Does anybody actually dislike working from home?

I actually strongly dislike it. I like the office banter, I like having everything I need in one area, I like a difference of scenery and overall a variety of people to chat to.

It also forces regime which I like. Set lunch time, set break, forces to prepare lunch rather than wing it at home.

I feel I'm in a strong minority however. I guess it depends on your work environment.

Noope. I get why you and others would dislike it and i dont mind a day in the office of socialising and that (can make it easier to chase people as well when you need something), but i'm loving not having to wear a bra (TMI sorry), saving loads of money on fuel, and not having to do the physical commute on busy days. I'm definitely getting a better work/life balance but i also dont have  children so i can work with less distractions than others. At the moment i'm 1 day in and 4 at home and it's perfect (for me) IMO.

To be fair as well, i dont have set lunch or break times at my office as it is, so to me the work/life balance is better and i can use the times i would eat lunch at my desk in the office to do that but also get a load of laundry done. I don't have a strict routine when jn the office, it's just busy chaos from waking up to coming home (oftentimes late) so thankful i'm not having to also drive home late before dinner anymore. I can put a pin in what i'm doing, eat, and easily go back to it.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

I love working from home. I never realised really how much time I lost getting in and out of London, the stress of it. I was always aware of the cost of course! My husband and I are both WFH - he is now fully remote (new contract to say so) and my situation will be reviewed in January.

I miss people but at the same time I'm getting a lot more work done at home now without a) the commute issues and b) being distracted by colleagues or other asks or actually c) distracting my colleagues! I would like changes in my WFH set up (namely a chair that's more suitable) but in general I'm quite happy.

I'm a pretty social person as well so I've tried to add parents from my son's school into my social group so I still get that interaction from someone who isn't my husband or son! There is only so much a zoom call can do for you after many moons right? It's taken some adjustment and it's not a perfect set up but I hope I continue to WFH.

Are there any adjustments you could make to help with some of those concerns?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

At the moment, I prefer working from home.

If I was working in the office it would either be just me working alone in the office or with only 1 or 2 others... so I’m not exactly missing a big social life.

Also I work 12-hour shifts, including nights, which are much more comfortable working from home (especially at night as I can nap in my own bed and there’s no commute home at the end of the night)... I can just roll out of bed in the morning on a day shift and roll into bed at the end of a night shift. It also means that I can get bits and pieces done during the day that I wouldn’t normally be able to do if I was working a long shift in the office.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My husband would desperately like to work from home.  He's in an open office environment that has called itself "Covid secure" because they implemented a bunch of "precautions" when the "precautions" they've implemented will do nothing to protect people from each other.  He said that yesterday a woman who was sat 5 meters from my husband was coughing throughout the workday, sometimes so badly that she had to apologize to people she was trying to talk to on the phone because she "had a little cough".  She wasn't supposed to come to work with a cough, but she did, and nobody sent her home.  Meanwhile, my husband's manager is currently off sick with Covid.  Masks are required in the corridors and common areas as people move about the office, but not at their desks, so nobody is masked.

Anyway, it's just a matter of time before my husband gets Covid.  And he's supposed to be shielding me.  If he could work from home, he'd do it in a heartbeat.  We'd still isolate from one another, because he's the one interacting with the rest of the world to get our groceries and supplies.  But our stress and frustration would be greatly diminished.

I wish they'd bring shielding back in officially (I mean, numbers are higher now than they were the first time they told "vulnerable" people to shield!  ... see the chart below!) so maybe he could stay home.  Or I wish they'd actually make his workplace covid secure.  Or I wish they'd let him work from home.  ANY of these things are acceptable.  But our current situation...? It's unsustainable.

OMG JFKimberly!      He can report these violations , not sure in Wales who to, but we have the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland as he has the right to be safe at work. 

Yes, I agree too on the shielding. 

Ben, sorry, I love working from home. I was in the office last week in person and it was dreadful.  This week, much happier. Though I was rolling out of bed to start auditing a supplier in China at 5 am each day, so there's the flip side of that. 

My husband would desperately like to work from home.  He's in an open office environment that has called itself "Covid secure" because they implemented a bunch of "precautions" when the "precautions" they've implemented will do nothing to protect people from each other.  He said that yesterday a woman who was sat 5 meters from my husband was coughing throughout the workday, sometimes so badly that she had to apologize to people she was trying to talk to on the phone because she "had a little cough".  She wasn't supposed to come to work with a cough, but she did, and nobody sent her home.  Meanwhile, my husband's manager is currently off sick with Covid.  Masks are required in the corridors and common areas as people move about the office, but not at their desks, so nobody is masked.

