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?

Some days I would work very hard, back to back online meetings etc. other days I would clean, do laundry, do life admin whilst sending the odd email. I'm not self disciplined enough to wfh the whole time which I freely admit. I just can't stay motivated and on task!

I need a job like this! What is it?

Housework, walk the dog, get nails done, shower, keep washing up to date. Get quotes etc for work on the house, prep dinner, pop to supermarket, butchers etc. go out for coffee or lunch or have friends round. But I also work really hard and im seen as very diligent and hard working and someone who gets a lot done. I’m really efficient and also I always reply to stuff quickly so everyone is happy. I could earn £15k or £20k more elsewhere but love the flexibility and there’s a lot to be said for being 100% up to speed on my job so I can do it on my sleep.

I work more flexibly and I tend not to work if I’m not on top form and catch up later. Unfortunately, this means that I give my best hours to work and keep nothing back for myself. Overall I do more hours wfh that I do in the office. Writing it down, I realise that this isn’t healthy. I live alone, probably a factor here. I feel like I live at work.

I've read a few threads on wfh, and it appears that some jobs are low demand/effort compared to others, but as she says, it's like that in her office anyway.

I think that's the biggest drawback.

DH works from home. I generally can’t but on Friday I stayed at home to do some online training which can’t be done in the school office. DH went up to his office at 7:30, at 8:00 I went up to the spare room with my laptop to get started on my day - I could hear DH tapping away and at 8:30 I heard him on his first meeting. At 9:30 he went downstairs to make a cup of coffee and brought me one too. This took about 5 minutes max. I heard him on calls on and off until he went to make us both some lunch. He had a 45 minute lunch break during which he also put a load of laundry on. He then went back into his office and worked solidly until a little after 17:30. I took him a cup of coffee at about 15:00 and he was on a video meeting with some of his team. This means he did over 9 hours of working and it was quality work. He does more work at home than if he goes to the office because he isn’t getting pointless interruptions and is working the time he would normally be commuting. He goes into the office when needed. People who are WFH but admit to watching TV or “having a bath” are seriously taking the piss IMO.

We don't have cameras on. I could sit at my desk and listen but I'd rather do stuff and listen

I’d be sleepy all afternoon…

I work.

I have the kind of job where it's noticeable if you're not working, because work piles up. I have deadlines that affect other departments, suppliers, etc, so I can't just not work.

That said, if I need to leave early, I will - I work past my contracted hours pretty much daily, so I don't feel guilty about finishing a couple of hours early if I need to go somewhere, and my boss is fine with it.

😂

I have the kind of job where it's noticeable if you're not working, because work piles up. I have deadlines that affect other departments, suppliers, etc, so I can't just not work.

So do I.

I’ve never had that problem, baths tend to refresh me and it helps my back

I'm not paid/measured by the hours I put in, but by productivity and performance. I'm senior management in publishing. WFH for several years now and recently promoted, so must be doing something right! I do all sorts. Work, obviously. But I also tidy up, take the dogs out, have a bath sometimes, get hair and nails done. As long as I have access to the Internet and a phone then there's no reason I can't.

It's not all just fun and games - I obviously work very hard, but I like not being chained to a desk. I go into the office a few times a month or as/when needed if something comes up, events and conferences, etc. But this is a good balance. DH's job is very similar in terms of balance.

Ah yes I can see the back thing.

For me it would finish me off - a bit like I never really believe much gets done after much wine at a client lunch.

I work the same way as I would in the office. People like you are the reason we have been ordered back in 5 days a week.

I work a longer day when I'm working from home - close to ten hours Vs seven when I'm in the office. I try to make those days my "admin days" (so sorting out project paperwork, grant applications, writing reports, planning presentations etc) or video editing days. Basically days that are laptop intensive and work best with few distractions (I work in an office with several people who like to talk at you rather than with you).

Because I tend to be locked in at my desk, I make a point of stepping away for 5-10mins every hour or so, maybe I'll make a coffee, maybe I'll fold some laundry, maybe I'll do a mini-blitz of the living room. Once a month, I'll take a long lunch break and will get a facial and a massage. 🤷🏼‍♀️

So much extra work because I was so scared that I'd be accused of inflating my hours or something. I had to change job, it wasn't healthy.

TBH, I blame management for not noticing.

Fair comment, but often management do notice but have their hands tied by HR dept who prefer to hand out fluffy kittens rather than P45s.

I work. It’s about trust, my work trust me to work from home, so I show them I am trustworthy by working when home.

I WFH and I pretty much do as I did in the office tbf. If I feel like I just can't really be bothered once in a while, I do what I have to that can't wait until following day then surf the net. If I feel like a chat I'll phone one of my colleagues. But that was the norm when I was present all day in the office. There are just some days when you just can't face the workload. Occasionally I'll put something in the oven or stick the dishwasher on. Have a shower at lunchtime (which is my own free time) if I don't manage in the morning before work. Keep my pjs on when I am having one of my terrible periods which as I'm in peri is happening more and more. Last month I had 2 periods back to back. This is the absolute best thing I love about WFH as I have always struggled with heavy periods and pms. It's utter bliss to not worry about leaking and cramps and now sweats and rage! I also don't have to call in sick anymore which is a win-win for everyone. My work ethic hasn't changed at all WFH and it's probably actually improved if anything as I'm not tired from a 3 hour daily commute. I'm off a Friday and will quite often work for an hour or so to help folks out.

Occasionally I have days where my workload is really busy but not often. My job involves some daily admin and a number of weekly and monthly jobs but on the whole I'm at 50% work ratio, I have a couple of hours work a day, there was less when we were at the office, more like 30%.

My bosses are aware and I actually have the most regular work in the whole organisation. If I take a week off, they still need me. Back to my workday, I get all work done first thing and will please myself for the rest of the day, answerable by phone and email and resolve any work issues immediately even if I'm out running errands or doing home chores.

I've been called a slacker by MN before but I essentially have PT workload and paid FT, the work is just not there, I've reorganised all that I can, home office/ paperwork/ server files. My boss needs me on hand to run reports or answer any queries, he wants me FT. It took a lot of adjustments after my previous job was full on 100% of the time, now I enjoy it.

I have appointments booked in so the most I can manage is to put some laundry on and start on dinner in my lunch break. If I have a cancellation, I don't mind popping off for half hour and do some admin after work to make up the time.
Bath at lunchtime sounds lush. If your work is output-based rather than input-based, I see no issue with that.

I work from home 100% of the time and I just work all day.
I don't have time to do housework while I'm working, I barely have time to nip to the toilet. I can't even imagine having a bath or going shopping on a work day.