Working From Home How You Holding up? [Poll]

L[Deactivated] on 14/04/2020 - 15:37
Last edited 14/04/2020 - 15:38 by 1 other user

So I’ve been half working from home and half in the office for a few weeks now and I’m not minding it. When I’m in the office it is pretty dead and when I’m at home I’m working at my own pace though I do feel a mild pressure to stay more on top on things because I don’t want others to think I’m ‘bludging’ at home.

Overall I would say im not minding my new arrangement – my supervisor isn’t around so I don’t have someone constantly dropping random extra work on my lap (though I do get an email to do extra stuff now and then it isn’t anywhere as bad as him breathing down my neck)

How are others finding:

Poll Options

  • 38
    I'm hating it, can't wait to go back
  • 61
    I don’t mind but I’d prefer to go in
  • 24
    I like it
  • 117
    I wish I could work from home always
  • 6
    I've been stood down/sacked because I can't work from home
  • 42
    I already worked from home
Home & Garden

Comments

  • DryScissors on 14/04/2020 - 15:49
    +10

    Hating it. Working harder than ever. Barely getting time for lunch. Very little variety in my day now. Have to keep reminding myself that I’m lucky to still have a job, and work for such a good company.

    • ESEMCE on 14/04/2020 - 16:31
      +7

      Interesting…
      Why are you "working harder than ever"?

      Or are you like me and getting more done and getting lost in work cause you're not getting interrupted every 5 minutes?

      I'm one of the Loving it people, smashing it out, and as a result feeling far less stressed despite getting more done, I'm consciously going outside for a walk in the garden to get a change of scenery.

      • DryScissors on 14/04/2020 - 17:33

        My “job” from home is vastly different to what I was doing in the office. We have new tasks dropped on us constantly. There is so much ambiguity around the 30 slide presentations we’re asked to take our teams though. Still very grateful to have a job though.

  • Taro Milk Tea on 14/04/2020 - 15:53
    +6

    Not great with the noisy neighbour with the kids making loud noises all the time.

    • John Kimble on 14/04/2020 - 15:59
      +16

      Sorry about that…but it's even worse when you're in the same room as said kids.

      • cynicalmike on 14/04/2020 - 17:01
        +5

        it's not a toomah!

    • toristo on 14/04/2020 - 19:25
      +3

      Lord have mercy - I'm ready to pay for a piano tutor for the kid upstairs. We've been learning scales for 2 weeks now…and not improving.

  • thousandreasons on 14/04/2020 - 15:58

    Lack of variety is killing me, but I'm way more productive at home so it has it's positives and negatives…

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 14/04/2020 - 16:05
    +11

    I love it but im putting on a shit load of weight because the snacking on crap has increased 200% and im having like 6-7 coffees a day

    With the gym closed ive got mass lazy - need change my name on ontheflab

    • John Kimble on 14/04/2020 - 16:07
      +2

      Might need to change your username then…oh, beat me to it.

      • Baa on 14/04/2020 - 20:08

        I am lucky to have a setup at home. However due to the same reason I am still bulking big time. Look forward to the 20kg shred that will never come.

  • tallkid123 on 14/04/2020 - 16:18
    +11

    I'm part of a wider AU/NZ team and all my colleagues are going on about the lack of interaction, etc that you get from not going into an office.

    I just dont understand that. I interact only when necessary, get my job done and get out.

    My current wfh situation is now bliss.

    • ESEMCE on 14/04/2020 - 16:32
      +1

      Same…

    • GG57 on 14/04/2020 - 16:35
      +5

      I'm the same; only essential interactions with work 'colleagues', I'm only there to get a job done.
      The worse part of the current situation is the twice-a-day team video calls; barely any work status updates, all just complaining etc.

      • tallkid123 on 14/04/2020 - 19:42

        I have daily team calls (optional).

        I run out of things to say. I actually like my team but they're all Kiwis in NZ and once we're done comparing Covid19 societal measures, we have nothing else to share.

