wfh - how strict are you with routine?

[YellowDahlia]

I recently started a new job - I've moved from PT to FT and also there's a lot more working from home involved. I do enjoy some of the benefits of this (relaxed clothing, no rushing out in the mornings, better coffee 🙂 etc) but I'm also getting a bit hacked off with sitting for such a long time and staring into a laptop for such a large part of my day, which just doesn't happen in an office - there are interruptions from colleagues, you go in search of a file, meetings to walk to etc etc.

So, on an average or quieter working day, outwith meetings or deadlines, do you sit and work ALL DAY no matter what? Or do you sometimes spend a bit longer at lunch, or take care of some household chores or life admin, bearing in mind that if you were in the office the equivalent would be having a good old chat with colleagues, or nipping out for lunch or whatever ie time away from a screen even though it's a working day. And also taking into account there will be also be busier days when you probably will be flat out with meetings or deadlines or whatever. It's all a balance, right?

I feel a bit guilty when it takes me too long to hang the washing, or if my parents pop in to drop something off and we have a chat! If this was you would you a) take the time off your lunch hour or b) forget about it - you will likely end up working late some other day so it will all balance out

I'm just curious really about what other people's attitudes are - I need to make wfh work for me, and adjust to full time hours, but if it means being chained to my laptop for the next however many years then I think I'll be miserable...

@Pebble55

People are going to the shops, having naps, going to the gym, doing Zumba online?????? Man what do you people do for a living? I work from home two days a week, and yes, I actually work, not toss it off. No wonder it's known as 'Shirking from Home'. Employers should read this thread and then get all you skivers back to the office full time

I am the employer.

I have no problem with my staff taking breaks away from the screen to go for a walk, go to the gym, do the school run.

In fact I encourage these breaks and am open about the fact I look after my own well-being and expect my colleagues to do the same.

My colleagues are diligent professionals. The work gets done.

@Pebble55

People are going to the shops, having naps, going to the gym, doing Zumba online?????? Man what do you people do for a living? I work from home two days a week, and yes, I actually work, not toss it off. No wonder it's known as 'Shirking from Home'. Employers should read this thread and then get all you skivers back to the office full time

I don't actually do any of these things, but, now you mention it, I think it is a very sensible thing to do.

How is it 'shirking' to work 8.30 - 12.30, do a 30min zumba workout. 30min lunchbreak, then work 1.30 - 5.30 ?

I'd wager that a person who has done some physical activity in the day is actually likely to have been more productive than their colleague who hasn't moved away from their chair or computer screen for their 8hour shift.
Ditto the person that walked a mile to the shop then a mile back.
Probably the same for people who are energised by a powernap.

If you look at the top companies (Google, or look at gymshark in the UK) they have sleep pods in the office. They have gyms in the office. They understand that most people aren't as productive sitting on the same seat, looking at the same screen for 8 hours in a row.

@kite22 - a walk at lunchtime is very sensible. A walk at lunchtime and a Zumba class and domestic chores during your working hours (which is how that post read) isn’t fine, it’s shirking. Unless of course your hours are flexible and you can do all of those things and work 8-9 hours over and above that as well - but that doesn’t tie in with the 8.30-5.30 scenario you describe.

[quote SirChenjins]**@kite22* - a walk at lunchtime is very sensible. A walk at lunchtime and a Zumba class and* domestic chores during your working hours (which is how that post read) isn’t fine, it’s shirking. Unless of course your hours are flexible and you can do all of those things and work 8-9 hours over and above that as well - but that doesn’t tie in with the 8.30-5.30 scenario you describe.[/quote]
Exactly.

Of course it's not shirking to go for a walk or a run at lunch time, or use coffee break time to hang out a wash.

Neither is it problematic to take a break from work, if no other commitments at that time, and clear your head, returning later & doing a longer day.

All good practice & some of these are equally applicable in the office, as well as at home.

The posts many of us replied to were the 'I get all my work done in 4 hours & take the rest of the day off'. That's poor performance on either the employee's part or the employer's.

Some days I'm at my desk all day and barely have time for a toilet break never mind lunch, other days I have time to pop out to a shop, or do some prep for dinner or a bit of personal admin etc. it's swings and roundabouts really.

