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.

Before I had a proper, separate room, home office, my workspace was in the bedroom but I had it angled so it was just a wall behind me with art on it when I was on camera so you couldn’t tell I wasn’t in a dedicated home office/people couldn’t see too much of my private home. I expect a lot of people do that.

Most days I'm sat in bed . Laptop across my legs

I’ve got a desk in the corner of the living room in my flat. A whole room, that would be a luxury

I WFH 80-90 per cent of the time and work from our dining table

Desk in bedroom or dining room table

We built a garden room about 12 years ago- when youngest was born and we lost the spare room. At the time it was a cheap option - about 15k including groundwork, team that came and built it and the electric connection.

in truth it didn’t really get used loads by me until lockdown, then I worked from home and went freelance later as enjoyed it.

i recommended the company to a friend not long ago - but the same has more than doubled in price, I guess demand is so high now.

We’ve had to sacrifice a dining table, trays on laps unfortunately, not ideal.

Skeletal issues from sitting at wrong heights from screens, covered by health and safety in an actual workplace.

You clearly don't work for a Local Authority, where hotdesking has been the norm for years.

WFH I have been able to set myself up much more comfortably than trying to grab a desk and chair that is different each time you go in, under a ceiling that flakes so much you have to clean your desk each time you go in and toilets that don't always flush and have mould on them.
My H&S if MUCH better at home thank you very much.

snacking instead of proper breaks,
eh ?
I am much more likely to 'snack' in the office, where people bring treats in, than at home, where I don't buy them.
I'm also much more likely to have a proper break, as I can use the time purposefully at home whereas it is just 'trapped time' in the office, where you can't get anything constructive done.

not walking to an office
When I go in to the office, I get in my car on my drive, sit in it for about 75mins, then get out in the carpark and walk 20 yards or so into the office. At home (without the commute) I am much more likely to go for a walk round the block, or even to the local shop, or for another appt (dentist, haircut, Dr, optician, etc). My colleague takes her dog out for 45 mins in the middle of the day, which I think is a really healthy way to break up your day.

Nobody only needs a laptop. You should always also have a keyboard and mouse otherwise it's unhealthy.

Firstly, not everyone spends their day typing away. there are other aspects to work for a lot of people.
Secondly, how is a keyboard plugged in to a laptop any healthier than the keyboard that is part of my laptop ?

It does seem ironic when I think back to how strict H&S used to be when it came to DSE assessments etc, that seems to have completely gone out the window since Covid. Not just home working but with hot desking in the office. Pre covid we had to submit meet DSE assessments of our home environments including photographic evidence, now we're not even provided monitors, keyboards and mice in the office.

We had built in wardrobes in the corner of our bedroom which we ripped out as they were damp and mouldy. It’s left an alcove in our bedroom which now has my desk in it.

I just sit in my kitchen I just use the laptop and don't have a monitor etc due to lack of space but it's worked perfectly for 4 years and I love it

I hybrid work sometimes. I am out on the road mostly but am called to do occasional shifts at home managing crews. I use a computer desk and chair in the corner of the living room as we don't have a spare room, and for the amount of days I do it, is pointless to have a dedicated room anyway.
It's just a laptop and mouse I use so I don't need room for much else.

YUBU
Think outside the box ... room 😂
It will work if you want it to

We live in a small house. Until our eldest left home, DH had a desk in our bedroom.

I don't think everyone does have the luxury of a home office. When I worked from home during Covid, I used a spare bedroom, had the computer on the top of a chest of drawers and removed the bottom drawer so I had somewhere to put my feet, someone else used their kitchen table, someone I currently work with has set up a desk in part of his living room but has no kids so isn't disturbed and someone set up an office space - just a small desk under the stairs in the hallway. I don't really understand why so many people like to wfh. I would much rather have the comfort of proper office space and I like the social aspect and I hate giving up part of the house to a clunky computer and all its accessories

Read this thread and then ask yourself if there is any connection with.
Our staggeringly poor productivity, the state of the economy and the appalling levels of customer service we all experience. Anyone from HMRC or the Probate Service on here?
Lots of people simply don’t have the luxury of working from home, they get up, get out and work a full day doing hard, manual jobs.

DH and I both have an office but really we could do with those two rooms for lots of other purposes, especially with three young children in the house.

The people I know who work from home use as an office:
A glorified shed in the garden
A garage ( has electric and internet supply and a chair,desk etc)
The kitchen/dining table
Their bedroom

I don't think I know anyone with a home office

I wonder this!! I live in a 3 bed with my two daughters. There is no room in any of our bedrooms for an office or desk, so I have bought the smallest desk I could find which is now in our living room.

I think maybe I underestimated how much space most people have.

And when you need to really cut something up or pour gravy? How does that work with just a plate on your lap? I can't even stand buffets when you can't sit down.

"You clearly don't work for a Local Authority, where hotdesking has been the norm for years."

Two wrongs don't make a right.
Plenty of people on this thread saying they use a laptop on the sofa or something so obviously don't have a proper setup at home.

"I am much more likely to 'snack' in the office, where people bring treats in, than at home, where I don't buy them."

I definitely agree with this, to the extent that I have had to put a poster up on the back of my computer asking people to stop offering me things.

Firstly - fair enough, if you do other type of work, great. However, a lot of the jobs that can be done from home are office jobs where computer use is heavy.

Secondly, a proper keyboard is much more ergonomic, has a numbers pad, etc. Even more so for mouse v mousepad.

People working on a laptop all day are scrunching up their shoulders. You can look all this up if you don't believe me.

I have a study from where I used to work when I WFH, and most of my colleagues had the same. Though a few worked from their dining table. It is good to have a fixed space so you can feel like you are in your office space and it also helps keep the kids out, teaches them mummy is working when in the study and can’t be disturbed.