To think working from home is a cushy number?

[MrsSlimShady]

I’ve got a new job that entails loads of e-learning, and webinars. They said I could do it at home and I literally sat there on the sofa and ate crisps and had cups of tea in my loungewear on the computer.

My DH works 3 days a week at home. He has back to back meetings but also manages to go the shops, go the gym, do exercise classes before work and at lunch time and do other chores. He’ll say his first meeting is at 0900, then nothing till 1130, then he can pop out 3-4pm….. it all goes like this.

I have another job and I have a 2-3 hour commute, and I am on my feet all day. I cannot get one chore done for my outside life. It has to wait till I’m off unless it is a text or email.

I know there are people working from home who work really hard too, but come on, AIBU to say that if you WFH you are really lucky and have it a lot easier than most other people?

Do you think it's customary for men to wear make-up? Obviously not but I expect them to be neat, tidy and well groomed. In my workplace that means wearing a shirt rather than a tee shirt.

I work very hard when working from home (harder than I do in the office). The cushy part for me is not needing to commute.

It sounds a very old fashioned workplace

So why do women need make-up to be "neat, tidy and well groomed"?

I found wfh full time tough - always working, you don't feel like you can just go and take a kitchen break like you can in the office and there's no separation from work and home. I stopped when home started to feel like a bit of a prison.

I think you missed the fact that I said "I". I wear make-up because I like it and it makes me feel confident. I have not said others mist or should wear make-up.

Perhaps you are just looking for a ruck.

I work from home 2 days a week. The only difference for me is that I don’t spend 3 hours a day commuting. I add at least 2 of those hours onto my work day instead. I’m head down the whole time apart from popping on a load of washing. Otherwise I would have to make up the time on my weekend as the work needs to get done.

Every single negative comment just reeks of jealousy

A lot of jobs that are currently done on site could equally be replaced with remote workers or AI. Plus the added risk of robots now in certain occupations, and many more in future.

I agree - its entirely down to the individual and their work ethic/preferences. Slackers will slack in the workplace whilst maintaining a pretence of busyness, workers will work from home.

Some personalities find it easier to work surrounded by people, others find solitude more conducive to cracking through the load - neither is better or worse than the other.

In terms of overall staff needs a hybrid model tends to work best. I could easily work 100% from home but know my area inside out. My SMs, managers and especially juniors need more "presence" to learn their trade from seniors, just as I did at their level.

I work client facing so follow dress codes/practices and communication styles of the client and they can be wildly different. I find the public sector passion for cameras on all the time a bit weird. Most of the research I have come across for meetings supports cameras for semi social/getting to know you sessions but cameras off for purely business sessions - the cameras become a massive distraction from the content in a way which doesn't happen if you are seeing people in the same room. Interestingly the old Telepresence systems did not have that distraction effect but they cost a lot more than a cheap utility laptop and VOIP.

Ultimately its a management issue - if people are not producing the work then that is a performance issue and a management responsibility to address. No amount of keystroke monitoring or cameras will change that responsibility and if a manager cannot assess and judge their staff work they should not be in management.

Nope, just wondering why you equate make-up with professionalism, that's all.

I think the oddest thing is that your dh either has a job which requires no work apart from meetings or he just doesn’t do any work in-between meetings.

i wfh a lot but meetings are something which get in the way of my actual work!

i do like the fact I can work flexibly though. So if i need to take the dog to the vets or stack the dishwasher i can do it easily. Obviously no lengthy commute is a bonus.

I manage a hybrid team, where everyone has to be in the office 50% of the time with the rest of the time worked where they prefer. This is managed transparently so you can always see who is where at a glance.

Mostly this is fine, and everyone is pulling their weight/working to standard. I do worry though, that working from home is actually cementing some inequalities for women, who are expected to pick up all the household/childcare stuff somehow. And also that capable, brilliant women are choosing wfh over career advancement and visibility. But I guess that's their choice ultimately.

Yep, it's always the same on threads like this. People hate the idea that other people have nicer jobs or more flexibility than they do.

