Have you enjoyed working from home?

My role is such that I can work from home pretty much indefinitely. Same as my previous employer. But I have a spare room that I've long since turned into a proper office (with big dual screens , dock, proper desk etc) and chair which is essential for comfort/productivity and separating it fro the rest of your house/life. Working from the kitchen table long-term or with kids in the house all day is unsustainable.

I'm very happy with the current arrangement and plan to continue it post return to office which there's been no objections to. I get more done here than I did in the office - no interruptions, no hunting for meeting rooms etc.

I am not doing a 2/3 hour commute every day so I have more energy and this is helping me health wise too. I don't miss the overheated office with crap aircon, the lack of a proper canteen or hot food (unless you can microwave it yourself), and I don't really deal with anyone locally that can't be done remotely or who isn't offshore anyway. An office can be a boring and lonely place when you're a team of 1.

WFH FTW.. but as above, you need to be able to set it up right from the start

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

How exactly do you reach that conclusion?

Turn off you phone, get a separate phone for work, or use a dual sim. It's not that hard, although you do make to like things sound difficult.

Yes all going fine.
It's lovely just getting up and logging on,walking the dog, listening to radio etc is lovely.
It was a struggle without monitor and laptop stand at start but all sorted along with dedicated table.

Doesn't seem to be a huge push to go back to office, we were asked for feedback but doubt anymore back in office til September.

I work in IT and project still scaling up with lot of overseas people involved so was pretty much used to keeping in touch via teams.

I'd be happy to go back a few days a week to start but no rush.

Got a bit more use to it but still don't like it, my supervisor and manager have provided me with fuk-all support and I have been given an increased more stressful workload with restrictive systems on the laptop compared to the people still going into the office

Going by other people I know who are enjoying WFH it seems to be the employers who want to make it work are making it a positive for their employees

Like most took a while to adjust to it.
At the start of lockdown My boyfriends shift got changed so I would literally see no one all day during the week as he came home when i went to bed. I missed the work guys a wee bit then
Thats changed now and i can see friends again so not seeing work colleagues isnt really a problem for me anymore.

I personally have pros and cons for it.
Pros
My company wont want us back until at least next year so im looking forward to not having to travel on shyte country roads during icy weather.

Saving hundreds a month on diesel

Because I am no longer on site in the back arse of nowhere i get to have lunch from cafes etc!

Cons.
Takes too long to get stuff approved online and people love to pretend they haven't seen IMs or emails. I spend my days sending follow up email after email
Manager doesnt get that there is a "home time" anymore no matter howany times we say it

I only miss having a bit more space to fit a screen and an office chair.
Apart from that, working from home has only pluses for me.

I love it. It's been an amazing two years. I'm more productive than ever, in more comfortable than ever and my company is flying.

We don't have to go back ever, our company has changed to a remote first company with zero tolerance for managers putting pressure on people to go to the office.

I sleep more, I excercise more and I eat better. I've truly never been happier.

I've worked from home (part-time) for years now. Before Covid I did a day or two anyway, but since 2020 I've been full time at home. I will never go back to a role that doesn't at least offer a favourable split.

I love it, but it depends on numerous factors...

• Space: I have a spare room that has a proper 6ft office desk, proper chair, and 2 big monitors, docking station, peripherals etc
• Job role: Most of my job involves calls, emails and IM. I can do it pretty much anywhere on the planet really. In my last company I dealt mostly with the UK so there was no real value to me being onsite
• Colleagues: I manage a department so you need a good team that can work away without being stood over, and a manager that will support. Thankfully I have both
• Personality: Some people just aren't suited for/don't want to WFH. As many here have said they miss/need the social aspect of work. Again because of my role (and probably my middle age) I don't rely on work for that. I did in my 20s absolutely and loved the work nights out and atmosphere, but these days my social life is outside the workplace and I am happier working away at home

I do go in occasionally though if I want/need to catch up with the team or just for a change of scenery, but I do not miss the daily 60-90 minute (each way) commute to do a job that I can do just as well (better even!) at home the majority of the time.

I didnt like it at first. But it grew on me. Now I would never work for a company ever again that made me work from their office more than 1 day a week.

Loved every minute of working from home,still working at home but looks like hybrid from May onwards, exact details to be confirmed.

After commuting almost 20 years of a 110km round trip each day with varying levels of traffic, the transformation in my life has been superb. Log on earlier instead of driving , get more work done during the day, take my breaks to suit me rather than the standard office time break, log off and time to myself to do admin/household chores/exercise, and the company has certainly gained more time out of me versus leaving the office bang on home time every evening to avoid /reduce traffic jam home.

