To dislike WFH….

[Renovationat16fun]

I have worked from home since June 2021, for the first year it was hybrid, then 90% from home. Now I work from home full time (Monday- Friday 9-5) every day except once every 2 months. My office is not easy commuting distance.

I thought I would enjoy WFH as I thought I would love the flexibility but I am beginning to absolutely hate it. I work in an extremely demanding job and find I just sit in one place on my sofa all day and barely look up. I feel really, really isolated.
It’s making me want to leave my job, but I am worried about moving jobs again so soon as I have only been in this role for 4 months. It has made me realise that I miss my weekly / twice weekly office visits from my last job and I know now that I hugely underestimated the change.

AIBU? Does anyone else feel the same and does it feel a legitimate reason to leave a job?
I have 1 secondary school aged child and my partner doesn’t WFH so I am largely alone in the house from 8-4. We do regular TEAMS calls but it’s nothing like grabbing a coffee and a chat in the office. I think hybrid - 2 days per week at home - would be perfect for me.

Sit at a desk, get up for 5-10 mins every hour, engage with your colleagues on Teams more, but it's not the same as in office, no.

And don’t underestimate what a laugh some other people can be.

Yeah those are friends. You don't need an office to see them.

I wfh one day a week the rest is office based I much prefer the office but also like the fact I’m at home on a Friday and can use this to do my back office stuff without distraction.

I don’t have a seperate dedicated workspace really (although would love one). I either use the desk in dds room or the dining table. Depending on my mood.

I have loads of friends which I made because I worked with them @OptimismvsRealism

WFH can be very lonely. It has its benefits as no commute time but I work very hard so am not doing washing etc.

Because we never know when we would need help . Other people gives your mind something to focus on . I think that's why hubris working works better .

Would you have the budget for a hot desking space? We have some really nice offices near us that offer hot desking, meeting rooms etc.

You don't need to sit in a fart stinking open plan box with someone to become their pal.

Yes there is.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/home-working.htm

WFH is a blessing for us as my partner can see the children before work and as soon as he finishes, it’s a lot cheaper (No buying lunch, second car needed, petrol, or train costs etc) but it does take its toll mentally and you need discipline to get up and do something so you’re not sat down ALL day. Also, his day starts as soon as he wakes up (big workload, stressful job) so it can feel never-ending. Ideally he would be x2 days in a local office, x3 at home, I’m worried his mental health is suffering from not having any face to face contact with colleagues. However, he gets a big hug from the children after school and they def provide lots of fun from 5.30 onwards, or whenever he finishes..

@ZippyDoodle

I agree with you.
I wfh full time now. If I could go back to a pre 2000 office I'd love to! I don't want to go back to a 2024 office. It has changed so much.

Agree, I hate hate hate wfh. I ended up moving jobs but I’d still prefer to be in the office (with a team!) more than I am.

My last role was WFH. It was lonely, I hated it. I'm hybrid now with 2 days a week in the office but flexibly, and it's great. A change of role is what you need.

@HappiestSleeping I'm not sure how you think that link proves your argument? It doesn't. The OPs employer has an obligation to check that OP is able to work comfortably and safely from home. That doesn't automatically mean providing her with a desk and/or chair if she can demonstrate that she already has a suitable option available. Obviously, if the OP has declared to her employer as part of her DSE assessment that she has no suitable option other than working on a sofa, then providing her with office furniture is one option her employer may choose to meet the requirement.

I work from home and have done for a long time, way before Covid. It was great when our DD was at school and has worked really well alongside DH's more demanding job as I can take the strain of the home life stuff.

However now DD is at Uni, I am finding it increasingly miserable. I like the work and the people and I've been with the company years, but I think it's bad for my mental health. I used to have DD coming in from school at 4pm, so a shorter day, but now I'm home alone until DH gets in.

I am considering a part time job that's somehow working with people - care home or similar maybe, just to get out and be with others. I can maybe cut down my hours in my current job.

I think give it until Christmas maybe and see how you feel. The grass isn't always greener but as you say, a mix of office and home would be ideal.

There is no way on earth i woudl swap my job for an office role ever ever again

No way.

I have a proper office and force myself to take proper breaks. You do have to force yourself but you get organised itll work

Sitting on the sofa sounds so bad for your spine

I love wfh. I changed jobs after the pandemic - I worked in the office every day for years with no flexibility for wfh even during covid due to the nature of my job. I had my own office so it wasn't too bad and could leave my office to speak to people as and when suited. I'm now in a hybrid role and love the wfh element. I struggle with office working now as I'm in an open office with hot desking so you never know who you'll be sat next to. I also struggle with the constant talking, which is mostly not work related which is fine and I don't mind if I'm doing emails etc but if I'm trying to concentrate on something more demanding I find it really distracting and everything takes much longer. We also seem to have a lot of people who want to have loud conversations. We aren't allow to wear headphones of any sort other than those issued to us for meetings so there is literally no escape. I also find people's lack of consideration infuriating- despite having breakout space for eating lunch - a colleague from another team recently decided to move desks solely to have lunch as in her words she didn't want to stink out where she was working but apparently it was ok for her to do that where I was working!! At home I can work uninterrupted yet still have conversations with colleagues if we fancy a catch up! Appreciate it's not for everyone though.

I'm with you. I'm hybrid but not in the office much and the office is not what it was pre covid. Sometimes v few ppl in.
Dd is early 20s and has wfh as an option, but would rather get up earlier and go into the office every day.

I wouldn't push to change that, instead, make sure you take your lunch time every day and go for a walk or meet a friend for a quick catch up/coffee, this way you'll have the best of both worlds...

It's just bliss not having to sit in a room with a bunch of randoms any more

If I were made to go back to the office I think I'd go insane (or at least wreak a terrible revenge - hot tuna sandwiches in the open plan, anyone?)

I WFH 100%. In an ideal world I would like to be an easy walking commute to the office. Maybe 30 minute walk. Then I would go in most days, I think.

However, I live 2.5 hours from my office, which is in London (drive + train +walk). Even when I worked in the next city over from where I live - many years back - I was always 1 hour away (either driving or walk +train). This was a pretty normal commute that many people did every day, but it still stole 2 hours of my life everyday.

The commute is the killer. I don't want to go back to that again. Sadly, I can't afford to live in London without drastically changing my lifestyle and downsizing to a tiny flat. Jobs in my town wouldn't align with my profession, so I would end up getting an office job and taking a huge pay cut.

So I 100% get you. But also wouldn't want to give up WFH.

You need to move more. Brisk walk, run up and down stairs whilst kettle boils, walk outside? Does help. Lunch out to celebrate something going well at work. Arrange a reason to go to office more?

If you read the link, it states that the employee should not have to fund their own equipment. The relevant part is extracted here:
Where your DSE workstation assessment indicates you need to take some action, for example providing a piece of DSE equipment, your workers cannot be charged for this.

As I said in another response, it depends on the type of contract, the above only applies if the worker is permanently working from home (which the OP appears to be), and not for occasional home working.

I do a mix and know I’d hate it full time. Dh wfh full time but is an introvert and very happy.