I meet all my deadlines, my performance reviews are excellent and my line manager is happy with my hours being flexible, so if I want to start at 7am and finish at 3pm sometimes or take a long lunch break and no one else is inconvenienced it's fine.

Presumably though you’re putting in the standard 37.5 hours a week or more - and not, as has been described on here, a mere 20 hours (but taking a full time salary)?

Although if their manager isn’t bothered and isn’t pulling them up for it then I suppose it’s tempting to shirk.

It's swings and roundabouts with my role. Two weeks in four, its utter chaos. Relentless long days. Then a week of normality. Then a week of calm and quiet. Usually this last week is when people squeeze in their annual leave. If not, theres very little left to do as the job is time sensitive.

It's give and take. Everyone in the team knows that it flows like that, so everyone on week 4 is catching their breath, dipping in an out etc.

I didn't read it like that @SirChenjins, I read it as a list of things people sometimes do.

So, now I have another adult in the house who enjoys cooking, I rarely make the evening meal, but, over the las 12 yrs or so spending some of my time working from home, I have made the evening meal and put it in the oven / slow cooker or left it all prepped, ready during what would be considered standard working hours but I work long enough hours to still fit in the 7.5 hours I am paid for and a lot more most weeks.
I have even had my mobile hairdresser fit me in mid afternoon on occasion, and the same applies. I have when I was being healthy during the pandemic gone for an early afternoon walk for an hour.
I have hung washing out.
I have let the piano tuner in and made him a cuppa.
However, all of these things obviously aren't done on the same day - they are just examples of the kinds of things that I do sometimes do at some point between 9am and 5pm or 8am or 6pm or whatever people consider to be standard working hours.
I don't count those activities as work though, and still manage to fit in my full hours.
When my youngest dc was still in junior school, I even went up to school and took her for the odd sports match after school. Then, I would 'put those 2 hours back' in the evening.
In my job, I can do that occasionally, as the majority of my work isn't F2F / in meetings / being available immediately if people want to ask something. I am aware enough to realise we all do different things, but it isn't that unusual for part of your role to be writing reports / advice /inputting data / answering e-mails etc.

Totally agree @EarringsandLipstick, that no-one should be working and less than the hours they are paid for and not putting them back, let alone the 1/2 time the one particular poster is boasting about.

Exactly @DiamondBright.

If it is an example of a thing that you occasionally do and you make the time up and it doesn’t impact the business or your colleagues then fair enough @Kite22 - but as I said in my previous post, that’s not what some posters have described. I’m surprised that anyone has so much spare time in their working day that they’re able to do a Masters, for example. If you’re being paid for x number of hours over the week then you should really work x number of hours work.

Agreed.

I probably pop out to a shop maybe once a week, I'm talking about a quick run into Asda for 2/3 things not a full shop, last week I popped to hobbycraft for something DD needed for school, I'll go mid morning or mid afternoon (or whenever I don't have calls) to avoid the busy times, but it's no different to going out of the office and doing the same thing at lunchtime.

Time I would have spent in the office listening to colleagues taking about their latest drama or making a round of drinks is better spent pegging out some washing.

I have a health condition that means I have to get up and move around regularly, so I have to make sure I don't sit at my desk too long at a time anyway.

I work for the NHS in a full on admin role that I'm fortunate to be able to do from home.
There is no slacking my day maybe one day a month I take a proper break so no - they get way more hours out of me then I get paid for however I have a very very amazing line manager who forces me to log my hours and I do get time back thank the fucking lord fucking lord

I think it depends what your job is, if you are in sales and on calls all the time then there is probably less scope to go off and do your own thing. My work is project based so sometimes I work long hours from home (once I didn’t sleep to meet a deadline) but other days I might have an afternoon nap. I am very flexible with myself but still get everything I need to done. I think presenteeism is stupid, but some roles call for sitting at desk on meetings or answering phones. I’m lucky that my work and my working style align! I think the people here scoffing at those who are more flexible are probably just in a different line of work, or work for a company that has a lot of meetings that could have been emails

I don’t think it’s scoffing - more raising an eyebrow at jobs that can be done in 4 hours as opposed to 8, or that are so quiet they allow for a Masters to be done in the ‘spare’ time.