Be honest… what do you really do if working from home?

[Wffhh]

Just that really.

I often have a bath at lunchtime. Go to shops. Clean. Last Friday watched a Christmas film in the background in bed while doing some online training. Made a pie.

Sometimes I have to work very late. Sometimes on a weekend. So I think it balances out. Anyone else be honest? Do you ever have almost a day off doing life admin?

Why should people do what their contract states? Mine states my hours of work are 9am - 5.30pm in the company’s central London office based in London. I never start work at 9am and I’m rarely in the office. It really doesn’t matter, I get the job done.

Even if I didn’t, it’s no-one else’s business (apart from my manager’s). I don’t understand why anyone cares about the work arrangements of complete strangers.

@GiddyRobin some jobs do need to be at a desk for 8hrs a day but some don't of course

I need a large screen or 2 and my job can't be done on a phone therefore I have to be at a desk whether that's at home or at work
I also have to use a wired headset so I'm quite literally attached!

My immune system is shit and I'm on morphine plus other painkillers which I can't drive on so reasonable adjustment for me to WFH

It's just typical MN bickering tbh. Same race to the bottom as people literally having bun fights over wearing pyjamas at Christmas, or daring to buy a house with an extra bedroom. IRL, no one cares this much. Just a group of people who are terminally offended that someone else has an easier/more relaxed/"nicer" life than they consider themselves to have.

Never met a single person like this IRL. Apart from middle-management who are over burdened, overlooked, and stuck...
🤔

I work. Really bloody hard.

I've WFH since well before Covid, I've worked remotely since my mat leave finished and my son is 12 now.
It's a perk of cloud based software and people who prefer to communicate through email.

For the company it's a perk because we don't feel compelled to knock off bang on 5pm. If I WFH a whole day I'll do 8 - 6:30 and I'll meet a friend for a walk or lunch half way through. If I work at the office I'll often shut my laptop at 2:30 and go home, I'll log back in for 2-3 hours in the evening. Sometimes I'll do a few hours on a sunday morning.

I know I do my hours and get my work done so I don't need to justify it that I'm out for a two hour walk.

That's totally fair! I think the issue here is people saying that because they can't, it means no one else can, and if they do they're ruining it for everyone. Despite it being almost ordered by directors as it's company culture!

My brother is in law and he couldn't work like I do. He doesn't think I'm ruining his WFH chances like some of the pp though!

There is no office and we’re based in different countries, it’s a fully wfh company even prior to Covid. I’ve only ever had wfh jobs since 2014

I am tonnes more productive at home for a few reasons: I work longer than an office day as not in a hurry to get home. No colleagues to distract me. I am in comfy clothes and can have a podcast on in the background so happier.

I also put a wash on or unload the dishwasher when needed. I usually don't take my 30 min lunch break (but do usually do a 30 min Pick Up) and have the odd scroll here on on Instagram. But I'm praised for how much work I complete by my team, who from what I can gather all wfm in a very similar way. A colleague went and had a swim this afternoon for an hour but I know she worked later to account for it.

Generally everything is down to wrap up time and call length time, no escape if you work on the phones. (fortunately not had a sore throat yet or anything)

Work from home jobs are quite deversatingly grim in my opinion and it’s kind of why it needs to be a work from home. I keep an eye on the numbers of calls I take per day.

I wouldn’t dream of trying to get a weeks food shop delivered and think ah well it’s work time never mind people who just take their time unpacking, no they must be on a different level.

I dont wfh often but when I do I will definitely catch up on life admin, I’ll usually go to the shops in the middle of the day as I hate going at the weekend, will do things like go to the post office or ring doctors or other things that I din’t get around to doing on the weekend. I’ll always put a wash on and do some cooking and cleaning. Something about wfh makes me much more motivated to do tasks than at the weekend when I will always put them off! I will usually work well past my hours if I’m wfh though, my hours are 8:30-4:30 but last time I wfh I started work at 8 and didn’t finish until gone 9:30pm, yes I took lots of breaks in between but I can easily waste time at work chatting and procrastinating (I have ADHD) so I still got a lot more done than I would have at work.

I fucking love working from home. I work 3 days at home, 2 days in the office. In the office I spend at least 2 hours talking shit, correction, listening to inane shit from co-workers , absolute drivel completely detached from work. I spend at least 1 to 2 hours helping weaker workers with their work.

On Teams, I've found people ask for help less , maybe because its more formal and leaves an audit trail. Calling someone over to your desk doesn't.

When I WFH its bliss, I can get so much more shit done and on my coffee breaks I can chill and listen to Radio or read a few pages of my book in my home. On the 3 days home I work through lunch and collect my child and spend quality time with them, on my office days they attend after school and I pick them up in the dark at 6pm exhausted, my partner works in a school and is gone from 7am to 7pm 5 days a week and sees DC for barely half an hour.

As others have mentioned the down side is the work laptop is an expensive one and much better than my old beat up laptop , so I tend to use it afer the kids are sleeping for life admin and end up sneaking peeks at work emails, or doing tasks for tommrw , i.e working much longer hours compared to pre-covid when I went to work 5 days a week.

In my industry, I would resign if my firm said everyone back to work 5 days, but in London, that's just not happening as EVERYONE fucking hates commuting in London. If you can work from home for most of the week, and if you have a family, its a god send to parents who live in big cities.

Well they had enough from before Covid? So what’s changed

Aww that makes sense! Glad it works for you.

They sold the room….

A lot of businesses didn't renew office leases when they expired around that time.

Hmm ok.

@Glasgow1996 why hmmm? It was agreed at the start of Covid, my health conditions changed and then occupational health agreed I am better WFH
My job is the most monitored out the lot on this thread!

I am in online meetings on Teams or Zoom, I write reports, respond to emails, do admin, plan client meetings. just like when I am in the office..

I’m self employed so WFH a lot and also out and about at different venues - there is no office. And DH in tech - 2 days in the office technically but no one cares and the office is a waste of money really. Whenever DH goes in there’s about 3 people in a 60 person office (so lots of people never go in).

I get so much work done when I wfh!

I put the washing on but that's about it,

Recession.

My firm changed offices post covid, a smaller one as it didn't need so much space, and that's saved them a shitload, in heating, office rent and it makes the firm seem more 'work life balance' bollocks, when in reality they get more committed staff and less staff turnover.

Even the young people in my firm , who live alone or in cramp flatshares don't want to go back to full time and face expensive commuting 2 hours a day, 10 hours a week.

For mental health, if an employee insists they want to come in 5 days a week, no-one stops them, but I don't know anyone who comes in more than 2 days.

It has ripped the social side of the job out though, friday night drinks culture is dead , leaving do's and birthday drinks, all dead. Now its yearly christmas parties, or carefully planned socials every few months, that's sad, but as a parent the good outweighs the bad, if I was single and young, I'd f hate it.

Erm I work, but at home. In my break/ lunch i do housework. Or maybe start tea. My job has a system where you log every item of work picked up.

That’ sounds horrible! Does every one get giving laptops and things to work from home I take it?

I get loads done. I usually have some teams calls but i'll often save a technical report or bit of detailed work that needs peace and quiet for the day wfh. I do usually put laundry on first thing and hang it at lunch & i'll do some dinner prep at lunch too.

The other perk is if I've a complicated document to read i'll sit on the sofa instead of at my desk.