Working from home really getting me down now

[Honeysucklelife]

Anyone else? I’m very lucky in that I’m not having to juggle home schooling as well as full time home working, but my job is so intense (rarely have a lunch break due to endless meetings) and I’m getting so down about the lack of social interaction.

Don’t get me wrong I am enjoying the lack of a commute, easier to get jobs done round the house, more time with DH etc but I don’t think I ever realised before how much things meant to me - casual chat with colleagues at our desks, popping out for a coffee together, actually walking around to meetings etc rather than sitting in one place.

What’s getting me the most is we have pretty much been told we will be working like this until next year, so I know I have at least 6 months if not longer of this ‘new normal’.

Anyone else? I just feel like I’m in an endless hamster wheel and there’s no light relief. I do try and (socially distanced!) see friends/family at weekends but evenings I often end up working late.

@peonypower exactly - it’s all so dry. The stress is still there and actually even more intensified for various business related reasons but there’s no ‘fun’ stuff to counteract it!

My job has always been working from home which I did for over a year and I've now given it up because since the pandemic it's made me feel even more isolated than I already did working from home and I just couldn't cope with it anymore.

I stopped working and went and redid my garden and got outside and I feel a lot better. I start nursing in September so it'll be much more hands on and physical which I can't wait for.
I totally get where you're coming from re the small chit chats and coffees etc x

I feel your pain, as I feel it too.

Utterly sick of the monotony and stress of it all. It’s so intense, no business travel, grabbing coffee, lunch, watercooler chats with colleagues. It’s just agenda’d call after agenda’d call, along with the odd bit of ‘forced fun’ (which usually ends up falling flat - the last thing people need is another zoom call).

Plus I keep getting headaches from staring at screens all day.

Since when was it acceptable to hold 5 hour + zoom meetings, it’s like a living hell.

I feel for managers chairing meetings with everyone non-responsive on mute and not being able to 'read the room'. And we have no chance to moan to each other in the corridor.

I actually like WFH though and I never thought it would be possible in my role. I agree with 'a bit flat' though, and also I take fewer breaks and do more overtime at home. I love my workspace but it is in my bedroom so I am worried about the whole living at work thing even more.

The managers in that situation should read the room sufficiently to schedule less meetings / make them shorter / more impactful / more interactive to stop that room of bored muters feel, which I agree is excruciating!

WFH is great, but very hard on social interaction, which is one of the great things about work environments. I think people should be able to do some wfh and some days in the office.

I was just thinking about starting a thread among these lines too. In March (4 months ago) I practically skipped home to my DH when they said I would be working from home. Great no commute, no travel expenses, no getting kids ready and out for first thing in the morning and yes it does definitely have its benefits.

Now my dining table is my office along with a home school and actually a dining table! Work says we will be at home for the foreseeable future. My DH is here too and while we do get on well, I am a bit bored of him that he is always here and the kids are always here too and that we don't really have anything new to say to each other and four months of home schooling has taken its toll too!
I am finding myself staring aimlessly at the computer where if I had been in an Office with other people I think I would be more motivated. I dress up for work. I now wear jeans and a casual top. I do miss interactions and hearing things about other peoples lives. I think a option of some home working and some going in to the Office would be ideal.

Jeans and a casual top is dressed up by my standards. I’ve been living in gym kit since March 😁. To be fair, it’s so that I can go out at lunch / after work for my daily walk.

i hate it too, really miss my colleagues and hate those teams meetings. I find I am not going on more daytime mid afternoon walks just to get out, but then return to tons of emails.

One thing i really miss is my work phone, i hate using my personal mobile.

I love it

I really miss the chit chat with colleagues or just having a laugh with someone as you make a coffee. I guess the social aspect of the office is what I'm getting at. You can't really have a laugh or slag someone by email. It doesn't have the same affect and then it is there forever .

I own the business and so still have access to the office, but for a few weeks didn’t bother going in, as team all furloughed. I really hit a wall - no energy, losing interest, no motivation. Not like me at all! Constant interruptions from family, and them bickering in the background didn’t help either. Urgh. So now I come into the office a few times a week and feel better. I really do understand how hard it is to wfm with no change of scenery and it won’t be efficient when the team come back from furlough.

