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Work

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Original poster

Hate working from home

18 replies

squidwid · 15/04/2023 18:42

It was fine for a bit. Now I feel cut off, isolated and lonely. Lack belonging too. Even more difficult when there's something stressful to complete.

OP posts:

ExtremelyDetermined · 15/04/2023 18:45

I did it for a few weeks at the start of lockdown. Never again if I can possibly avoid it. Are you fully remote or hybrid? .

Original poster

squidwid · 15/04/2023 18:48

Hybrid. But find days when I'm the office are sporadic with staff and feels just as lonely as at home.

OP posts:

SilverGlitterBaubles · 15/04/2023 18:52

Lots of companies are now moving away from WFH and insisting on more time in the office. Perhaps this is something your employer might consider OP?

GobbieMaggie · 15/04/2023 18:54

SilverGlitterBaubles · 15/04/2023 18:52

Lots of companies are now moving away from WFH and insisting on more time in the office. Perhaps this is something your employer might consider OP?

And lots of companies have downsized their office space requirements so you have to work from home.

dietcokelime · 15/04/2023 18:54

Can you just go and make use of the hybrid facilities full time?

Hybrid is the best of both for most people (myself included) but it needs to be jiggled to suit everyone! I have colleagues who go in 5 days a week and love it, some who go in once a fortnight and wouldn't change a thing.

Howmanymiles · 15/04/2023 18:58

I think the problem with WFH is that people either love it or hate it. My husband has always has some home working, and this went to fully home based when covid started and he only went back to the office one day a week January 2022. I honestly started to think about divorce during that time, it was utterly miserable. I felt my home wasn’t a home.

He is now back three days a week, but still sometimes frowns and gets annoyed if he’s interrupted. I have had to remind him sometimes he has an alternative, we don’t.

So YANBU, @squidwid , although I know I’ve posted from the other side if you like.

Kvetching · 15/04/2023 19:04

My company allows those that want to work from the office to do so. Some colleagues (2 of them) that live alone, work from the office every day. But I get what you mean, even going into the office is very different to pre-pandemic as there’s hardly anyone in.

In a bid to save money, we’re about to trial a 4 day week but this is even more isolating for those that want to be back at work.

I love wfh, but not every day. I’ll go into the office one day a week and I find it energising if I can persuade my team to join me. But we’ll never go back to working like we used to. Post pandemic, we have adopted an agile working policy. So not only do most people not go into the office, they are encouraged to fit work in around personal stuff and work whatever hours suit them. For most people - it’s fantastic but there’s not much of a team feeling anymore.

Notanothernewname · 15/04/2023 19:58

I have this issue some days but even going into the office makes no difference as no one else is in on those days(we all go in on the one day), so I would be sat there on my own. I sometimes think I need to find a coffee shop or pub to work in.

Yuja · 15/04/2023 20:47

I hear you. My company basically downgraded to a tiny office so only a couple of people can be in at a time. So we wfh all the time, try and have a team meet up once a month but sometimes doesn't happen.
It's so convenient from the perspective of schools pick ups etc but I really don't like it.

iamnottoofatiamjusttooshort · 15/04/2023 21:33

I did it for around 2 years

Absolutely hated it ..

Put on 2 stone
Mental Health plummeted
Stopped getting fully dressed
Spoke to no one outside of work
Worked far more hours than contracted

Never again

Notjustamum10 · 15/04/2023 23:19

I’m with you OP. I really hate it - I don’t see or speak to anyone face to face, and spend my day peering into a screen, with back-to-back online meetings. I always thought I was an introvert, but am actually just shy and need people around as I don’t actively seek them out.
WFH I feel unhealthy, sluggish, ungroomed and trapped in my house.
Its handy for doing the school run, taking deliveries in and putting laundry on, and suits my employer, but I feel a mess, mentally and physically.

Puravida23 · 15/04/2023 23:37

Agree . My company got rid of their office during covid so no going back now. I hate it I literally wear the same slob out gear all week. Would see no one if I didn’t make the effort to meet friends/ do hobbies on the evening which means I have less down time as either working or getting out to meet people for my sanity. The only saving grace is I am pretty much at the end of my working career so will power through but if this was me for the next 20 years I dread to see what my mental health would be like. I am incredibly grateful for children have gone into non WFH jobs

mrsfollowill · 15/04/2023 23:38

We all got sent home from work with a laptop in March 2020. The top brass have rented out most of the office space now. We have a few people who live alone or with parents who now go to the office most days as it suits them.
The rest of us are Hybrid. We have to go in twice a month. The lack of desk space means if we all wanted to work 5 days a week in the office it would be impossible. I like WFH but I have DH/DS who both work outside the home so have peace to work but company in the mornings/evenings.
It seems to the 'future'. Suits me for now but I can understand the isolation. I manage a small team but I speak to everyone on Teams every day and we all work the same day in the office twice a month so get to interact in person/as a team. I'm old though and counting down to retirement!

Puravida23 · 15/04/2023 23:38

Not for children my children!

SirChenjins · 15/04/2023 23:40

You’re just going to have to accept it unfortunately - hybrid working suits far too many people (and I include myself in that) for there ever to be a return to the bad old days of being fixed to one office five days a week because some people liked a chat. Just go in every day and then at least you’ll see everyone at some point.

Original poster

squidwid · 16/04/2023 07:39

I'm looking for a non work from home job. I have a lot to give and feel rubbish at home. Good luck to you all.

OP posts:

Waterdrophead · 16/04/2023 08:08

I absolutely hated it as well. I left my job because I later found out that was going to be the 'new normal'. Not for me. Serves a purpose for putting washing on, preparing dinner for the evening in my lunch break, answering the door to deliveries and being around for my dog but that's it.

Weallgottachangesometime · 16/04/2023 08:15

I was mainly work from home and I thought I liked it. Recently started a new job where I have to be onsite and it’s been so nice. I miss the flexibility of working at home, but being able to leave work at work has been so nice. Also getting out of home I have lost weight and kept home as a chill space.

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