    • sagrules on 15/04/2020 - 10:08

      Probably an Introvert like me :-)

  • Quantumcat on 14/04/2020 - 16:21

    I love it. Easier to concentrate and get stuff done (when the cats aren't walking on my keyboard of course). Miss the interaction with co-workers but we are playing some online games together and can still chat over slack, and have a daily morning video call stand-up meeting.

  • jste9088 on 14/04/2020 - 16:28
    +2

    I like it for about 2 or 3 days of the week. Then I miss human interaction. I find focus is easy, snacking is worse, lunch is better.

    • ESEMCE on 14/04/2020 - 16:33
      +2

      I've found that I'm eating less cause I'm staying more focussed.
      At work I'm pretty much snacking all day, at home there's been days where I haven't even eaten lunch and there has been zero snacking!

      • jste9088 on 14/04/2020 - 16:48

        See that's dedication good work! There is not heaps to snack on in the office (besides Mentos)
        I ended up putting a note in the fridge and pantry "You are bored not hungry, drink a glass of water." I kinda ignore it in the fridge but so far I have ignored the pantry.

  • Ghost47 on 14/04/2020 - 16:34
    +3

    At first I found it difficult to focus considering I could just read about coronavirus or browse OzBargain without anyone seeing.

    Now I'm very busy doing all the work I should have done instead of reading about coronavirus or browsing OzBargain.

  • sien on 14/04/2020 - 16:36
    +1

    Currently on the second pic:

    https://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

  • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2020 - 16:40

    Have been doing it for 27 years, nothings changed.

  • Clear on 14/04/2020 - 16:44

    I get to leave home for some onsite work tomorrow. So exciting after spending a week inside!

  • [Deactivated] on 14/04/2020 - 16:53
    +1

    Bored out of my (profanity) mind, turns out I do work really efficiently from home and having nothing to do by lunchtime so just get stuck playing Escape from Tarkov for MONEYYYYYYYYY.
    Definitely looking at a career change after this though, the whole isolation has given me time to think and discover real interests.

  • brendanm on 14/04/2020 - 17:09

    No option for still going to work?

    • DryScissors on 14/04/2020 - 17:38
      +3

      It’s a “work from home” poll. Feeling left out? Lol

      • brendanm on 14/04/2020 - 18:36

        I am :( I'd love to work from home. I think.

  • kerfuffle on 14/04/2020 - 17:21
    +1

    I like working from home (less interruptions, no commute, cleaner toilet, can actually nap for lunch if I wanted), however I do miss interacting with my colleagues in person like having random conversations when there’s a lull in work, and the shops and restaurants nearby and in the city (I work in inner-city Sydney and would often go to the city before or after work)

    • SBOB on 14/04/2020 - 19:20
      +1

      I read your post too quickly and was sure that said 'fap for lunch' :/

  • tsunamisurfer on 14/04/2020 - 18:27
    +2

    First of all I am forever grateful to have a job at this time.

    I enjoy WFH to be honest, I can :

    • Wake up at 7:55 and log in for work by 8am.
    • Get up and make whatever meal and snack I want (time allowing).
    • Can do laundry, set and forget.
    • No need for any clothes, I mean smart business attire.

    But I miss commuting by bike so I have to ride at night.

    I find Webex meetings have some uncomfortable pauses as people don't have the physical queues, but that is a small matter.

    Going forward I would love to WFH twice a week.

  • Marty-69 on 14/04/2020 - 18:58
    +1

    Working from home for a long time, nothing is changed except the neighbours are a lot noisier and suddenly my company "cares" about wfh staff. My manager told me "he has to show interest in my wellbeing", so I told him not to. I'm used to wfh, being alone and doing my own thing and I like it.

    My colleagues struggle as they have no dedicated office, no decent hardware, no real setup, family/kids at home etc. Conference calls are now very funny as I deal with people who never ever used it, so I see ceilings on the webcam and hear fighting family in the background. Meanwhile, I'm playing with Snap Cam on MS Teaming.

  • burningrage on 14/04/2020 - 19:25

    I am hating it and can't wait to go back because of the loss of collaborative aspect of the working on premise as well as taking much longer to do the things that I could have done on premise in minutes.

