How much working from home do you actually do?

[Forallthoseasking]

Rekindling this thread as I work in tech so WFH pretty much permanently from now on as the company decided to downsize the pricey city centre offices.

I do a lot of work at home but annoyingly I've found that due to my partner and I always being home (he also works in tech so similar situation) we have become the bloody parcel drop off for the estate!

People I don't even know are putting "if not in leave at No X" on their delivery instructions and it's getting on my nerves!

I have ADHD so it takes forever to get back in the zone once I've had to run to the door

 

[CatCafe234]

Huge, huge increase in workload, which was already high. It’s not been uncommon for me to start a 6am and still be working at 11pm, with a couple of meal breaks in between. I recently moved roles as I just couldn’t manage the long working hours of my previous role any more and things are slightly better - no overtime but we do get TOIL, but when you start building up many hundreds of hours it all becomes a bit irrelevant. My workplace talks the talk about support and balancing working hours, but in real life it’s just mushroomed.

 

[lemonlime]

A part of our office resposibilities depend on other people so while those responsibilities are on hold, our current work continues with less to do. I'm working from home at the moment and I am doing less than I did pre-covid but I still need to be available and on top of what's going on on a daily basis. Depending on the flow of work, some days are much calmer than others but there have been days where I was glued to my laptop as well.

I absolutely prefer working from home due to the flexibility and lack of commute and lack of people, lol. I can get chores done, run errands if I need to as long as I plan my work around it and generally feel much calmer without the horrible bright lights and constant conversation of others around me. If we could continue like this forever with some designated office days for normal work, I'd be thriving but I know that's asking too much.

 

[mcfeez]

I'm doing roughly the same as pre covid but over a longer day I'd say - I definitely take more breaks now that I'm home all the time. Like in the office I wanted to get in and out ASAP but now, I take maybe an hour or 90 mins break to exercise and cook myself something and then as a result finish later than I used to. I don't mind working or starting later than before as I'm already at home once I finish, no bus or 30 minute walk in the cold.

 

[Mulholland Drive]

I am a self-employed IT bod/consultant, and have been for the last 3 years or so.

Pre-Covid I was very much out and about to customer sites both commercially and at private residences. But ever since the pandemic/lockdowns kicked in back in March, with lots of office workers being told to WfH, but not having a clue how to set up their own local networks of kit, I have been inundated with requests for help, most of which I've been able to do from my own home via VCC and Remote Desktop.

As a consequence I would say 75% of my weekly business hours are spent WfH, compared to 25% before Covid.

 

[SavvyBee]

I’ve always tried to work from home whenever I could - a day a week or two if my team were travelling. My firm is US based so mornings have always tended to be quiet but would often be doing emails as they came in in the evening which I didn’t mind but the odd wfh day helped restore the balance. I can work very efficiently from home / remotely and can actually do a lot from my phone alone. I am just as productive but now my down time is spent doing things at home or popping to Tesco or even out for lunch when allowed (where I can still stop and respond if needed), I am then happy leaving the laptop on and working for 20 mins later in the evening as required. I feel far more productive all around because my downtime is used more efficiently at home. Sometimes it’s tricky to feel like I can mentally switch off and not check my emails throughout the evening and weekend but I am trying to find that balance. I hope I never need to go back to a full working week in the office. I am very fortunate in my job and work for a small company who are trust me to just get on with things so long as the work gets done.

 

[newtoyou]

I’m doing so little and it’s really getting me down

I changed jobs last year because I was bored of my old one and needed more mental stimulation. I started my new one which I was happy about cos I thought I’d have loads to do but I just don’t. What makes it worse is that I feel like my colleagues are swamped and I’m literally sitting all day on my phone (I can’t take any work off their hands). I have kind of bought it up and have been told that this is a quiet time of year but today I probably only worked for an hour tops. I’m worried that when I start working in the office I’ll have nothing to do and it won’t be so easy to hide that.

