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No choice about wfh - how do you cope?

6 replies

Likesomemorecash · 07/07/2024 11:54

Long story short - my job was hybrid and has now become wfh as the organisation has leased out its office space. There was talk about leasing somewhere else which has now, predictably, turned into 'well, do we really need an office, can't we just hire a room for a day every few weeks?'.

I am currently job-hunting, but am aware that this may take months or years. In the meantime, I need to find ways of coping with wfh without going mad. I have my own office at home, so feel bad about complaining, but I'm finding it very difficult. Dh works wfh most of the time and is having a hard time at work. I hear updates about this on and off during the day which is getting me down. I'm happy to support him of course and have been, but I feel like I'd like at least one of us to have a break from it.

My children are secondary and I'm finding myself endlessly worrying about them when really there's nothing major. I think just being too aware of every up and down in their lives magnifies it all for me, in a way that it didn't when I was in the office a few days a week.

I do go for runs at lunchtime and get out as much as I can. My job role is quite isolated, which was an issue anyway, and has obviously become more so.

I can't go to an internet cafe - too much of my work is confidential and I need two screens.

How do other enforced wfh-ers manage? I know some people love it, but it's really not for me.

OP posts:
Valhalla17 · 07/07/2024 12:05

Is there another place you can go once a week to help break things up? So a cafe or a WeWork (or similar option) where you can book a desk for the day. Perhaps your employer would cover it....

OttersAreMySpiritAnimal · 07/07/2024 12:08

I work on a cupboard. Not literally, it is actually a small room and I have decorated so it's nice, but I know I don't do well with distractions, so it has a small high up window and I've frosted the one that is at the regular height so I can't see out of either. I refer to it as my work cupboard. The door is thick and heavy and closed when I'm working. Interruptions from other people in the house are allowed for emergencies and offers of tea/food only. They can knock and if no reply from me it means I'm on a call so they mustn't open the door.
There's other stuff in the room but nothing that anyone would require during my working hours.
I spend a lot of time on the phone or on IM so I don't feel isolated as I'm talking to people all the time.
I was 80% WFH both the pandemic then 100% after, so I've had years of adjustment to get to this point. I'm happy that I don't need to commute and it's made daily home life easier but I have had to give much more thought to how I'm working so that I'm not negatively impacted in my work life.

Likesomemorecash · 07/07/2024 15:50

Thanks both. I can't go to a WeWork space as too much of what I have on screen is confidential. Things crop up, so I can't set aside non-confidential work for a particular day iyswim. It's not the same as having colleagues in the same room, but I can't do anything about that until I get another job.

I've been working hybrid for nearly 20 years and it suits me. I would never apply to a job that was wfh and feel a bit depressed that that's what mine has become.

OP posts:
CoffeeCakeAndALattePlease · 07/07/2024 15:50

My company closed the office after Covid and we’re permanently wfh now. DH also works from home a lot.

We absolutely cannot work in the same room as we distract each other and also we both have lots of meetings so it’s not confidential.
we try to have a coffee break and lunch break at the same time some days (not always possible). I also struggle with DHs constant work updates so have to tell him it’s info overload for me and I’m trying to focus on my own work stuff.

I like it 99% of the time but it can get a bit much at times!

EasterlyDirections · 07/07/2024 19:05

How do your colleagues feel? Are any of them unhappy with it too? If there was a small group of you could you hire a closed office space for a day a week, preferably at your employer's expense, it does sound as though this change is having a negative effect on your mental health which they should be concerned about, even if they aren't they are likely to lose you and perhaps others.

Likesomemorecash · 07/07/2024 23:16

Colleagues have mixed views. Three out of the four SLT are happy to wfh (two moved a long way away last year with a view to not coming in much anyway). It's not the wfh that I mind so much, it's everything that comes with it, primarily being too available for the rest of my family to moan at/off load to!

I would be really happy for them to lose me, but I'll need to get another job first, which is a whole other thread.

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