I think hybrid working is brilliant.

i work from home one day a week. I work really hard that day. But it’s a different kind of work. In the office I connect a lot more with colleagues and my team. In person meetings have a lot more interactions before and after the meeting proper. I meet colleagues for coffee and get a much better insight into what is actually happening. It’s exhausting!

at home it’s quieter, I can concentrate without as many interruptions, I get to read long reports, catch up on emails and phone calls. And yes put the washing machine on and answer the door to Amazon!

I think it’s fabulous that more works have this flexibility now. There are huge advantages of spending in person time with colleagues etc, but it’s also great to get more focused time at home (without the commute).

I think it really depends on what the job is. Me & DH both WFH. Mine is a job that has weekly targets so I have to work 'properly' to hit them- but obviously I have no commute and can take 10 mins to chuck some washing in etc, so I do have more 'me' time.
DH on the other hand seems to spend a lot of the day 'pottering' around, his work is completed but he can do it quicker than he makes out he can.

I work 4 days 3 WFH and 1 in office. Always busy but think i’m more productive at home as too many distractions office. Takes me 45min to drive in and then need to pay parking also so it def helps to not have to pay out as much.

It's going to depend so much on the person and the job. I do have more flexibility and less time sitting at the desk than I would with most office-based jobs, but because DH and I are self-employed, it's all down to us. I have a certain amount of work that must be completed every week, every month, and so on. If I don't do it, there's no-one to help. If I'm ill, I have to make up the work myself. It also makes time off tricky, because we'll need to do the work for the days we miss either before or after, within a certain time period. DH will always be 'on call' for emergencies, even on holiday.

So yes, we have incredible flexibility, which is cushy, but we also must be self-motivated and responsible. The business will suffer if we don't stay on top of things.

I have worked from home a lot, and am currently happy to be in a office 2 days a week.
It depends on the role but for me it meant taking calls from EU at 7am, calls from the states at 7pm and the occasional absolutely awful timed calls from asia.
it made for a very long day.
Coupled with everyone thinking you just sat around all day watching tv and doing your washing

WFH is not an option for me as I work on a hospital ward, and I can’t ever imagine wanting a job where I WFH. For me the separation between work life and home life is important - I enjoy both but I don’t want to mingle them at all. I love the feeling of doing a full and busy day at work, then shrugging it all off on my walk home from work. My DH does hybrid WFH/go into the office. But he works just as hard whether he’s at home or not, due to the demands of his job. However, I do know people who WFH and take advantage. So, as with many things, I think it depends on the type of person you are, as well as how demanding your job is.

I think it's entirely pros and cons. Yes, you might have more productivity in your free time, and be less watched, but you equally are isolated with minimal socialising (if it's full time WFH), and you might have to work less sociable hours, in my experience. The alternative usually looks better than the present situation IMO.

@Sparklehead Although I agree, for lots of people in offices that separation ahs not existed even when they work in the office. They are still expected to do extra work at home.

I WFH and have done since 2019. I’m a sole employee and save the charity I work for at least £400 pcm on renting a desk and services.

I use my time wisely. So when I make myself a cup of tea (as I would in the office) I empty the dishwasher. I time washing for before work, lunch time or after.

the biggest benefit is not having the commute. That saves time and money, though I do really miss the exercise I used to get running for the train.

Nobody sees me. We don’t have meetings and never on video or a call so it doesn’t matter what I wear or look like

The days I work from home aren't how you describe.

I have work to do! I join calls as usual, in between I am.... working. Writing reports, working on spreadsheets, reviewing things my teams have produced, responding on emails.

For me the benefit is:

• no commute time lost
• if ive put washing on at 8am i can hang it on the line at lunch time.
• i have a good coffee machine and don't have to buy expensive cups in the cafeteria at work
• yes I won't lie I've got comfy leggings on!!
• I can fit something like a routine vet appointment (5 mins from home) into my lunchbreak
• at quieter times of year i might manage a 30 min run on my lunch break.

Things I don't do:
Go to the gym at random times when I'm supposed to be working!
Sack off doing nothing if I'm not in a meeting.

In some ways I am lucky but if I'm honest, I would simply not be willing to work full time if I had to commute to the office every single day. I would go part time. I think an awful lot of women in my position would.