Working from home looking again…can’t take any more of it

[Braverysalute]

After 14 long months we returned to the office in May and it’s been so lovely. Light, bright airy rooms, people to chat to, work gets done quicker due to faster internet etc. Can leave all the equipment in work away from gone so weekends and evenings feel mine again.

Today’s announcement has made me think we are being prepped to return home again. I so hope not, I’ll be gutted.

Anyone else fee the same? Everyone else I ask seems to want it!

In my experience, it’s hard for companies that have committed to a return to the office to go ‘back’ to wfh totally.

I’m in ROI, so our advice has been slightly different, but my office went back June 2020. We nominally returned to wfh during our Autumn lockdown, but a significant number kept going in. Then in the post Christmas lockdown more and more drifted in so that a majority were back in the office from about March/April.

If the office is open, find an excuse to go in and then make that a regular thing.

@Thesandmanishere gold star for you

I’ve wfh for long before Covid and I personally love it.

One thing that is really important is to put your computer away. If you don’t have a dedicated home office, that can be as simple as putting your laptop in a bag at the end of your workday. If they sent you home with a desktop computer that you have to place in a common area, think about hanging a curtain or using a room divider. The mental division between work and home is important to maintain. This is actually one of the many pieces of advice that my company sent out when they sent everyone home. Ours still hasn’t brought everyone back, though people have the option of coming in if they choose.

Some people also benefit by adding in a commute to and from work by taking a short walk at the beginning and ending of your day. I personally find it more useful to do this mid morning and mid afternoon.

I have a laptop, stand and large screen so I can’t pack away every night. I can’t have a curtain or screen or room divider due to the size and layout of the room - there wouldn’t be room to walk through and would also cut out the heat from the radiator in the winter!

I think the best I can do is to put everything away in a cupboard at the weekend and take the office chair down the shed.

One thing I have done is remove email and Teams from my phone - only a little thing but it felt quite liberating!

Even if you just throw a sheet over the whole setup, it might signal to your brain that work is done.

It'll be interesting to see what happens

I work for the NHS and a large number of people (especially HR, Payroll Services, IT help desk staff and admin staff) are working from home at least 50% of the time

Owing to capacity issues lots of office areas are now hot desks we have to book into and old offices have been converted into clinical areas to house more patients

People are divided - I work 4 days so 2 at work and 2 at home which is a nice balance and my desk buddies and I work out the days each week between us.

It is very hard for younger or new staff who need help and guidance but also for people who live on their own

I think Boris was gently trying to warn us today - it's depressing tho especially potential lockdowns but I do think people should still wear a mask 😷 in a public place

I'm absolutely dreading it - but then (in my opinion) the press conference yesterday was just the warm up for a full lockdown this winter, like boiling frogs, so frankly WFH will be the least of our issues.

We have had email, late last night, confirmation that those who were planning on moving back in in the next few weeks, need to pause.

We currently have people in who needed to be in and have been in since about June 2020. That was usually a team decision, if they felt wfh wasn't working for them

Over recent months, more and more have gone back in planned returned. But the MD is saying no more. Head office is getting fuller and he isn't wanting to risk it.

All the people who are back can stay until advice changes. Then they need to go home.

Its alot of messing about. All the people who work for me will be remaining hybrid and only going in, if they must, for meetings. All are happy with this, especially if it's going to be back and forth.

I do think employers, in general, need to do more to support those employees who its difficult for. It genuinely doesn't suit everyone.

And while, in our industry, we are seeing trends of people leaving companies who won't allow wfh or hybrid and going to competitors who do. There could be potentially people doing the same if the employer moves to wfh only.

Been enforced WFH since the start with no sign of going back and with the latest announcements I doubt it will be any time soon.

I miss the office and can't wait to go back and would happily sit next to others even with covid around. I sit near people in pubs and restaurants and maskless in other indoor spaces but still not allowed back.

I guess it saves on the petrol and commute but that is the only positive.

I miss the face to face human interaction. I find it harder to move around at work even though I schedule exercise time.

I miss the balance of WFH and office.

Sorry to hear OP. People saying "count yourself lucky" are so unhelpful, not sure why it's hard to understand that some people really dislike home working. I can't WFH in my job thankfully as I know I'd hate it, the only thing that gave me any sense of normality during lockdown was going out to work.

It really shouldn't be enforced, the choice should be given. Some people will prefer home working but not everyone.

@TheKeatingFive

In my experience, it’s hard for companies that have committed to a return to the office to go ‘back’ to wfh totally.

I’m in ROI, so our advice has been slightly different, but my office went back June 2020. We nominally returned to wfh during our Autumn lockdown, but a significant number kept going in. Then in the post Christmas lockdown more and more drifted in so that a majority were back in the office from about March/April.

If the office is open, find an excuse to go in and then make that a regular thing.

DH's break was a logging in problem... 3 days in the office while it was resolved and he's not done a WFH day since

It's so much healthier for both of us. He's always strategically walked to the sandwich shop for that physical and mental break in the middle of the day, a habit that he couldn't artificially maintain with no purpose in a bland suburb.

He gets more variation of company and a distinction between work/ home time. He gets calls that leech out anyway, but at least it just feels like calls again and not living in the office and being gatecrashed by the creche when the DCs come home from school because his office has now been imposed in our childcare.

It's also healthier for us as a couple to have space and company away from each other.

WFH is fine if it's made as an informed choice in a set up that works. It's a damaging disaster when it's imposed on you in the face of multiple impracticalities.

I agree with every word you've said @BogRollBOGOF. I can cope with one or two days a week at home but full time is awful.

I work for big pharma and we've never gone back. They're taking it very cautiously and I doubt we'll be back until next year. I won't have seen colleagues for 2 years!