yes, it's nice to dress up for work, less motivating to do it for the camera.

I love working from home. I've never used work to socialise and my entire team are remote. We use teams for discussions and otherwise I just crack on! I love it.

I WFH 3/4 days. And just had a long spell doing 4/4 days at home and honestly it's sucked my soul out.

I'm very productive and have good performance so it isnt even that side of things , but I just feel so socially excluded. Even though I'm on teams meetings / talking all day , it's not the same as social contact!
I'm back into the office 1 day per week as of this week and omg I cannot wait!!

If it were closer I'd go in more often.

It's not for everyone.

I know my son wasn’t a fan. He was fully WFH right out of Uni, and when he was laid off from the job (software) he specifically switched fields as he didn’t want to be WFH full time again. He found it very isolating.

I dislike it. I concentrate much better in the office. So I go into the office. But I'll fight the corner of those who can WFH. We are all different and in a later stage of life, I may well be in their shoes.....

Until I worked at home I genuinely had no idea how much time is wasted in offices. Office gossip, office politics, tea runs....and that's before you even factor in the commuting.

I didn't like working from home. I lasted about 2 days. My job worked better when we were all together, finding out information was quicker and the service we provided was more efficient. But trying telling that to the people who liked being at home! I don't believe the majority of people who say they are more productive. It shouldn't make any difference.

This is my DH too. He'd never admit it but I really belief the isolation has affected his mental health massively.

I hate it. Always have even though I've run my own business for 20 years I've always paid for offices. I couldn't wait to get back out after Covid.

And now I'm going fully remote as I've finally built myself a beautuful outside office.

I realised I literally can't work in the house, I eat non stop, I potter, I go into "house mode" and clean and see things that need doing, and then the post man comes and the dogs need letting out.. it's non stop distractions, and I just rubbish a switching off.

I'm praying the distance between the office and house will work as it's saving me over 40k a year in transport and office rental.

I love hybrid... I resent the commute and find it so stressful. Time in with my colleagues is fine to a degree to learn and go to meetings and after that I run out of patience.

I hate it. Left a job because of it actually. Obviously I work for money and stimulation but I also work for human contact and teams doesn’t cut it for me.

The company DH works for changed contracts to WFH after covid when everyone who now hates it were in the honeymoon period. While simultaneously selling off most of the space. So when you do want to try and get in the office and maybe catch up you've got so many peoples squabbling over trying to boom a handful of desks

It's quite pants

I hate WFH, in fact I’ve left my last two jobs because they shut the office and it was compulsory to WFH. I know it sounds dramatic but I feel my home gets infected with work stuff. I long for the days when I would get home from a commute on a Friday and shut the door at 6pm and forget about work. But now my phone is constantly pinging and yet I am so so lonely. Everyone is two hours away from each other, new people struggle to settle and then leave because they have no rapport with colleagues.

I Miss chit-chat, buying new clothes for the office, and generally counting my colleagues as friends.

It’s great for school pick-ups, keeping on top of washing and housework but I find it so so hard to focus on actual work where there are so many distractions.

I was struggling with a technical issue last week, if I was in an office I would say ‘Hey, I’m clicking on XYZ but nothing is happening.’ But as I was WFH I needed to wait for someone to get off a call. What should have taken seconds took hours.

I am way more productive at home -- pre-COVID, me and my colleagues would go down to the kitchen to "make tea" at least three times a day and spend 45 minutes there chatting. I'm not very social so it made me itch wanting to get away and get back to work, but no easy way to escape! And what a waste of time.

I am more productive working from home. The days I am in an office I plan my work expecting to be less productive, trying to make the most of the sort of face to face conversation that is productive.

Everyone should have the option to go to an office if it benefits them though.

I’m in the office on Wednesdays & schedule meetings & anything that doesn’t need much focus for then.

I like seeing my team, but we’re hot-desking in a big office & it’s really hard to concentrate properly on complicated or detail-heavy stuff when people are chatting nearby or coming over to talk to me.

I must have been able to do it pre-Covid but that kind of thing is so much easier when it’s just me & the cats.

On WFH days I always go to the gym or for a coffee before starting & go out with friends a couple of nights a week to still get some socialising in.

I like it, but I am not convinced it's good for me really, and I don't think I am more productive. My employer saves money on not providing a desk space etc, and I save time and money, but I am hoping the next role will hybrid!

I like hybrid. I think if I were wfh full time I would stop getting dressed.

I like wfh because it takes away the commute. Extra sleep. You can do stuff like laundry without having it waste your evenings. No packed lunches to bother with. No office stinks or noises. No sharing a toilet and kitchen with grubby people. No listening to annoying colleagues droning on and on. Fewer work shirts to iron. Nice on cold wet days or when you have period pain etc.

I also like the convenience of the office being city centre. So any shopping I need can be done on an office day. I like some of my colleagues. Some work stuff can be sorted with a conversation or showing how to do something rather than email.

Wfh/hybrid is so much better for my life/health that I would now classify it as a need rather than a perk.

I think hybrid is best. Ft wfh is depressing