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.

Lucky you. Not necessarily being besties with the boss but “visibility” is definitely part of promotions in my industry and others.

How so? Do you not think managers would notice if staff don’t meet deadlines?

My last office job was a chatty place and I’m WAY more productive without someone asking me my opinion on the least reality TV show for half the day.

Thank you, I value every comment. Yes there is a reason, the days he doesn't wfh he is traveling so that's why I have to fit my flexible workdays around it. It's a pita!

Yes what i've said is true. I guess in my circle, they do this. Other friends who wfh don't do this as much but do say they can do all household chores in breaks, fair enough.

No I'm not jealous at all, love my job, I just do see the difference I'm getting at 6am while DP and DC sleep then out of the house at 7am and they're still bloody sleeping lol 😆

9am meetings are anti social and that's a different issue!

What they actually laughed at you and said it was hilarious?

You have managers breathing down your neck there (ime and not beneficial in any way) but at home you can put things off and do at leisure while having lots of breaks? Xx

Im well past the point of needing a manager breathing down my neck to ensure I do the job I’m paid to do. I have deadlines and dependencies to meet - I can’t just do my job at my leisure and have lots of breaks.

Absolutely not, just a genuine intended question. Xx

Horse shit.

I spoke to a vulnerable person last week about their condition as my workplace (a non profit) are running an awareness campaign about people who suffer from a particular condition. It was a very helpful and meaningful discussion and unless you have the social skills on a doorknob (which many people do F2G) it’s very easy to get a rapport remotely

My workplace are lucky to have me and that I WFH. They save an absolute fortune in overheads and my output is much better. So I don’t feel ‘lucky’ I feel I am doing a job I was employed for and there’s mutual benefits to my employment

Fucking hell, I've seen some judgey posters on here, but I think the OP might be top of the pile. Sometimes I WFH until midnight, sometimes I WFH and have a nap after lunch. How much do I need to flog myself to get a patronising well done for doing my job - a job which is literally nothing to do with you - in the way you think I should?
Well done on being better at working than the rest of us 👏🏻

This is the only downside personally to WFH for me

A few weeks ago I had a shit of a colleague be awful to me over Teams about something that was not my fault and I went off and had an angry cry after. I really felt the effects of not being able to go home and leave the office and reminders of the day behind.

Sorry you thought that every person WFH rolls out of bed with 2 minutes to spare? Really?

I’ll confess I do roll out of bed at 8.55 sometimes to start at 9, when DH does the school run. If I have no meetings I might even keep my PJs on for a bitS But why do I need to get up sooner exactly?

So should WFH workers not take lunch breaks because working in a school is tough?

Some might see 13 weeks a year off is a blessing to be envious of 🤷‍♀️

Yes true, they do know they can do this and weren't being malicious, just joking. Three of them shared a taxi and I dropped off 2 on way home, this was the conversation. Xx

The flip side though is I'm available 24/7 whereas before covid I was heading out the door at 17:05 leaving my laptop behind.

WFH is definitely better but being woken up at 3am to help sort out a power failure/cat up a tree/leaves on the line/other non-identifying emergency etc doesn't make for a peaceful life.

I have a friend who quit teaching and now works for children’s services from home. They were really excited about her transferable skills and she loves the job!

I suppose it depends on your workplace but we have the infrastructure in that we don’t meet up much but our actual output of work, and it’s success, is measured logged at every pace. It means that if I for example produce a piece of work that does well, the platform we used will churn out a report saying it was me who typed it and here’s the results of the piece of work and here’s why it’s successful.

So refreshing from years of blokes taking credit for my work.

I agree and it doesn’t give workers the chance to check emails or updates first meaning the latest info is not walkways shared at the meeting
My workplace has a ‘no meetings before 9.30 or after 4pm’ rule

You shouldn’t assume everyone WFH has lazy days and takes liberties like your friends. Some of us work hard everyday, regardless of our work location.