What makes it worse is that when I do have stuff to do, I don’t do it and put it off until the last minute cos I know it’s all I have to do.

Im honestly jealous of people that have loads to do because I would love that.

 

[Boredofthegram]

I’m doing the same work wise but just over longer hours now as I have to homeschool around it too. My projects are just as busy currently as they were pre covid (I work in IT/projects for financial services).

 

[bunnyboo]

I've found my workload has been the same since transitioning to working from home and my work performance has increased.

There's a few reasons behind this though:

1. The company I work for is a start-up with quite lax rules for people in my department. We already had generous flexi-time for my team, and I worked from home once or twice a week. So I already had a handle on how to work remotely (as did the rest of my team).
2. My commute to the office was crazy, two buses to the office and two buses home. I'd spend an average of 3 - 4 hours on very crowded public transport, and it was getting quite depressing. To beat rush hour, I'd get my first bus at 6.30am to be in work for 8am. I'd leave the office at 4.45pm, and get home at about 7pm (7.30 on bad days). I wouldn't have any time/energy/willpower to do anything in the evenings... I was so tired from commuting, I'd just fall asleep at 10pm.
3. This is a point I feel I have to make; my role is suited to working from home and I realise this puts me in a place of great privilege. I mentioned above that things are quite lax for my department. We are a team of programmers, and our jobs can be done from anywhere so long as you have a laptop and internet connection. We are treated with great respect by management. The same can NOT be said for my co-workers who work in customer service . They are paid fuck all and not given the same respect that I would get. They are on calls with irate clients all day long and doing this from home, only adds to their problems.

When things get back to 'normal', some people/departments will transition back to working from an office but I'll probably only be commuting in and out of the office once a week so we can get all of our big meetings done in person.

 

[Happy35]

I have been working from home for 4 weeks and it isn’t as bad as I thought (previously only did odd days at home) but I work 10-11 hour days as I am manically busy. I always work long days in the office but get more done at home, at least it stops lockdown boredom

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

Yeah I totally agree. My employer are very vocal with the 'get some time away from the screen' and telling us there is no expectation to work 'after hours' in communications from HR but that's not what senior management buy into, they really do want you working around the clock!

We've also got people opting to work late into the night so they can homeschool during the day which also sets the expectation that we can all be doing that!

Yeah, I've had comments like "I thought that it might be good for you to join that meeting at 8pm on Friday - I realise it's your evening, but you're in lockdown so it's not like you have anything else to do anyway!"

Uhm excuse me, I actually have a whole Married At First Sight Australia boxset that's not going to watch itself!

 

[whatktdid]

I find myself working more than ever to be honest. You don’t get the usual chats at the tea point or popping out on a lunch break or even just walking to the printer, I work in a large building and we have flexi time so it was quite relaxed to some extent. It seems so full on now, I know everyone’s different but I always feel guilty if my laptop drops to “inactive” even when I’m putting the kettle on, which is silly as work don’t expect you to be constantly available but I think everyone feels the same in our department.

I feel the same way! What I've done so that I don't feel guilty for making a cup of tea, is for on those occasions, just using a debit card to keep the Ctrl key held down on my keyboard while I'm away. That way it doesn't drop to inactive.

As you say, in the office you'd always fit in breaks/walks around the building into a typical day, and we shouldn't feel bad for doing that now. So long as the work gets done, the exact timings/methods are unimportant.

 

[JodieGreen123]

Sorry I know this thread has been inactive for a while, but today I found out I've got a new job (woop woop)
First couple of months I'll be in the main office doing induction and training, then I'll be working from home.
I've not had to work from home (I'm currently in the NHS so never had so much of a sniff of even a Zoom meeting) so I'm just wondering if anybody has any tips or anything? I'm turning our spare bedroom into a little office so I've got somewhere dedicated to work.
TY in advance!

Congrats on the new job!

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

Oh my god! That’s so bad. Do you join the meetings or do you tell them that you do actually have a personal life?