Sounds like my office, minus the coughing.  I've noticed that no one in my office has had a cold in the last few months... probably because people are washing their hands a lot more!

As mentioned before, I am DESPERATE to work from home... not through any fears about COVID, but just because I don't really like people, and would much rather sit home with my dog all day and power through my work in peace and comfort, being home when the postie comes, doing little chores like laundry and washing-up in between cases, etc.  It would just suit me a lot better.

But it's not going to happen because the open plan office is supposedly 'Covid secure', with 2 empty desks between each person, hand sanitisers at every desk, one-way arrows in the corridors, compulsory masks except when sitting at your desk, etc; so they don't see any reason to dole out any more laptops to create more home workers.    

Sounds like my office, minus the coughing.  I've noticed that no one in my office has had a cold in the last few months... probably because people are washing their hands a lot more!

But it's not going to happen because the open plan office is supposedly 'Covid secure', with 2 empty desks between each person, hand sanitisers at every desk, one-way arrows in the corridors, compulsory masks except when sitting at your desk, etc; so they don't see any reason to dole out any more laptops to create more home workers.   

Your workplace sound a LOT like what my husband describes.  Civil service?  My husband is.

OMG JFKimberly!      He can report these violations , not sure in Wales who to, but we have the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland as he has the right to be safe at work. 

Yes, I agree too on the shielding. 

Apart from the woman who came to work with a cough yesterday, there technically aren't any violations (except people not always maintaining social distance unless reminded).  This is all functioning exactly as instructed.  It's just that the instructions are ineffectual measures.  Most importantly, everybody's still breathing the same air.

Your workplace sound a LOT like what my husband describes.  Civil service?  My husband is.

I work for a bank. 

I work for a bank. 

I guess I can stop blaming the government, then.  Exactly the same measures.  Who thought this up?  The one-way system is really frustrating for my husband because there might be a path free of people straight to his destination, but he has to walk all the way around, exerting himself and breathing out more, possibly passing people that he might not otherwise have had to pass, to get to a place.  There's rules rather than education and common sense.  It's all very British bureaucracy.  Too bad the virus didn't get the memo.

While I do enjoy interacting with people, I very much do not like many of my co-workers because they are... Well..  twats.

So working from is fantastic. I can do my job without having to listen to them talking about getting drunk, talking about football, their dating lives since they left their husband (making so many terrible choices for a 36 year old with two children at home), and listening to their dodgy political leanings (conservative). Oh and the MD's brother says sh*t like 'Festival of Lights, you mean festival of shite?" on the regular.

I have the same schedule at work as I do at home because we are expected to take lunch at the same time and to NOT go over our hours. So they are good that way as a company.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

While I do enjoy interacting with people, I very much do not like many of my co-workers because they are... Well..  twats.

So working from is fantastic. I can do my job without having to listen to them talking about getting drunk, talking about football, their dating lives since they left their husband (making so many terrible choices for a 36 year old with two children at home), and listening to their dodgy political leanings (conservative). Oh and the MD's brother says sh*t like 'Festival of Lights, you mean festival of shite?" on the regular.

I have the same schedule at work as I do at home because we are expected to take lunch at the same time and to NOT go over our hours. So they are good that way as a company.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Ugh they DO sound awful. I have to admit i am happy not to hear football chat DAILY and to hear about love island or whatever other reality tv is on at the mo (no offense to those watching it, it's just not for me and that is all people want to talk about TV wise with such intensity)

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Oh @lyonaria this sounds terrible! No wonder you're happier keeping distance. I have lovely colleagues but I am happy maintaining the  friendships (vs professional) via WhatsApp etc. One was so kind as to send me champagne and a treat on my birthday! As for chit chat I can miss that but we have a daily coffee and tea half hour which sustains me otherwise.

If they do push to return before it's safe to do so, I'll be actively looking for another job that is remote. I'm not sacrificing health (mine/others) for the whimsy of some senior manager. I'm waiting for my FLR(m) and will feel more secure actively looking when that's to hand.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Ugh they DO sound awful. I have to admit i am happy not to hear football chat DAILY and to hear about love island or whatever other reality tv is on at the mo (no offense to those watching it, it's just not for me and that is all people want to talk about TV wise with such intensity)

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

That too. We aren't allowed to wear headphones either, so trying to work can be a royal pain. They have to be able to shout at us across the office and get our attention.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

That too. We aren't allowed to wear headphones either, so trying to work can be a royal pain. They have to be able to shout at us across the office and get our attention.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Oh this just gets worse

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk