Do you like going in to the office?

[summermidnightsun]

Just wondered how people feel about this nowadays. Personally I find office days exhausting, hot desking stressful, and feel it’s something to endure. It would be easier if I could be someone who enjoys it but it makes me feel mentally drained.

YABU - I like going to the office
YANBU - I don’t like going

I much prefer working from the office and am far more productive. But I do have my own desk there, so no hot-desking.

I like the idea of working from home, and im slightly jealous of people who have the flexibility to do it. In reality, I get bored and lonely, and eat all the biscuits. Im more productive in the office. Its entirely academic though, because we're not really allowed to WFH.

No. It’s too cold, no one from my team is based in my office, parking is expensive, the commute is a waste of time.

I do it, because I have to. But travelling in to sit on teams calls with my team who are based in various offices across the country rather than having those calls at home is a pointless exercise.

ETA - I only have to go in 3 days a week. I’d never work somewhere that was 5 days a week in the office.

I could never, ever go back to any kind of corporate or office-based job.

I despise it, I don't mind the actual being in the office but the getting there is time consuming and costly. My office was in central London, when I was hired it was on a 1 day in the office basis. It's 90 minutes and £40 door to door. 1 day a week was fine, but when they switched to 3 days I left. It just wasn't possible even with before and after school club to spend that amount of time commuting. I'd happily work in the office every day if teleportation was a thing.

Yes, I love it. But that’s only because I go in once a week, twice at a push. AND I don’t show my face until about 11am and I leave at about 3. 😬 But I have a lovely time while I’m there (chatting and doing hardly any actual work), and I enjoy getting dressed for work.

I enjoy it. I get a bit of company and a nice lunch. I wouldn't want to do it every day, but a couple of days a week is fine.

WFH for 2yrs showed me how pointless it was commuting into the office so when the chance came, I opted for early retirement (57).
3yrs on, I consider it one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Hybrid working meant that it was rare that more than just a handful of staff were in the office on any one day and on several occasions I found I was the only person present!
Absolutely pointless.

Haha no. I only have to go in 4 times a year and have no desire to go in more often. Working from home is superior in every way.

I go to the office two days a week. It is a huge effort. (I'm 65). I hate the train, I hate the hot desking, I hate how noisy my colleagues are and that there are not enough spaces to have a private meeting or conversation.
I do acknowledge that I always get some value in the office in the form of an unofficial heads up about things and the chance to see my team and colleagues and connect with them in person. But I am always wrecked when I get home.

I don’t mind it, but it’s a fairly nice 20/25 minute walk, it’s handy for town to pop to shops, or the decent shops on way home for something for tea. I like my colleagues, some things are easier managed face to face ….and, probably most importantly, it’s not compulsory to be in. It’s very flexible if you want to wfh or be in the office.

I like it, I work in a small team and we all do a couple of days a week in the office. It’s a nice sociable environment but we all have our own desks, no hot desking, and generally we all natter and work between meetings. Someone has always made a cake or something to share which is a good mood lifter. Just generally a really nice place to work and my colleagues are great.
I get more actual work done at home because there are less distractions but I’m still productive in the office but the biggest perk of being in is the opportunity to really pick over an issue that I can’t solve by myself. We can all teams each other at home of course but for me nothing can replace face to face for some things. Guess that might be based on our roles though.

Yes I do, and if I'm honest, after Covid and getting used to WFH, I never thought I'd say that! But now, doing two days in the office breaks up the week, gives me reason to dress a bit nicer and keeps my motivation up.

I'm very lucky though, I have a walkable commute, a fixed set up (own) desk, nice colleagues and a banging office canteen 😁

I live alone and would hate to WFH five days a week. Did that during Covid. And I do feel you work better with people when you are in the same space. But I wish our (expensive) office gave more thought to the way we actually work.

I much prefer the office but it’s a 3hr commute per day at least and £40 per day or around £460 per month yearly ticket.

I prefer being around my colleagues as it’s less stressful to be part of the group. I usually work at home 2 or 3 days a week.

I look forward to my one day pm in the office, when the days are warm. Winter- I'd prefer not to.

I only go to the office if if's strictly necessary, I am much much more productive and efficient at home. I also have a much better life balance. I can get a few bits done during the day, put a load of laundry, put something in the oven, answer the door for a delivery - but I spend the hours I would be commuting to actually work, so everyone is winning.

Happy to go for interviews and a few meetings, they can be done remotely but sometimes it's better to see people

and if it was becoming mandatory, I think 2 days a week in the office would be my maximum.

The amount of time wasted in an office because people confuse work time and social time, it's insane.

I was initially reluctant to return to the office post-Covid after 2 years wfh.

However I now appreciate that I’m forced out of the house 2/3 days a week into a different environment with other people around because I think it’s actually good for us. Even with the expensive commute.

We have permanent desks though, I think I would hate hot-desking.

ETA I wouldn’t want to go back in full-time. Hybrid gives the best of both worlds.

I work hybrid - 2 days in the office, 3 days at home but with flexibility to change as needed whether by me or by the organisation. I like my office days, but there are so many more interruptions and distractions there that I do have to time what I do and when. If I'm doing large volumes of data analysis, I want to be at home. If I'm prepping a disciplinary, I want to be in the office with the others involved because it can be upsetting. I do like my office days, but it's more for the social side than for productivity. However, I would not go back to 100% WFH because I've done that and it is lonely.

I really do. I wfh occasionally and it’s probably more productive and less tiring but I really miss the company of my colleagues and in the buzz of working life. Also we have a small house with two teens crashing in and out so the office is actually more peaceful sometimes.

I hate it. We wfh for 4 years then a few months ago we had to go back to the office. It’s a very difficult environment, I don’t like having to be pleasant to people all the time, I have no peace & someone always wants to talk! I think this is primarily a ‘me’ problem because I wouldn’t mind working in an office if there wasn’t other people!

Yes, because I live 20 minutes away by train and my office is a very modern building in the heart of a really vibrant part of London. I am able to move lots of projects forward much more quickly by having face to face conversations than via Teams and every day in the office I will have at least two or three unplanned conversations with colleagues that are either just nice or help us both do our jobs better.

However, I like balancing in-office days with quieter ones at home during which I get my head down and do my writing/reading/thinking.

I also work with colleagues all over the world and spend a lot of time on Teams with people that I would not see in the office anyway. But it is always good when they visit HQ and I see them in person.

I’m much more productive at home but when I go in, I realise how much I hate being by myself and speaking to the little tiles on Teams! Bit of both, I think. Reckon I save more money but move less at home.

I wfh full time as I’m self employed. I hate it and really miss having an office and a place to be. Co work spaces aren’f the same as they’re so fluid and you never get to know anyone. It’s the only bit about being self employed that I dislike

I love it. I only have to actually go in two days but now the kids are bigger I go in four or 5. I work in comms so I know people all around the business and sit with different teams on different days. But I am great friends with my own team…we always have lunch together, we often go to the pub after work and once a month have a big night out. I know some people would hate it, but for me, sitting on my own 40 hours a week is not what life is about. The putting on of nice clothes, the driving in listening to a new podcast or album, the getting to chat to a wide variety of people…I much prefer it.