to think it doesn't really matter what you do when WFH as long as you get the job done?

[workyworky1]

When I WFH, I get most of my household tasks done in the day, I will do top up shops, pop to the library to return books etc.

Occasionally I have been to IKEA.

The work gets done. I just do it between life admin and tasks.

I have won an exceptional performance award in the past and my manager told me last week that he wants to nominate me for another.

It depends on the nature of the job of course but it works for me.

No my job can't be outsourced to India because it involves some face to face work along with expertise.

How amazing it must be to be creative, and complete all your work within a momentary flash of genius - not like all those poor thickies chained to a desk doing 'monkey work' for eight hours a day😆

😂

Hardly. She'd just make herself look busy. Like a lot of office workers do.

I rarely get calls so this isn't an issue in my role.

It is relevant in a customer facing role.

You do realise that not all jobs are set contracted hours right? I am paid to get the job done. Yes sometimes that involves more hours other times it is no hours like yesterday.

My employer is committed to hybrid working and not planning to drag people back into the office. There isn't enough space for everyone to be in full time anymore anyway. They have sold off some of the offices.

I think this depends on the job. In my previous two roles there were an unlimited number of tasks so within my working hours I could always find something to do. One role had flexibility but you were expected to do the hours. The other had no flexibility unless prearranged. But with both it was about hours, not 'work done'.

I work flexibly both within my hours and within my day. So some days I might work in late as things are flowing but I feel this makes up for days I get less done if I'm feeling exhausted. Job still gets done.
Although I WFH 3 out of 4 days I might not actually be at home...I'll be out visiting members of the public.
If I am WFH I see no issue popping washing on or doing meal prep. No different to the 20 min chats about Charlie's piles that I've observed in the office.

YANBU. You are fulfilling the terms of your contract and performing excellently. You do sound exceptionally organised and efficient and I am not surprised you've won awards. If you take up life coaching at any point, I'll be muscling my way into the client queue.

I agree with everything you've said. But how on earth did you observe Charlie's piles in the office? If there was ever a need for a WFH argument, it's there, surely? 😨

@nahthatsnotforme No - I have no contracted hours, am paid for the tasks

@Portakalkedi not every job states 7.5 hours a day. My contract does not state any!

I think it's fine to wfh and do the odd other life task too.

It's not as if people at work don't do this. I've seen people booking holidays, taking calls from mortgage advisers, booking a vet appointment for their cat, using the printer to print their event tickets etc etc etc.

Not to mention the chit chat and constant 'what holiday are you going on', 'how was the dentist', 'how little Bella getting on at school', 'oo what you have for lunch'. It's never ending.

Lets face it - most work is dull if you've been doing it 20/30 years - we'd all go insane if we were 100% focused 8 hours per day.
. . . and yes I know there will be some people that say 'I am focused for 8 hours a day 100%' - well you must be a robot then.

I think it is very role dependant.

The only time I have WFH was during the lockdowns when we had no choice. I think I was very productive, but I really didn't have much leeway to pop out and do this, that and the other because I was working on a project that was quite intense and I had lots of meetings.

In a previous job there was one person on the team who WFH and everyone else was office based. No question she put in her hours and did a good job of the work assigned to her. And yet it still felt like the rest of the team did most of the heavy lifting because if anything urgent or difficult cropped up it always had to be handled by someone who was physically present. The WFH person would typically be assigned the self contained,easily defined and less messy parcels of work that didn't require much involvement from anyone else. The rest of the team ended up handling the messy stuff.

My work isn't set up for that and have to be available at all times - would be nice to have a bit more flexibility hours wise but nature of the beast.

"Genuinely getting to the point you would be sat at your desk with absolutely nothing to do."

Sounds like OP is. Sounds like there's a down time between different projects.

Obviously not allocated enough work as so much free time. Maybe should be paid for part time work as that's what us actually happening. If someone can do an 8 hour day is 3 hours then they need to be given more work or paid less

Yes, I agree. I'm a community mental health nurse, so tbh I have very little downtime, but if I'm up to date with phone calls/paperwork etc in between visits, and I'm not the duty worker, I do some chores or whatever. I manage my own diary, so as long as patients are prioritised and I get stuff done, I don't see why it's an issue. I always keep my phone available, and laptop at home. I'll also nip in Pets at Home between visits if I need something, etc.

It's no different from being sat in an office and spending time socialising/going for fag breaks/going on a biscuit run, etc. We can do as much in 6 hours as we can in 8 office hours imo.

There are countless times I've stayed online filling out safeguardings after hours, or sitting with suicidal patients until crisis services can step in, and there are also plenty of times I leave the laptop/phone on, but finish an hour early because I'm efficient with my time/paperwork during the day. It balances out for me. I also went several months as the only band 6 nurse, covering duty multiple times a week, and having a huge caseload, which meant I never finished early and usually finished 2 hours late. No one thanks me for that, it's just expected, so in turn I don't expect anyone to give me grief if I finish early sometimes!

I very rarely take a lunch break, so if I need to use my lunch whilst working from home to do some personal task, eg pick something up, grab something from a shop, get nails done, I will. I don't always have time. Plenty of people in the office nip out for a personal errand, they don't tie you to your desk.....

It totally depends.

If you are in a job below your ability so that you can do the job twice faster than would be expected for your grade, then that's fine.

If you are a project officer and there really is nothing left you can do until something comes, it's ok

However, if you are a manager, then there should always be something to do being proactive. Consider if your team is the most productive as can be (so they don't just spend only half of their working hours on the job) and look at changing practice. Plan for the future, learn about developments in the industry, review the filing system etc....

I do think a number of managers are skiving themselves and so don't care much about what their employees do, until they get scrutinized themselves, leave the organisation and a new manager comes in with a very different view on the notion of efficiency. We then get very angry posters who moan about their new manager on MN.

YANBU. People in office jobs often waste time chatting to colleagues etc so what's the issue with me putting a wash on or cleaning my taps?

Same here. I definitely take a salary sacrifice to still be remote (I could get about 8k more if I wanted to work in the office in a different company) but the life balance I have is worth it to me.

The question is not "do you get the bare minimum done, somehow, when wfh".

Its "do you produce as much output for your employer when wfh, as you do in the office?"

I agree. Both the women I manage have young kids.

If they need to take their kids to the doctors, they can make the time up later.

I don't care as long as the work is done in a timely manner.

That said i do think employers are unrealistic about how many hours of intense work they get from office based staff too.

Its just that how people spend breaks/lunch is different when wfh vs office.

At the office you might spend 15 mins after the project meeting having a bit of a gossip with jean from commercial.

At home, you might still be having that gossip with jean, its just on the phone instead and you're throwing on a load of washing while you talk.

My job sometimes involves listening to technical podcasts etc. I need to be concentrating on them, i can't be dipping in and out of work emails, but i can do a mindless domestic tast like chopping an onion while i listen.

Depends on the role of working with a team where you need to be contactable within the work hours and able to access information if not then as long as the work is done I guess it doesn’t matter

when I am on a call with someone regarding my gas/bank/insurance/tax etc I do not want to hear them making their breakfast or having to deal with whatever is going on at home which is too often the case

It depends on the job I think. I am always there for meetings and have teams on my phone, but if I have an errand or washing needs to be hung out etc I do that. Equally I often work in the evenings so do over my expected hours anyway (actually working i mean). This is pretty standard in my department.