Working from home opinions

TELLIT01

Van_Girl said:

I'm sure employers might have a different opinion, but I've never much been interested in what they think 

Good luck with that attitude if you ever have to take an office based job.

MovingForwards

As for 'doing other things' during work time, yes I'll nip to the loo, grab a drink etc as I'd do that in the office. I do answer the door if there's a delivery (rare).

If it comes to getting tea prepared, doing housework etc, the only way that happens is if I split my lunch break to free up my unpaid time. 

My colleagues freely admit to doing domestic stuff in work's time and I've been told by my manager I can do it, but it doesn't feel right.

My OH uses his lunch / tea breaks for doing the washing, hanging it, going to the shops etc, but also wouldn't do it during paid work time. 

DullGreyGuy

Most of your "other things" are things you'd also do if you were in the office no? Certainly most people are allowed to go to the loo during their shift.

I have to say that personally I dont like working from home but both in the office and at home I have adopted a bit more relaxed pace of work over longer hours and whilst it technically eats up more of my days I get less stressed and can meet a friend for lunch etc (previously lunch was a sandwich eaten at my desk/in a meeting). 

tightauldgit

TELLIT01 said:

Although I accept that working from home during Covid was unavoidable, I don't like it in general.  Some people are disciplined enough to compartmentalise the day so work time is work time, and nothing else.  Answering the door is one thing, as breaks should be taken, but going to the shops???

On the subject of overly long phone conversations, simply say you need to get on assuming the reason for initial call has been handled.

As long as it doesn't impact your work what does it matter if you go to the shops?

Most of my working day when I was forced to be in the office was wasted anyway - unless you have a job where you need to be available immediately then where or when you do your work really shouldn't matter. People should be rewarded for their output, not their input. 

74jax

My husband works from home and the door is shut to his office and doesn't open unless he's on a break or lunch. 
He doesn't take the Asda delivery or answer the door etc if he's at work.
I guess it just depends on the job, how many meetings you have and requests on your time (if you need to be at your desk etc). 

OrbitHeadache

In the Civil service we are supposed to take our eyes off the screen for 5 minutes every hour, that does not include going to the toilet etc.

If you are using your computer all day you need to take a break per hour which you could squeeze in house chores 

Potbellypig

I don't think the time you 'waste' at home is so different to the time you used to 'waste' at work. Travelling, many different conversations you had with people that you just wouldn't do from home, going to the canteen/getting food/drinks, pointless meetings that people just used to put in because you were in the office together, etc etc. Now people 'waste' their time in between doing actual work by doing short burts of housework, taking showers, going to the shops etc etc. Although I guess there's a bit of it depends on what sort of work you're doing from home, as I know some jobs have set times you've got to be taking calls, but if you're in a job which has the general attitude of 'as long as the work gets done', then it's a win-win for everyone.

Nebulous2

My employer allowed home-working before Covid, paid an allowance for utilities and installed a phoneline in your house. They also checked working space was reasonable and insisted on somewhere secure to store documents. I chose to be office-based instead as I liked a separation between work and private life. Cycling to and from work each day allowed me to change roles/hats en-route. 

Covid disrupted all that and it worked better than I expected it to. I would have the dog in beside me for part of the time, would make a cup of tea as and when, though to be honest that happened in the office as well. I'd have lunch with my wife, around meetings, would occasionally log off for half an hour and go for a walk if I had been dealing with a stressful situation. 

It very much worked the other way as well though. There was bleedthrough into my private time. I tended to go to my desk at the time I would normally have left for work, and left it around the time I would normally have arrived home, so the company gained most of my commuting time. I'd also check emails outside normal hours and would occasionally log on for half-an-hour in the evening or at weekends to finish something, which I would have been much less likely to do when office-based. 

I was lucky I had a spare room I could set up as an office. I had colleagues working in corners / cupboards / lofts / kitchens etc. Some were also juggling home-schooling due to lockdown, sometimes with a partner also working from home. So my experience was much better than that of a lot of other people. 

JReacher1

Without the distractions of being in the office I can do my normal 8 hour day worth of work in about 5 hours. The main tip I have is to put the teams app on your phone as you can answer queries if you’re not at your desk. Creates the illusion of you being sat there working. 

Van_Girl

TELLIT01 said:

Van_Girl said:

I'm sure employers might have a different opinion, but I've never much been interested in what they think 

Good luck with that attitude if you ever have to take an office based job.

I'm a highly qualified specialist, so I have no worries in that regard

The point is, I work in the best way that suits me, and I think there's a lot to be said for more flexibility

The problems come when you don't produce the work that is required of you during your work day / week, regardless of how it's structured