Working from home. Is this a desirable lifestyle?

it would not be for me. The joy of my job is that I always worked as part of a team- team work and exchanges of ideas, mutual support, have been one of the best aspects of my professional life.

I see that Met Police workers are striking because they have been told to work from their offices for much more of the time.

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People often spend money on things they don't 'need'. Are you really surprised by this?

Why would you ‘spend money on coffees’? clearly you don’t need to do this. It’s hardly a work-related expense!

a condition called WFH Bladder which is incontinence that can be caused because you can visit your own loo anytime you like, so the pelvic floor muscles that you usually use when you are working outside to hold in the pee until breaktime get weak

Failing to go to the loo when you need to is extremely bad for your bladder and bowels. I always took loo breaks when I needed them - even in a call center. Sometimes I had to push back against a manager who wanted me to take a call. I said "not unless you want me to pee on th floor".

As you get older and (sometimes) have to go more often WFH is one of the good things. You know there is a loo within a few steps. That doesnt mean I jump up mid sentence because I feel the urge to go.

I became very lonely when I had to work from home during the lockdowns, but now I have a hybrid working pattern, it's the best of both worlds. Sometime being at home without distractions means I can concentrate better, and then there's that feeling at 4.00 on a Friday, the week is done without a drive home.

I love WFH - online teaching. However, be aware of a condition called WFH Bladder which is incontinence that can be caused because you can visit your own loo anytime you like, so the pelvic floor muscles that you usually use when you are working outside to hold in the pee until breaktime get weak. Google it to find out more info.

There was a thread on WFH on Mumsnet recently. I'd say about 70% of the posters said they felt lonely, isolated and missed bouncing ideas off colleagues as well as office banter. I guess you can do this through teams meetings but I would imagine a lot of subtle nuances and body language are lost. I presume your manager is also part of these digital meetings so you have to be guarded to a certain extent.

One poster reported that a Christmas "do" had been arranged by her company but it was cringeworthy because nobody had the connection you'd have if you saw colleagues every day in person.

I used to enjoy going into the office but I worked for rather quirky, small organisations and the resulting social life was great.

I work for the NHS and a Senior Therapy Assistant with a Community Rehab Team.
I work from home.
I only go into the office when I really have to, team meetings, photocopying, supervision etc.
I really don’t like the office politics, banter etc.
Much prefer being on my own and just getting my work done.

I just work 2 days now...one day in office and visits....one day wfh .....suits me well

From Spanish Lockdown, Covid, 13 / 03 / 2020, until the end of the year, yes the whole labour force was working remote except for engineers, sanitation employees, bus and train drivers, amongst other professions that it was required to work such as doctors and nurses and other medical staff.

There are positives however, the main negative is, it can be alienating for those who work in teams and go for lunch together and have meetings face to face etcetra.

I have a digital graphic magazine, so I do work remote on the magazine. However, I do team up with my Graphic Design Team 3x a week plus I also freelance for a few magazines, we do get together .. I also attend alot of Trade Fairs and thus, what I enjoy the most is the people contact face to face.

Some people say that in WFH there is no real separation between work and family life, because they can be answering calls inthe evening and so on. Another factor is interruptions by family members, neighbours and unexpected visitors who know that one will be at home. You have to be prepared to not open the door in order to knock that smartly on the head. If you worked on site these people would not be able to "pop in" and interrupt you.

I am quite good at "not hearing" the door when I dont want to be interrupted.

I think I would need an office in the garden or something, or I'd never have the willpower to get any work done.

I've worked from home and on call 24/7 in ministry for 33 years Its important to have a dedicated work space and to keep track of hours worked ( actually so you dont overdo the working)

SunnySusie

How things change in the world of work. In 2006 I requested to work from home - normal office job - everything could be done from a home office and I was the only employee. My request was turned down. I put the request in again a year later when there was a new head honcho - request denied again. I had a bunion operation the next year and worked from home for six weeks during my recovery. It was incredibly efficient. Requested again to WFH - denied again.

Were you given a reason?

How things change in the world of work. In 2006 I requested to work from home - normal office job - everything could be done from a home office and I was the only employee. My request was turned down. I put the request in again a year later when there was a new head honcho - request denied again. I had a bunion operation the next year and worked from home for six weeks during my recovery. It was incredibly efficient. Requested again to WFH - denied again.

grandtanteJE65

I worked from home, long before it became "a thing".

You need strong self-dicipline, not to allow yourself to be distracted by laundry, shopping, phone calls etc. or simply by saying "I can work later, and do such-and-such now". But it can be done to make a timetable and stick to it.

It is FAR harder to get the rest of the world to accept that just because you are at home, this does not mean that you have time to run errands for your dear mum, or whoever, drink coffee with friends on maternity leave etc. pick up children from school, even although this is someone else's day, or take the cat to the vet.

Nor does it mean you have more time to shop for the evening meal, make it and ensure that the entire family will have clean underpants tomorrow morning!

Another drawback is the lack of a colleague to discuss the work in progress with, and unless you have a strong network of friends, working at home (freelancing) can be very lonely.