I refuse to join, or if it is a genuinely important meeting I attend but take the time back by logging off early on another day.

My company has given up our office and told us that we'll all remain home-based, so I really need to enforce boundaries about my work-home life now so that they don't get into the habit of assuming that I'm fine to work 24/7 because I have the luxury of not having to commute and being able to wear lounge wear.

 

[Peaches_xox]

Sorry I know this thread has been inactive for a while, but today I found out I've got a new job (woop woop)
First couple of months I'll be in the main office doing induction and training, then I'll be working from home.
I've not had to work from home (I'm currently in the NHS so never had so much of a sniff of even a Zoom meeting) so I'm just wondering if anybody has any tips or anything? I'm turning our spare bedroom into a little office so I've got somewhere dedicated to work.
TY in advance!

I’ve been working from home since March 2020. Prior to that I did two days a week. Having a space to work is a good idea cos it feels more like ‘work’
I have a desk. It’s easy to get caught up in not taking your breaks and stuff so always try to remember that just because you’re at home you’re still working and entitled to your breaks! I always make sure I always get up showered and dressed cos I just feel a bit more productive then sitting in my pjs. I’m sure you’ll settle into it just fine and never look back!

 

[Princessax]

Been WFH since March and been told we won’t ever be back in the office 8:30-5 again as we’ve proved we can do the work just as good at home. Although I definitely feel much more pressure WFH, we’ve been swamped since the start (key worker industry) and I definitely put in more hours at home. It’s so easy to just nip onto the computer and send some emails after 5 or go on at the weekend - totally feel the guilt when your status turns to orange on teams even though your having lunch / making a coffee. Also find myself sending some pointless emails sometimes so I’m proving I’m busy and not just watching Netflix etc!

Find I have no motivation to get dressed and do my face at home. I miss the office vibe and being able to separate work environment with home

 

[Meh]

My work load is pretty much the same. Have had some spikes as our partners came back from furlough. I expect it will be the same after this lockdown.

My managers are very flexible with times and working schedules to suit etc. but I do miss meeting clients face to face and driving. I just miss driving without an essential excuse. I am getting fed up with having my work stress in my home. Can’t wait for at least a day in the office or something.

 

[Apple In My Pie]

I’m at university so not really had to do ‘proper’ work, I’d say I work on my homework/coursework more but that’s only because I don’t have to commute; I find the routine of commuting, then getting home and having dinner really drains me and then I just want to veg out rather than pick the laptop up and engage my brain. But at home I know I can work for a burst and then chill within a matter of minutes. I also agree that zoom calls are exhausting - you wouldn’t think it, but I feel they are. Last term on a Friday morning I had two lectures back-to-back until 12pm - found it really tough. And that was without the demands my camera was on (meaning then there’s the pressure to be ‘presentable’) or the lecturer randomly pinning me to the chat and asking me to comment on stuff without giving any notice or me volunteering, or the video buffering and cutting out all the time After those lectures I felt so drained and didn’t work for hours afterwards

I think I could work from home if the option was given to me permanently when I begin job hunting, but, I think I would need that balance between office days and work days to be my most productive.

 

[TheScarletgirl]

Really depends on the day some times i do two days of work in a day some days some days i go around the house and do very little .

 

[JodieGreen123]

Well, this is how I feel at the moment:
View attachment 418730

Really starting to feel like it's all work, no play.

Because of the nature of my job Covid travel restrictions changing constantly and at the last minute have had a huge knock-on effect on all of my planning and I am constantly shuffling things around.

I feel like a lot of employers also have an expectation now that employees working from home will work around the clock because there isn't much else to do during lockdown.

Yeah I totally agree. My employer are very vocal with the 'get some time away from the screen' and telling us there is no expectation to work 'after hours' in communications from HR but that's not what senior management buy into, they really do want you working around the clock!

We've also got people opting to work late into the night so they can homeschool during the day which also sets the expectation that we can all be doing that!