How is almost everybody physically able to WFH?

[someladdersandsnakes]

This is something I just don't really get. I work at a company which doesn't pay that well in a city where housing is very expensive but still basically everybody has somewhere at home that they can work every day. I currently have an office at home because it's a 3 bed and I'm now expecting our second child, when the baby arrives it won't be physically possible anymore to do regular WFH because the only place will be the dining table in the front room, only really suitable for occasional use because there isn't enough space around it for a proper office chair or anything. Nobody else at my company seems to have a similar problem though. I thought appropriately sized housing was a major societal problem yet somehow since the pandemic everyone has a suitable permanent workspace in their house? Including families, young renters, people still living with their parents, etc.

Lots of people use the dining table.

Around 40% of British working adults work from home some of all of the time, but its much
more common in higher earners. This image sets it out pretty well.

I don't know know anyone who has a home office. That's a luxury! I work in DS's bedroom because he has a desk. He's at school when I'm at work so it's not an issue. I don't have an office chair, I use his gaming chair, it's comfy! I'm not face to face with clients or anything so it's fine for me. Everyone else in my team sits at dining tables/corner of the room set ups, things like that.

I have a desk in my bedroom.

Full on home offices are quite rare I think.

I work from our bedroom, with a proper desk and chair and good setup. No dining room in our flat anyway. So do lots of people in my company. You can use background blur for video calls.

I work in my kitchen when working from home.

I work in DD's bedroom as I work school hours, DH works in what is essentially a tiny utility room come office.

I just work off my lap on the sofa or an arm chair. Bad for my back but I like being able to move around the house during the day.

when I first worked from home it was on a patio table in our tiny bedroom. Could only open half the cupboard but had space for a table.

This has made me feel better! I sit at the dining table on a normal dining chair. Should do more upper body stretches

DS2 lives in a one bed flat and has created a workspace in his bedroom. Small desk, 2 screens, proper office chair. Teams let’s you blur out your background for camera on situations.

I work in the dining room, previous house I worked at the same dining table but it was in the kitchen. Was a lovely space to work as had big bifold doors that opened up to the garden. New house the dining room also opens up with French doors to garden.

I'm lucky that we have a spare room where I can work from home 90% of the time where I have a proper desk and an office chair work let me take home. The room is also used as storage, hanging up washing etc.

If I had to work from the dining table or similar, I couldnt do it and would have to go to the office every day. My job is mostly sitting at a laptop that I could do from anywhere so its pointless going in if I dont have to.

We are currently looking to move to downsize and the main criteria I am looking for is somewhere I can use to WFH separate to everyone else.

I have box room as a dedicated home office. Lots of garden shed offices locally to us. Many of my colleagues work at dining room table though.

I used to sit at one end of my living room, I had a desk etc but was a nightmare when the kids got home. We moved. An office became essential and now I have a gorgeous downstairs office ( I didn’t want an upstairs one!)

DP has his own dedicated home office (what was supposed to be a third bedroom but is tiny). He only really started working full time from home during the pandemic so it was a good investment!

We have a small desk in our bedroom jammed next to a wardrobe and a chest of drawers which is my husbands “office”
we want to turn the garage into an office space for him properly, but we cant afford to do that yet so we are just hanging in there.
we also have no dining room, so the bedroom it is!

During Covid, I put a desk in my bedroom.. or I used my daughters room as a key worker I had her in school. Now I work at the kitchen island if I wfh. I don't know anyone with a home office.

Many people don't have a full office. I'm using the spare room as an office but I don't have anything on paper. Technically could do it at a dining room table with just my laptop. Wouldn't be good for my back etc but people do it

I have my desk in our living room corner. Anecdotally my colleagues set ups are in spare bedrooms, kitchen tables, living rooms, garden sheds. I've not met many people that have a separate office room just for that purpose.

We converted our garage to another room, so I have my own office.

People usually blur or add an image to the background, so you won't know where they are. I've certainly seen multiple colleagues who are working from a bedroom when they took off the blurring or background for some reason. Some people like to work from the kitchen, whether they have an office or not. Some people share their bedroom with a baby or have kids share, so they have a spare room. Some people have a garden office or extra room downstairs. Some people have a desk in the hall. Some people live further out for more space. Some people earn more than you, or have a partner who earns more, or inherited money. Is the concept that different people's circumstances vary really that strange to you?

Our office close after lockdown and we all have wfh contracts now. It’s a real mix….. I sit on the sofa with a lap tray! Saying that, I’m not sat there all day, I’m out and about a lot.

DH is wfh 3 days per week. He has a dedicated office / man cave. I could go in there but don’t find it very comfy so I don’t bother.

lots of colleagues are at tables in kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms etc.

How much space do you need to do your work?

I make things and basically my entire bedroom is my workspace. I'm surrounded by supplies and tools and sleep in what is essentially a workshop.

Someone who only needs a laptop can work from anywhere. They just need a flat surface to put the laptop on. You can get foldable laptop tables that can slide under a sofa or a bed or be put out of the way somewhere else when not in use.

I work from the living room, at a proper (albeit small) desk set up by the window. Everyone I see on Teams calls is in the same situation; I see beds, kitchens, washing, the underside bit of stairs in the background! DH has a garden office but he's worked from home since before it was necessary/acceptable.