To struggle to see the appeal of full time remote working?

[YasminaJ]

I’ve been fully remote in a new role for the past month and had heard so many positive things about remote working, no commute etc.

I am finding the opposite though. Cabin fever despite having a healthy social life outside of work and teams calls really don’t replace that in person connection for me. I just feel like there’s more to life than staying in my house all week for work. I have a seperate office room etc.

I will give it a bit longer but am thinking maybe I’m just someone who needs to be around people? Has anyone been in a similar situation and found it improved?

Same. Covid was horrendous!
Both DSs home - one meant to be home learning, one adult one grumpy about being at home rather than travelling.
Caring responsibilities for older relatives.
Thankfully my manager was very much "family first" and let us self-manage our time and workloads. All colleagues had different situations.

I do get breaks, thank you! The work I do means long periods of intense concentration but in fact I have a short working day because as long as I get my work done I can do it when I please (no set hours). So I am only in my office for about five hours including lunchtime, and have plenty of time the rest of the day to go for a run, see friends, go out for a coffee, deal with stuff in the house or just get out of the house for a walk or a mooch round the shops etc. I am far more productive at home so don't have to spend as long doing work as I used to when I had to sit in an office.

Well, that’s the joy of being an employer. They decide.

And I think you’ve pinpointed something that perhaps younger workers who’ve joined the workforce more recently might not understand - the workplace isn’t, by and large, a democracy. Whether the employee perceives a benefit from it is irrelevant - they don’t get to call the shots.

Been working from home entirely for 10 years now - before covid - and I can honestly say I could never go back. I work better on my own at home, and get more done, and I can pretty much choose my own hours. (I do 20 a week.) So I tend to work when DH is in bed or at work. It can be hard to do it with him at home anyway as he doesn't stop talking some days!

I agree there are downsides but I do it for the flexibility with young DC

Same! I took up running which also suits my introvert mind and have carried on as it's a great way to be alone!

I don’t think you can assume for other people. In fact there are a large number of people on here saying they love it.

it doesn’t work for some people and it’s brilliant for others.

It depends on the office space. Just moved from a job that was full time in the office to one that is hybrid. I’m not massively productive at home (don’t have the set up and get cramp/bad back from being hunched over a tiny laptop), but ugh the work set up is:
a) a shared work space/kitchen which regularly has people chatting or smells of fish from lunchtime 🤢
b) a small room with no natural light that 3 of us have to use, but have to vacate if someone is using it for a private interview (about 3 times a day)
c) trying to find somewhere else that is free to work.

I hate it. Coming from somewhere where I had my own space that was very rarely used by anyone else I now look forwards to working from home days as at least I can get something done. I just don’t understand how they think people can work in these set ups.

So be careful for what you wish for!

It doesnt suit everyone but I like it. Ive been homeworking since covid. I get overstimulated in the office, im more productive at home.

Things that help.

• Having a dedicated office space, that you don't use after work.
• Getting away from your desk at lunchtime.
• Sometimes I go for a walk before and after work. Just to get fresh air.
• I also chat with my colleagues on teams, so that I have human connection and collaboration.

My husband is the opposite, he struggles with home working. So he only does it now and then.

I was only full time WFH during covid, but had a very long return to work phase with 1 day a week. It mostly made me depressed. However the best days were when I took advantage of WFH properly and blocked some calendar time for a work out in the morning/went to a morning Pilates class, made sure to shower & get properly dressed not just from the waist up (lol), walked to local cafe at lunchtime for a coffee with podcast, again blocking calendar so you’re not afraid you’re being called etc.

Generally felt my best when maximising the freedom one enjoys WFH rather than just sit at your desk in comfy pants all day eating cookies.

But in general I don’t think it’s for everyone. I also hate my current office because even though we are officially meant to be in 3 days a week, adherence is patchy and the vibe is very dull - zero culture anymore and everyone leaves at 4pm. I hate it! But it’s a great role and the flexibility is wonderful at my stage of life.

Even though my commute involved at least three changes on the underground, I look back very fondly to the early days of my career before WFH was even a twinkle in its father’s eye.

Did he become introverted or was he always introverted? It's brain wiring. You can be introverted and put a mask on (an alter ego) to survive the extrovert arena by matter of necessity. I did it for years.

I'm very introverted but I found full time wfh too much. It felt like home became a sort of prison. I do like hybrid though

I love it but I’m only a few years from retirement so it’s great to slow down by missing the commute , I feel I get more work done without ‘office’ interruptions. Also guess I’m getting more anti social as I get older

Same. I love it. I get so much done and at the end of a stressful day, I just go sit on my couch.

I go in to the office from time to time, but it’s exhausting.

I prefer hybrid, even though I would call myself an introvert.

I was 40% in the office until recently, now 60%. I thought I’d hate being in the office more but actually I like it!

I WFH and love it. I had a horrible commute and every day I’m thankful I don’t have to suffer that any more. My job is quite flexible so I get to take the dog out for an hour, or pop to the gym. I’m far healthier WFH.

I have been WFH for a year after 20 years of commuting. There are positives. I have more energy to do things in the evenings and I can sleep in later and exercise more, so I feel less stressed. But even with that I’m not sure it’s good for me. I’m quite introverted but I need more interaction than my new job gives me. It is very difficult to get to know colleagues in more than a superficial way over Teams.

I have done it for over 5 years now and I hate it. It has ruined my MH and I am changing careers to get out. I am not particularly extroverted either but humans are made for social connection. Especially if you are doing a more stressful role.

Sounds like you need the human interaction. I’m kind of the same - much prefer being at an office sometimes though enjoyed Mon/Fri at home.

The main advantage of home working for me was the lack of commute though… it gave me so much life back. My commute was 80 mins each way so I gained 3 hours of my day back when I worked from home. And it cost me £16 a day to go in… so I saved there too

I love remote working. It's great not wasting an hour and a half driving every day and I love being able to make a 'real' coffee and not worry about leaving the dog. Our team all prefer remote working and we make good use of teams chat and meetings.

I really hate going into the office now because our team no longer has our own office and this means when we do go in, we can end up sat with other teams which generally means you loose that benefit of chatting/bouncing ideas off each other and everyone is quiet. Also as a lot of meetings take place via teams, so lots of people are having meetings with headphones on trying not to disturb anyone else.

That aside, if home working isn't for you that's fine too.

I hate hybrid working, it really is the worst of both worlds. Being in the office when most of my colleagues are elsewhere, stupid meetings when some of you are there and 3 people “couldn’t” come so they are on a screen (but everyone forgets they are there anyway).
Silo working when you need decisions/ answers from people and they go “ let’s take this offline” so you don’t actually get anywhere.
Endless emails and Teams chats instead of just walking up to someone’s desk.
Work anxiety infiltrating your living space, eating too many snacks, getting fat.
Also, aside from what works or doesn’t for individuals, I don’t actually think business or organisations operate effectively this way. I work in the public sector and I think it’s part of the reason public services and projects are so inefficient. Add to that the multiple people disappearing during school holidays because they wfh and don’t think they need childcare.., it might be marvellous for them, and they might think they are doing a great job, but they often really are not!

Your business doesn’t seem well managed. Hybrid working can and does work very well for a lot.

No huge organisation can be properly managed when its workers are siloed, sat in their houses and only interacting on screens. Do you think our public services are running well?

Surely the argument to bring public service workers back into the office is because the taxpayer is funding them? The fact some civil servants have admitted anonymously to using mouse jigglers to keep the performance stats clean is pretty damning.

Public services were never meant to run efficiently anyway, but that's a different subject altogether.