If you're a sociable extrovert, would you consider a job where you work from home most of the time?

[ForeverTipsy]

I have had a break from work for a few months after being made redundant. Used to work in a small but busy office, but 75% of my time was spent out in the community.

I have two school aged children, albeit older primary/secondary. I'm looking for a part-time job that fits in with family life, and have recently interviewed for a 20hr a week wfh admin job. I'm just waiting to hear back about whether I've got it. I had dreams of working in my pj bottoms, zero commute or parking/petrol expenses, able to focus as no distractions etc

But now I'm getting cold feet, as I'm worried I'll get bored, lonely and distracted working in this way ! So don't know whether I should be looking for something in a school (TA) where I'd be surrounded by people, which is how I usually get my energy (apart from around four days a month where I want everyone to fuck off and leave me alone 🤣).

Any advice please Mumsnetters? Would I be mad to consider wfh?

I wouldn't even consider it if I had a choice. Apart from money, the thing I like about working is being with other people all day. Also home has far more distractions than the office.

No. I hated working from home. I was bored out of my brain.

Yeh I don’t enjoy wfh either. My previous role (NHS office role) went mostly remote during Covid and then never really got back – maybe a day or two a week just with one other person.

Current role has been hybrid as an option but latterly most people are back. There is flexibility to wfh which can be useful (if DC have medical appointment, for example) but when I do have a wfh day I don’t enjoy it and don’t feel I get much done. Partly this is bc my computer set-up at home is not the best.

For reference, I have a 45-min commute but my office is very nice – free coffee, free fruit, nice breakout spaces, pleasant colleagues. I just like to get dressed properly, put on makeup and go to work.

This is me tho; a good friend who is more introverted tbf much much prefers working at home and dislikes the days they have to go in to the office.

I'm a social introvert and I'd hate it.

I need to be in a work environment and around people, to care about my work and focus on it. I can't quite see the personal value in work and in the aims and targets (or care about them) if I'm removed from its purpose and the rest of the team.

If it's only 20 hours a week and the rest of your day is busy and full of human contact via family, friends, school run etc then yes I would consider it. Or do it while you work out whether you like it or not and then use the time to look for something else.

Full time WFH sent me off the deep end after a while because there was no time to do anything to recharge my human contact batteries.

These are all excellent replies - thank you!

Hadn't heard of the term social introvert before, nor human contact batteries, but they make sense.

@Xiaoxiong yes that was what I was thinking. 20hrs during the school day (all year round though) so I could get my social fixes after and on my day off, and weekends. I dunno, I just love being part of a work team who see each other f2f most days, who learn from and support each other. I don't think you get that when online.

At such a crossroads right now and don't know what to do. Never had a career as such, just an eclectic variety of jobs. Left school at 16, no further or higher education. Keen to find a career but don't know what in. I wonder if the Careers Service would be any help?

I’m an introvert and I love WFH. I get a lot done with a better setup and zero distractions. However, you get energy from being around other people. I don’t think you are a good fit for a WFH job.

I'm just the same.

I could opt to work at home two or three days a week but despise a bit of a commute I choose to go in every day.

I need the focus of being in the office, with people around me. I'd go slowly nuts at home.

Yep. I was a teacher, and though I still had work to do at home, I could never concentrate on work as effectively outside the building. So I'd arrive at 7:30, work through all my breaks, and only leave when the site agent was jangling his keys.

In my case it also compartmentalised my life so that work wasn't impinging on home life as much as it otherwise would have.

I now do voluntary work (case work and research) which could be done at home, but I go into my organisation's office to do it. I need to be around the purposeful vibe and be able to bounce ideas (or have them bounced on me) with others inhabiting the same space. I honestly don't know how I could work effectively without being part of a team so directly and physically.

@DramaAlpaca how lovely that you choose to go in every day. Do you have the option to wfh if you can? That's the dream, I think.

@saraclara I have teacher friends who do the same; do 99% of their work in the school building to try and compartmentalise. Love how you said you need to be around the "purposeful vibe" - that's exactly how I'm feeling right now.