I hate working from home, I also have my 3yo at home. Thankfully I'm part time.
I don't think I'll be back anytime soon either as I'm pregnant.

@Sallycinnamum

Our organisation sent out an agile working survey last week.

Although most want to continue working from home the vast majority want to return to the office for at least 3 days a week.

I'm a big wfh advocate as I've been doing it for years but full time is awful. I'm missing the social interaction and we all feel out of the loop at the moment.

I suspect more people will want to return to their office despite all the stuff I keep seeing in the press about office based working being over.

I much prefer WFH as an introvert, I hate open plan offices, but I don't think it's a full time solution for most people.

3 days in the office, 2 at home would be ideal. Now extroverts struggling WFH 5 days a week know how we feel stuck full time in noisy/busy offices full of other people.

Yes struggling massively as a single parent. I’m finding it very hard to go out even though we are allowed, social skills have atrophied, lethargic. I’ve asked for a month off work over summer hols so that I can dedicate time to dc. Fully intend to leave the country in that period.

I don't mind working from home, bit the Christmas party is going to be a bit shit.

The only good thing about wfh is you can be bra-less and in your Pjs that's it nothing else. I miss face to face interaction and leaving the house. It feels like theres no separation from home and work life. Trying to look after the dc at the same time has been the hardest especially with a demanding job and very unsympathetic management. I have been told I'm facing redundancy in the coming months honestly I'm hoping Its sooner than later.

I love working from home. I really do not want to go back. Even though I don't see anyone alll day I much prefer it. I am not a fan of chatting and small talk. I much prefer the peace and quiet and being able to do jobs during the day like putting a wash on.

I don't even have a long commute (a mile walk) but even with that I hated being out of the house all day. I love being in the house and am dreading the day we are summoned back.

I work in a university so it's very busy and crowded and there are thousands of people traipsing around everyday. I think it will be a shock.

It’s crap. Dh is at home working ridiculously long hours and appearing for perhaps 5 minutes at lunchtime.
Kids are back at school now thankfully so I can concentrate but it’s so boring without anyone to bounce ideas off or chat to.
It’s not much better Jon the occasional days I’ve been into work either-staffroom closed & tiny bubbles means we have to eat lunch alone and we are expected to be off the premises ASAP so still no time for chat!
I spend too much time on social media just trying to get some connection to people.
I never realised I liked people so much!

I've been WFH since March now and I totally get what you are saying. I didn't mind it at first (dd grown up so no home schooling and I'm separated). I do miss the social interaction and just a different view - I'm facing the window to my garden but that is what I look at all day every day. I've started feeling really lethargic and demotivated - strangely tired even though I feel I am sleeping longer without the commute. Some days feel like wading through treacle and I get suddenly tearful and overwhelmed. I've lost my team and am holding up a huge account by myself and so constantly feel like there are three other more urgent things I can be doing at any given moment. Not in the UK so takeaways have never been available. I am fed up of anything that I make to eat - fed of all my music that I put on in the background - starting to hate my dining room where my 'office' is. I do see friends at the weekend, but weirdly the weekend seems shorter that it ever has and the weeks seem longer than they ever did.

I start to get the Sunday evening dreads - haven't had that for a long time.

I'm lucky to still be working but I would give anything for a two-week furlough just now.

to all of you that feel the same way with no end in sight!

Think about all the people who worked from home pre lockdown. There are MORE things you can do now to make it bearable as everyone is in same boat.

Weekly zoom coffee/quiz or lunch break

Use a co-working room like focusmate (50min session, forces you to have a break)

Have a no-email day once a week 'I have limited access to email today. If your enquiry is urgent etc or I will respond as soon as I can'.

Accountability buddy at work- send a start and END day email, forces you to sign off

I have done it for a long time and its a love / hate relationship, comes and goes in phases.

Music - change it depending on the day.

Monday motivation, Tuesday ambient noise for concentration, Weds epic claissical, Thurs power rock, Friday disco, you get the idea.

Plan your day. 3 top priorities and other tasks/meetings.

Sunday - 1 hour to review last week, what went well, what to improve, still to do, scan your week ahead. Helps with Sunday dread.

^I have ADHD and have picked up all these things from coaches/own practise.

I cannot read people on Teams. It's exhausting. A 1 hour meeting wipes me out. I really need to be back in the office for some hours and soon.