Sorry, not sorry, but wfh really is much easier

[Jeannie88]

I know it's become the norm, especially post covid, but do those who wfh realise how much easier their lives are?

Sorry, but I have found it a bit pathetic and embarrassing that there has been a big defiance of 'going into office' once a fortnight to be such an horrific ordeal?

Don't you all realise how fortunate you are? No commute, time at home to do things those of us have to do after a day of being on our feet, all frontline and retail etc then look after our children?

Sp my point from.personal experience. We are a group of 6 friends (f) and go out regularly together. When we have been to midweek gigs, comedy nights, meal, the 4 who wfh joke how they can roll out of bed and be online within minutes to show present, then have breakfast and just work at their own pace and even during teams meeting they can sit back and contribute what they have to.

Then, the 2 of us who have to get up at 6am, dress for work, ready to drive so sensible of alcohol intake the night before and buy ourselves soft drinks in rounds or even drive and give lifts. Then do a full intensive day with full on human interaction and check e mails on the evening when we get the time to do so.

Of course childcare issues come into this. We who don't wfh have to take our DC to breakfast club or childminder then go on to work, the 3 of the 4 who have DC drop them off at school and rush back having been seen to log on early but not really working as getting them ready.

Ok so my observation and opinions based on this. I guess all the moaning on MN about having to go into the office (which really isn't so hard is it?) had incited me to raise this point.

Oh and I do have DP who wfh and he totally agrees with me. He's hardworking and doesn't do the slob thing, but agrees, in his own words. 'It's a piece of piss compared to going to the office and even that was so easy compared to your job'.

So please those who have the privilege of wfh stop moaning! Honestly, how would the world work if everyone wfh? It wouldn't.

I've WFH for many years. It came at a good time for me both professionally and personally.
Professionally I was senior, mature and confident enough to go it alone w/o immediate supervision. I knew (know) my managers trust me to manage my time and workload effectively.
Personally, my children were older so childcare (while challenging) didn't involve little babies and toddlers i.e. beyond the stage where you can only get anything done in the house when they are not there and thus the draw to 'just put a wash on, tidy up, get other house stuff done while they were at childcare had passed.
Also (again because the children are older) my own social life/hobbies are such that I don't feel isolated in my garden office. I can go for a run at lunch time knowing that I can work in the evening if I need to.

Evenings or very early meetings are fine as I don't need to supervise my teenager.

20 years ago it would have been hard - the home/life balance would have been very blurred and difficult.

I feel very grateful that I can e.g. fit the car MOT in around my day. Drive the car to the garage first thing, jog back home across the fields, sit in my running kit all day (unless it's really hot!), jog back and get the car.

Yes, WFH is considerably easier, so if you can get the job done just as well but more easily, of course it makes sense to complain if your employer decides to make the job harder for no reason. This post comes across very bitter. I'm sorry your job doesn't let you WFH. Maybe find a different one.

Oh and I never moan about it!

I've WFH for >20 years (self-employed). I went freelance because I was one of those people who did everyone else's job as well as my own - I'm a people pleaser who has real trouble setting boundaries. Of course, this tendency works massively in my favour now that all the profits go into my own pockets. I do wonder though how I ever managed the daily commute, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with office interactions and meetings all the time while simultaneously trying to get things done - that was exhausting.

What I have found is that I have lost the advantage I once had, of being able to live somewhere remote. It used to mean prices were cheaper, but since COVID, not any more.

I hated and detested WFH during covid, all my work was about the virus (not going to say what I had to do at it will identify me) . It felt as if work contaminated my private space. I live alone in a very small house and I was terribly lonely, guess that because it was during the pandemic that I have such a negative view of it. Prior to the pandemic I would occasionally WFH but that was my choice and when I had something to do that I needed complete quiet to focus on it and the chances are I would have been into work in the morning and then come home for the latte part of the day. I liked having the physical separation between work and home, liked having a separate work wardrobe, having a "work persona" and and a private self.

I know it's become the norm, especially post covid, but do those who wfh realise how much easier their lives are?

I did an 80 mile, 3 hour per day commute every day for ten years - yes, I know how much easier this is.

Don't you all realise how fortunate you are?

Fortunate in the way I moved, took a 50% pay cut and deliberately applied for remote roles so that I no longer needed to do the above (among other things). Not sure it's fortunate, more just a choice.

It's a choice that has clear pros, but also has some cons. Occasionally I miss the buzz of an office, I definately miss out on some of the less formal communication that you get in an office environment and there isn't one within about 2 hours that I could travel to. Others get promoted wfh and I have too, but it's clear my own career moves more slowly wfh than in an office. Not a biggie, it still pays well and I still am glad with my current role. It suits me and my life - for now - but it's not for everyone and not a bed of roses.