100% a better happier person in myself, well being and work balance, if i never seen the office again would not cost me a thought.

I'd love to be able to work from home. Not an option, unfortunately ( healthcare).

But have noticed and love the difference in our family life especially after the first year.

All have their own desks and laptops and space so we are lucky in that regard . I am the only one who doesn't and I find myself creeping around on my days off or longing to sing opera out loud!😉

My OH does not have to commute to a job 1.5 hours away , much less tired and stressed . Most of his work is online anyway . He has time to have a cup of coffee and go for a walk and still get his work done and more .

No1 Son who has finished college is working away up in his room and would love to see him actually going in some days so he can experience a work environment and get to know his work colleagues . I think he is missing out on so much as it is better for learning on the job. He is happy though as he doesn't really know anything else.

No2 son goes into college 50% and is all over the place with college work the rest !

Nos 3 and 4 still in school . They love being able to chat and ask their dad things andI find the 'parenting' and 'taxi service 'much better divided now.

We are all healthier sleeping and eating better, less stressed and rushed and getting a lot more excercise than before .

Hybrid seems to be the best of both worlds .

I missed the social side of work, but when I started going in once a week that looked after that need. I honestly didn’t miss the commute. For parents who are both working full time the commute can really take away valuable family time away. My OH can’t wfh but loved it when everyone else was wfh because of the reduction in traffic. It halved his commute time.

Ideally I would love a mixture of both wfh and office in future roles.

Before kids the commute wasn’t a big deal as I had plenty of time for work, hobbies and friends so I can definitely see that many younger people wouldn’t mind working in office full time depending on their individual circumstances.

I love wfh. My company mostly operates a hybrid model but my role got approved for fully remote last year as I work with different regions.

I grew tired of commuting before covid. Years of rushing to get out the door and catch the train, traffic en route, cancelled trains. I used to be wrecked by Friday!

Now it's a leisurely wake up at home and can get straight into work, see family, do errands etc so weekends aren't always spent playing catch-up.

Only thing I plan to change is getting a garden Room for an office. I'm working in the spare room in the attic and need more light, esp in winter.

I don't miss the social aspect at all as I'm a bit of an introvert and didn't like the networking stuff/ small talk in office.

Saving a fortune with commuting and not needing a second car anymore!

Agree with that last statement 100%!

Really found the lack of " just me "time hard when on days off ..have adjusted now but it was hard in the beginning having someone there all the time 👀

If it wasnt for covid, Id either still be living in Dublin in our 2 bed duplex with 2 kids, or we would have bought a 4 bed semi for over 500k. My wife would be working full time in a job she hates and would be incessantly stressed out of her eyeballs. Instead, we moved back to my home area, got a site off my parents, built a good sized 4 bed detached, have a large garden and a large detached garage which I use as my office. She was able to quit her job and be a full time mother and just started studying to be an SNA. I have to go to Dublin once a month for a meeting and I am on the road 4 or 5 times a year for an overnight stay. It has been overwhelmingly positive for our family. If I was closer to the office Id probably go in once or twice a week but Im not prepared to drive over 90 minutes each way for that. Tbf, my employer / direct line manager has been incredibly supportive and he operates on the caveat that once the work is being done (which it is), he doesnt care if I come into the office again. If I ever change jobs the ability to work remotely will be requirement number 1 for any perspective employer.

Might be a bit affected by the shite weather but no I've not enjoyed it as much as others seemed to have had. I'm getting up at 8:30 and I'm wrecked even with a full 8-10 hour sleep I'm destroyed.

I barely get a full hour for lunch as there's meetings scheduled then as it's the most convenient time for the cohort. Between all my meetings I get about 2 hours through the whole day (not all at once) to do my own work.

I feel like I'm doing all the right things when it comes to remote working but I'm not feeling the benefits. I'm great at creating the boundary, the spare room is where I work, I walk in at 8:30-9:00 and I leave at 5-5:30 but it's what's happening in-between that's the problem. I don't come into the room unless it's for work but as soon as it's finished I'm too exhausted to do anything or entertain anyone. I block an hour for lunch and coffee breaks but I end up ignoring them as there's work commitments that pile in.

I'm genuinely glad people are enjoying it and as I said at the start it might just have been the winter months talking but right now this is how I feel.