So, pro's for wfh = no work clothes to buy, no childcare issues if dc are off sick (they're older so wouldn't need me much), no commute, no petrol or parking charges, stay in the warm and dry, etc etc

pro's for office-based = be around other people (could go either way, depending on people), enjoy getting dressed up a bit most days, easier to be in 'work mode' and be more productive, compartmentalise work/home life.

On balance, it's 50/50 really. I guess as it's only 20hrs per week I'd have to give this wfh job a try and see how it goes...if I get it.

I couldn't do it, I need to be around people, and I am really bad at forcing myself to do work at home (not had a wfh job but been retraining for the last year and a half which has required studying at home and it was just so hard to do, whereas if I went into school I could study easily)

Sociable extrovert here (a rare breed on mn!)

No I wouldn't. I did it for many years before covid but was often out and about at meetings. Lockdown nearly killed me and now I work from a shared office. I love it. It’s changed my life.

Id look for something hybrid.

Sociable extrovert and I love wfh. I’m task based, so I can choose my hours pretty much. I like to compress my hours so I have more time to be sociable with friends and family. I go into the office when I fancy it (usually to coincide with after work drinks), but on the whole I love wfh as it gives me more time to socialise and I have a lot of teams meeting so get to chat to colleagues still.

I'm an ambivert but very relationship-oriented and have been wfh for 3 years now. It's been awful. I used to love my work and now I pretty much feel apathetic towards it. I am finishing the year and will be making a change in January. I do work FT though - 20 hrs might be different.

No, I'd hate to work from home.

On the rare occasions I've done it, I've got bored and distracted.

Then again, I absolutely love the people I work with.

I work three days from home and love it. I do the school runs, get some jobs done round the house with no commute, do exercise in my lunch break and the rest of the time is mine to get out and about.
I find it a great balance - couldn't work from home full time though.

Sorry to hear you've hated it @NeedToUnfreeze that sounds so difficult. I know my ex colleagues who have tried wfh full time got incredibly lonely, so found jobs in busy places. I think I'm relationship oriented too. Not sure how deep a connection one can make via Teams if I'm honest.

@HollyIvie that sounds perfect. I think 2-3 days at home and two in the office is perfect for balance. I was worried I'd find it hard to find flexible work, but seems there are a lot of companies offering hybrid or fully remote jobs at the moment.

I'm not an extrovert - more introverted I guess but I still hate wfh full time which is what I do. It's isolating and gets me down although I appreciate the benefits as my DC are also upper primary/secondary. If you are an extrovert I don't think wfh full time would be a good move

Thanks @Yuja The job is 20hrs per week, flexible. It's a 6 month initial contract, possibly going permanent. I really wanted it the past couple of weeks, now I'm not so sure. There would be in-person team meetings once a month. Guess if I get offered the job I'll have to try and it and see how I get on...

Oh it sounds a bit lower risk then at 20 hours and 6 months to start. Worth a try then!

Its always worth a try at least, even though I know I'd hate it but you might not, especially as its only 20 hours so you still have time to be sociable outside of working hours.

To be honest, given that it’s only 20 hours and 6 months I’d give it a try too, I agree you can socialise around it and the saved commute time etc is definitely a plus. Is it the sort of work where you could take a laptop and sit in a coffee shop for a couple of hours sometimes? That would help me, just being around people even if I’m not specifically interacting with them.

That's a really good suggestion actually, re the coffee shop - thank you! My DH works from home three days a week, so he'd be here for company in tiny snatches throughout the day when he's not on a call, too.

Ok, you guys have spurred me on to just go for it and give it a try. Wish me luck for next week (25% chance of getting it as down to final four candidates).

My colleagues made my job the great experience it was.

After redundancy I have a new job where I'm talking to people all day but no colleagues and I would say no to wfh.

For me, the live feedback and support from colleagues is essential.

Sounds like we have very similar experiences. My last job was working with children & families, and my colleagues are/were the kindest, most thoughtful and supportive team I could ever wish for. Was devastated to be made redundant in the spring and miss the team now. But I genuinely don't think I'm likely to find another team like it, so the pro's for a wfh job for me for now outweigh the cons (need some money for a start...).

I hope you find another f2f, supportive and caring team one day too.