    Having said that, I managed so far because they haven't taken away my freedom to get Bubble Teas as yet :-P

  • toniyellow on 14/04/2020 - 20:03

    I love it for tasks I am fully in control of. It is clear my boss is an extrovert who is melting down and becoming a real control freak in an attempt to replicate the office online. He used to be able to float around the office and see everyone but touch base with us on our larger projects 1 on 1. Now he drags everyone into a video conference basically to overhear what should be everyone's 1 on 1s, and it is a lot of energy just to soothe his ego and look mildly engaged during endless time wasting video calls. His boss is unfortunately cut from the same cloth and probably encouraging his behaviour.

    I would like to work from home more in the future but would need to change companies and it is not going to be a good climate for job hunting for a while.

  • popsiee on 14/04/2020 - 20:07

    I hope with reports of 90% less cars on the road during Easter that everyone ( especially those stuck at home ) scraps their car insurance if you understand anything about risk/reward !

    • roastchook on 14/04/2020 - 20:17

      Risk/ crash tomorrow. Reward/ extremely short term.

    • SBOB on 14/04/2020 - 20:25

      Most still need to drive for essentials (groceries, medical, Bunnings etc :) )

      We don't need a rush of 'didnt have insurance as I cancelled it due to covid19' posts :)

  • ms_caz on 14/04/2020 - 20:46
    +1

    First official WFH today as school has returned in Victoria. A staff curriculum day saw us trying to use Microsoft teams for a meeting of 150 people… that was a joke and a half. Basically spent most of an 8 Hour day having ppl read out ppt presentations of documents that had previously been e-mailed out to us - so a bit of a waste of time, but good nevertheless to touch base with people we haven't spoken to for a few weeks (and to catch up on a few big admin changes in leadership as well).

    Tomorrow we embark on the previously unchartered waters of remote learning - bets currently being taken on how many (high school) students will actually "turn up".

  • Donaldhump on 14/04/2020 - 21:32
    +3

    Keep forgetting to have a shower.
    Love not ironing.

  • Gandalf the Thrifty on 14/04/2020 - 22:13
    +2

    Based on experience so far, maybe I'll write a udemy course on MS Teams multitasking/multichat.

  • serpserpserp on 14/04/2020 - 22:38
    +1

    I feel for all the Victorians that are about to have to home school their kids while trying to hold down a full time job in a less than ideal living and working environment.

  • brad1-8tsi on 14/04/2020 - 23:45

    I enjoy not being at the office but 8-9 hours a day on the laptop is killing me mentally.

    I'm not allowed on our work sites (only a rule for Sydney based "office" staff, the regional guys have free access) and am expected to get information from the trades staff… which is odd because I was given this job because the trade staff didn't have the ability to measure, design, plan, organise, quote and they are proving that they still don't.

    Came close to losing the plot last Thursday. Luckily had Friday to get my head into a good space again.

  • Thor Bargain God on 14/04/2020 - 23:58

    I was spending up to 4 hours on the road to get to and from work with the Victorian tunnel/ freeway roadworks driving a lot of people like myself to breaking point (i.e. averaging 10km/h). I was gradually finding it faster to drive around the perimeter of Melbourne than drive though it over the last year. I mean, they were realistically needing to install rest stops by the side of the freeway in the end because 2 hours stuck in your car is a long time in most peoples' book. I was unhappy and constantly dreaming of a career change that would allow me to work from home, then this happened. WFH was always an option but my boss said he didn't like it because he "likes to eyeball people" - can you tell he's in his 60's? I know he's partially referring to the colleagues I gather information from, but also I think he's talking about the people like me who work for him too. I like to chat with people in the office and build rapport, however this has been a bit of a godsend. I can now plan things like exercise, cooking and entertainment. I have much larger screens on my faster PC at home and I'm more productive. I overlook a beautiful park from my office and couldn't be happier. I sometimes run news or documentaries on my second screen and while I don't really watch, it keeps me engaged and happy to be sitting there for 8 hours or so without talking to another human being and being distracted. No more suits and ties. I was on such a roll today, I was actually thinking about putting in 12 hours or so and then maybe taking a day off on Friday. I actually look forward to tomorrows now, and all that this entails. It seems so perfect, however the only thing that concerns me (other than this ending at some point) is that you normally have to jump through a lot of social hoops to gain career advancement, and particularly if you have any prospect of becoming an Executive or CEO. I just wonder if doing great work in isolation provides any guarantee of career growth. I actually hope things don't go back to the way they were and we adapt better social and management techniques to better accommodate WFH, however I think it could be difficult because there will inevitably be some people who don't work much without supervision - I'd hate to be managing someone who I knew was taking the piss. I guess Australia will probably follow practices that evolve in the US, UK and other similar major economies. Sorry about nearly writing a book on a forum, but thought this might strike a cord with others out there. I view this matter as being quite serious and more important than most things I can personally think of. I might try to make it a condition of my employment with my current or future employer that I must be allowed to work from home for at least a decent amount of time each week. Is anyone else out there going to demand WFH when COVID19 is in the rear view mirror?