I work from home and love the lack of office politics now. There’s no “oh so and so is always walking in late” “so and so is off sick again” “Oh look at Suzie she’s been away from her desk for 2 hours now” and so on ….

There’s also the added bonus of not having to find something nice to wear daily.

I imagine your lazy workshy mates were the same in the office to be honest. Are you sure they aren’t winding you up?!

It’s the old working in an office isn’t a real job trope I think. My dad used to say it to me - whilst I was studying for my a levels to get what he surely thought would be an office job so thanks dad for the motivation.

its like all those threads asking if you wfh what job do you do? Well just use your imagination surely it’s not hard to think is it.

but yes when you realise you’ve been holding in a wee for x hours in your cushy wfh keyboard job!

I have autism and probably ADHD and really struggled being in an office full time, I got burned out and had to take time off sick much more often than I do now I'm mostly wfh. Weirdly when I worked full time on a factory production line I had none of those issues and never took a day off. Office jobs and the long commutes that often accompany them can be very tiring. I'm much more productive and useful in my work now than I was, so while I do think some use wfh as an excuse to be lazy, for others a forced return to the office is something to complain about. I'm great at what I do when I have the accommodation of mostly being able to wfh.

This! WFH has enabled me to take a job I wouldn’t have been able to due to location. I am £20k pa better off just in salary increase since the start of Covid, I have had a promotion and a pay rise each year.

Not to mention our household only needs to run 1 car now, not two and I don’t need breakfast club etc etc

I also work with a team who are spread out across the uk and think I have one of the best skilled teams in my industry, as we have been able to hire the best people rather than the best people who happen to live nearby

I'm neurodiverse so can't cope well working in an office anyway. Thank god I get to work from home. Assuming everyone is fine working in an office is ridiculously regressive.

all my work was about the virus (not going to say what I had to do at it will identify me)

Are you Sarah Gilbert?

You seem jealous of your friends who WFH, OP. You can always find a job where it's a possibility, rather than moan about how easy others have it.

Different people prefer / work better in different situations 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'll be honest and say on WFH days, not only have I done the 'roll out of bed and log on' thing, but I've actually had my laptop and headset nearby so that I can join the meeting from my bed 😮

Some caveats though-

I don't have 'customers'

I don't have small children around

My workplace doesn't have a 'cameras on' policy

I'm very good at my job, and it's recognised by my employer

I do actually enjoy being in the office sometimes, and still go in a couple of times a week. I still manage my own time though, so I do the hours that work best for me.

My husband has a similar hybrid set up, we both appreciate that we are fortunate to work this way. We didn't always have this flexibility or work life balance, particularly when the kids were little.

I think you're also not factoring in whether people may have had health changes since WFH.

When I last worked in an office (2018) I was perfectly fine. Had bags of energy. No issues. Now I am in the throes of menopause and really struggling with the hot flushes and lack of energy, amongst other things. It's made my IBS flare up, so I always need to be in easy reach of a loo! I'm also having issues with anxiety.

If my employer suddenly declared "right from next week you're in the office 3 days a week" I would be panicking too. I couldn't do it, I'm not ready. And if they weren't willing to compromise in any way, I'd have to give up my job, that's the truth.

In my workplace, people are promoted according to their merits, skills, track record and interview performance.

I doubt small local businesses have much consulting

Do you have a job?

Of course it's easier! But it's easier to do my work, not losing 2.5 hours of the day commuting, and well as get on with stuff at home, I'm healthier and I have less time off sick (none in the last 6 years) so it's a win-win for my employer. As they quite rightly recognised in 2019 when I went full time with the stipulation that I only had to come into the office three days a week maximum.

I've done my time with highly pressurised professional jobs, daily commutes and it's rubbish, particularly when you have young kids and a sick parent.

Personally I'm way more productive working at home. I'm alone, it's quiet and there are no distractions so I can just get on with it.

Apart from a few admin people, our whole team are remote (international).
Fortunately we have great managers who promote staff for the right reasons.

Excellent point.

There are a variety of reasons why people who used to travel to work every day/most days before March 2020 might be unable to do so now, even if they wanted to.

There's the rise in the number of people with long term illness, plus their carers. Some of these people work remotely. And there's also the worsening of the childcare sector and some types of public transport. There are people who no longer have access to the things they relied on to travel to a workplace. If you used a wraparound that no longer exists, for example, or the nursery that was surviving in the late 2019s had to shut up shop last year, there may just not be any childcare you can use.

These discussions are often couched in terms of preference, and people 'having to' go back in. But there's another possibility, which is them being pushed out of the workforce.

A lot of customer facing, operational teams still have managers breathing down their necks in WFH scenarios too. There's call logs, visibility from teams/soft phones, you can track login/out times, keyboard strokes, if a mouse is just being wafted around occasionally, etc.

Most employers give a level of trust and don't monitor these things, but some managers/teams/employers do. And it's probably easier to monitor than physical "bums in seats".