I WFH part-time. I work shorter days with 1 day off pw. This works for our family due to our childcare responsibilities as our youngest DC is still at primary school. I’ve also worked a mixture of PT whilst also studying and FT over the last 30+ years. I did both ends of nursery and school runs with car and train work commutes to and from the office, whilst DP worked abroad during the week for months at a time, which was gruesome. So, yes WFH is a lot easier than commuting to an office.

I love WFH for all the good reasons. I occasionally WFH years before COVID (for the odd medical appointment or when needing protected time to deal with high workload/deadlines). Less than 1 year before lockdown, my team moved to WFH 1 day pw. I’m now expected to work in the office at least twice a month, and I can choose which days. I tend to go in 1 day pw to break up the week and to see colleagues, although I complete less work in the office due to the distractions.

My role is pressured and deadline driven. The work is niche and fast paced. It’s obvious when people skive as their output suffers. New staff without previous experience don’t last very long, so we’re often short-staffed. WFH offers me the flexibility to keep on top of my workload during the hours that work for me. I occasionally continue working after the school run (if I’m not ferrying our 2 youngest DC to their various extra curricular activities) and rarely for a couple of hours on my day off. My work mobile is with me on the AM school run.

What is there not to like. Our childcare costs are finally zero. My work travel costs and office lunch expenses are a small fraction of what they used to be. Our DC are happy we can do school runs and that there’s always one of us at home with them after school.
I’m happy and management are happy with my output. Myself and a colleague that I work closely with have been consistently praised for our hard work during the 2 years I’ve been in this role.

DP is a business owner, has recently moved offices further away from home and now has a train commute, but still does school runs when I cannot.

I enjoy my job. I also get satisfaction from making a difference to some of society’s most vulnerable people.

You should try WFH!

Edit: I did roll out of bed with 15 mins to spare when COVID first hit. WFH and trying to unsuccessfully homeschool two primary school aged DC, including a reluctant 5yo was the worst!

Yes I’ve been known to have a crafty lunchtime nap - the OP apparently assumed all WFH workers were piss takers and when people have said they aren’t as they don’t get to go to the loo sometimes she’s said she feels better and they are inspirational people 🙄

There are just people in life who have the “If I can’t have the nice things neither should you” attitude sadly

I absolutely recognised my privilege in being able to work from home in my last job. I now have a minimum of an hour each way commute to my job as this employer has a very presenteeist culture despite the fact over 70% of my job can be done more effectively from home. That's 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month of my life I am losing. I can't do much on the commute so often end up checking my email or doing research for work.

I am exhausted by the time I get home and feel like I have no life. It's likely I will be looking for another WFH job before too long.

It's a shame the customers don't notice that you all work hard at home!!

Productivity generally has gone down. It's a bugger to get anyone to deal efficiently with anything these days.
6 key functions to navigate before the customer gets to the department they require and hopefully a human being.
Inane music whilst we wait, 8th in the queue etc etc.....Yes WFH certainly suits some but never the customer!

My workplace has a ‘no meetings before 9.30 or after 4pm’ rule

Same here.

I start work after the AM school run but still take my work phone with me, just in case I get held up.

Everyone I know who works from home appreciates not having to commute. Their working day is much the same as it would be in the office though. They’re working on stuff or in meetings. They don’t really go out on work nights and only drink on Fridays/Saturdays. They get up and get ready, shower, do their hair, sort the kids, take them to nursery, school etc.

One of my friends has just changed jobs as her employer wanted her in the office 1 day a week. When she went in, her team and most people she needed to speak to weren’t there as they’re based all over the U.K or in other countries. She spent the whole time wearing headphones on calls or to block out other people on calls in the same situation. Most people thought it was a waste of time and who is going to stick around for that when there’s so many companies willing to offer wfh without these stupid ‘come in the office for the sake of it days’ where you get less done anyway. She’s now got a job with wfh in her contract. If there’s a real need to go in, she’s happy to, but it’s a few times a year like when colleagues come over from another country.

Your friends sound like dickheads OP. 😬

Key functions have nothing to do with wfh
On hold music has nothing to do with wfh
Call queues existed before wfh

I started work in call centres back in 2008, so way before the pandemic by a decade or so

People complained about the exact same thing you are complaining about now, then