  • giftcardinspector on 15/04/2020 - 07:25

    absolutely loving it.
    I changed jobs in Feb from on the tools FIFO to an office job in the city, now WFH.
    Never been happier

  • HeWhoKnows on 15/04/2020 - 08:41

    Other than when I walk up the road for groceries Im not holding up.

    So Im mostly sitting down writing OB comments or watching TV

  • trankillity on 15/04/2020 - 08:41

    It's not bad here. Requires a lot more micro-management of my team, and constant Teams meetings break up the day a fair bit. Definitely feeling more productive, but really missing the separation of work from home.

  • Rockets84 on 15/04/2020 - 10:35

    Worked from home for the last 3 years. So been no change for me apart from the kids being home schooled for the last couple of weeks of the term. Wife is a stay at home mum but was a teacher before that so she's on top of the kids and dealing with them. My boss is in North America so we try to have a video call once every couple of weeks but otherwise we communicate via email or IM mostly. He just sends me stuff he wants me to work on and I get it done. I don't miss commuting or being dragged in multiple meetings a day like I was in the office. The only thing I miss is being able to talk to people in my team to bounce ideas off etc but they all got laid off when the office closed 3 years ago. The other problem I find is that because you are WFH you get forgotten about and don't get told things that sometimes are important. For the most part though I enjoy it.

  • RogerSyd on 15/04/2020 - 11:00
    +1

    We have to take turns to look after the kid. was thinking that I will get more time to focus and learn extra skills, it's not happening. I spend a lot of time reading the news though which maybe I should cut down.

  • Trekky on 15/04/2020 - 17:06

    I'm hating it. I've been at the same company for 30 years, so I know a lot of people. I'm really missing the interaction. I've been sticking to my 'work' routine as much as I can and it seems to be working well. Our team has an online meeting every 2nd day.

    BUT I am walking less. I would walk from the station to work - about 30 minutes in the morning. So now I am walking at lunch time to make up for it. I would sit at my desk to eat before, so just have a quick lunch now. And of course I get to 'sleep in' - going to work, I get up at 4.30am but now I'm getting up at 6am (I start work at 6.45am)

  • typistinahurry on 16/04/2020 - 11:03

    I work from home anyway, which I really enjoy. The only down side so far has been having the kids at home and the constant interruptions/additional mess that having them home 24/7 seems to bring with it, like never-ending school holidays. Also a bit of frustration that I'd like more time to do things with them, help with their school stuff, do other activities such as baking, gardening, arts and crafts and hang out more with them in general (as I would normally do by adjusting my routine/taking on less work during school holidays) but I'm still quite busy with work most days for at least 8 hours a day. By the time dinner is done, had a shower, etc, I'm done and just want to sit on the couch and watch some TV or something before bed. I' not complaining about the work though - I'm very thankful to still have some when others have none at all and my hubs starts a new job next week outside the home after years of me being the only one working so I'm really hoping that it will take some of the financial pressure off so I can drop my work back by a couple of hours each day to spend more time with the kids. I think my husband is REALLY looking forward to starting work as he's been a stay at home dad for a while now lol No doubt adult conversation and "meaningful work" will feel like a holiday to him :) (We both have ADHD and all of our kids do too so our house is pretty nuts most days, even at the best of times, if you get what I mean lol).

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