Covid19 working from home arrangements.

I'd been working from home for over a year before the pandemic started anyway, and a few months ago I changed to a new job that's also 100% remote even post-COVID, so it's been no different for me. I love working from home myself; no commute to take up time, just roll out of bed, hit the shower, and boot up the laptop. I live alone, so there's no distractions or anything to worry about. I've always been quite the hermit as it is, though, even before the pandemic, so not leaving the house or interacting with anyone else in person for days at a time is kinda my thing anyway. Guess folks who miss the social aspects of work are probably having a difficult time of it, and those with different living situations at home (roommates, tiny studios/bedsits, etc.) might find it hard as well, though. I'm very fortunate that I've the temperament for full-time WFH and a suitable living situation to support it.

patrafter7 wrote: »

Hi,

How are people coping in general with working from home during the pandemic?

been back in the office since june !

theres 2 of us in on either ends of the floor

my broadbands terrible at home so thats left to the OH (works ok for one person)

the company havent provided anything but most people robbed monitors and chairs from the office

No commute - great
Roll out of bed 5 mins before first meeting - great
Extended smoke/lunch/tipping point breaks - great

At home all day/night - not great
No break from family - not great
More irritable - not great
Overall more angry - not great

Have gone back to counseling that I was doing a few years ago to get me over the hump.

Agree so much re 2 hours and more knocked off my commute, a better standard of life in general, and life just being so much more flexible in terms of even simple things, like washing clothes during the day. Batch cooking at lunchtime. I actually get a lot of household jobs done in 10 minute bursts, and have so much more free time. Don’t have to take a half day for deliveries or workmen for the house. I now have entire weekends free. And not because I doss during the week - because I genuinely have the opportunity to get personal stuff done.

I personally don’t miss the office chit chat at all. I have a bit of an extra chat before a few Skype calls.

However, there’s noises being made by I’d say by far less than 10% or so that they feel so isolated / want a return to office set up. The rest of my colleagues are just willing them to shut up, before they ruin our far better quality of life.

My fear is that the the ‘I need thousands spent to set me up at home’ small % of my workplace are going to scare my employer in case they get sued, and the rest of us have to give up the best workplace change that we could ever have imagined. There would have been some (reluctant) wfh before COVID, but it is working so well for most of us, and we’d have had to fight for this for years on end without the virus. Long may it continue (the wfh, not the virus!)

I’m more than happy to have a little portable radiator beside me, and use my kitchen table. My life is so much better since wfh

I'm on maternity leave currently but was wfh since March. I absolutely loved it. Saving 12 hours a week commute, saving money on clothes, petrol, make up etc.

My work involves collaborating with people in Asia and US so I have no problem now starting early or joining for a late meeting, whereas before you'd be staying in the office late or trying to catch first and last trains.

Mostly, it gives me back so much time to do the things I love, spend time with family, cooking, getting outdoors. My dog seems to prefer it as well

The perfect arrangement for me would be 1 day in the office, max 2 per week. Still waiting for the long term plans for wfh for our company, but they've hinted it will be 2-3 days in office once vaccine is widely available.

I can't see myself ever going back to a job with 5 days in the office.

I’m a mixed bag with WFH. I didn’t have a commute to work before, it’s 5 mins away. I liked not having to get ready for work, so I’d go for a walk or a run before work, home quick shower and eat breakfast while logging in. My own workload was handy to do from home, less interruptions. But other things my job entails - managing junior staff, work review, file completion - that’s all much quicker in the office.

Myself and the wife have been working from home for years now - but I always had the option to pop in to the office, customer or out for lunch with colleagues .. which I dearly miss

Pre-COVID my work-life balance was superb .. but now I’d love to be able to pop in to town for a day - have lunch with some customers or workmates etc

Love it..was WFH for the last ten weeks of pregnancy and convinced that avoiding the five day a week rat race into the city contributed to quick recovery and zero complications. (In fact, some early studies into a drastic decrease in the number of premature births suggest a correlation between women WFH and better pregnancy outcomes). OH also WFH so has been here for us the whole time. Saved a load on parking, petrol, pet sitter etc.

Can't ever see myself going back to Monday-Friday 9-5 to be honest, throwing the child into a creche for ten hours a day and sitting in traffic for three. Ideally, I'd like to to one day at the office and four at home, loading all the meetings into that one day.

Work life balance has never been better and productivity hasn't suffered at all. I get that isolation is a factor for some people, but I think it's a strange trade off to want to go back to that because you're lonely, and sacrifice family time.

Edit, I should add I've been lucky. I've an amazing boss who more or less said they don't mind when the work.is done so long as it gets done, so I've had huge flexibility in that regard.

Feel sorry for those poor extroverts on this thread who just can't handle the lack of human interaction associated with WFH. Before the pandemic I could not go on much longer working in a bull**** office environment.. awkward water cooler chat, pretending to work and the counting down the hours.

I much prefer it, but of course the office has its place when needed, for myself that would potentially be 1-2 days per week when required, but I suspect a lot of my weeks could be entirely WFH. Good riddance to being a full time office-bot.

I love WFH, no commuting, no crowded trains/luas, it's just awesome.

At home, it's just me and my wife, and we have a dedicated home office, good/fast broadband, quiet neighbors, so overall, I can't complain.

If I had kids, I would definitively prefer to be away from home as long as possible, that is: work in a office and take a long commute.

I'm much more productive at home, no distractions, no "visits" to my desk.

I will detest the day I'll have to return to the office

Really don't like WFH......not suited to it.

Hoping to get back to the office asap