Good post!

I also WFH before it became 'popular' and, in some instances, even possible.

For those of us who are night-owls and whose work is largely 'solitary' - in that other people's input is seldom required (though that could be facilitated via email) and aren't required to interact with the public - it can be ideal.

I do not function well in the morning so did, in fact, work late into the evening when my thought processes were clear. Sitting by an open window in Spring and Summer looking out over a garden with no noise, no neighbours within view, gave me a clarity of mind that I most definitely did not have in the morning-office after a hectic journey, and I was able to work like a demon.

This was in Norway. In the summer - the sun barely set on the horizon - so it was light all day and all night... quite ideal for working as sleep is difficult unless you have very heavy curtains to keep out the light.

My next door neighbours son works entirely from home, and he saves £600 a month in fares!

I've never worked from home but would have loved to do it when my children were school-aged. My daughter and DiL both work from home some days now, but they're both pretty conscientious and do put in the hours. They spend two hours a day commuting on the days they go in, so that saving in time is worthwhile.
If I give the children breakfast and take them to school, my daughter can log on at 7.am and, with a short break for lunch, can have done an 8 hour day before the children finish.
However I made good friends at work and agree that working from home could be very isolating, particularly if you are a single parent as my daughter is.
It's also more problematic in the school holidays as holiday clubs are expensive and often have shorter hours than a normal school day.

I qualified as an Accountant just before the birth of my first child and didn't want to continue working. However, despite the joy of my baby, I was soon a tad bored and needed the money, so I got various pt-jobs either lecturing or doing people's accounts. The latter meant a lot of home-working but obviously had the flexibility of being able to bring up my daughter, who was soon followed by her sister.

My mum never accepted that there was such a term as "working from home" unless it meant cleaning or cooking.

This regime continued for about 12 years till I went back into full-time work as a lecturer. Although this technically meant "full-time at work" my boss was also the parent of young children and it was okay for us to WFH one day a week plus come in later if we had no teaching. I also taught two evenings a week so time off in lieu was okay too. That job was in the 1990s and the balance was great. The folks I worked with were a fantastic bunch and we had some great social events that I wouldn't have missed for the world.

Of course I did a lot of prep and marking at home, often on my "day off" or at weekends.

I had to move to University to get a promotion, 45 miles from home by car. The workplace was never as good as my previous college with many people barely seen when not in the classroom. There was no social life cos many others lived miles away as well. The travel was tedious so I bought a 50% share in a housing association flat near the Uni and often went back there when not teaching, to do prep and marking. Unfortunately my main teaching subject was Taxation so (unlike ancient history!) it meant annual updating of all my materials. I reckon I averaged 70 hours a week during termtime and a good 30 minimum in other weeks. But I crept to the top of the payscale and my pension on retirement was a final salary one so that (long term) benefit was fantastic. Not the same for today's lecturers.

I also made a good chunk of profit on the sale of my flat!

My elder DD has WFH since Covid, as have many of her colleagues. There are now so few of them in the office that no-one has their own desk. Unfortunately for her she has major physical health problems that previously were solved for her by having a specially-adapted workspace but that has disappeared.

She works extremely hard (as others have mentioned, she also works with colleagues world-wide) and has been commended on this many times, resulting in a good annual bonus.

My younger DD also WFH at least 3 days a week, often 4, as do most of her colleagues.

If I were still a worker I would not want to waste time commuting and would resent being in the office when I can work more productively at home.

I worked from home, long before it became "a thing".

You need strong self-dicipline, not to allow yourself to be distracted by laundry, shopping, phone calls etc. or simply by saying "I can work later, and do such-and-such now". But it can be done to make a timetable and stick to it.

It is FAR harder to get the rest of the world to accept that just because you are at home, this does not mean that you have time to run errands for your dear mum, or whoever, drink coffee with friends on maternity leave etc. pick up children from school, even although this is someone else's day, or take the cat to the vet.

Nor does it mean you have more time to shop for the evening meal, make it and ensure that the entire family will have clean underpants tomorrow morning!

Another drawback is the lack of a colleague to discuss the work in progress with, and unless you have a strong network of friends, working at home (freelancing) can be very lonely.

As a hygienist I can’t wfh but both my AC wfh during the pandemic. My DD wfh 2 days a week and is in the office 3 days . She likes working that way as she can fit in appointments in her lunch hour or before work .
My DS is in the office f/t and prefers it . When he was wfh he had to share the kitchen table with his flatmate or work in his bedroom , which wasn’t ideal.
He works in media and likes the opportunity to bounce ideas around . Plus the social side and networking.

Buttonjugs

I have worked from home for several years running my own business and I could never work in any kind of out of home workplace again. I used to have to hold farts in and wouldn’t go to the loo at work so had a painful stomach by the time I got home. Also… other people. Not for me.

I would miss the social interaction with others and support, I’ve dealt with company employees working from home and it’s been a total disaster trying to get certain things sorted because they are not in the office. So on that note I think get back to working back in office.