Working From Home

[Colin YNWA]

I have also started a mini-commute every day, in the morning I take a quick walk around the block & do likewise at the end of the day. I think this is very important, especially at the end of the day if your workspace & living space are the same. It gives you that time to get out of work mode.

I also use the 'chunking' method in my electronic work calendar. Which basically means assigning time to all your work tasks & sticking to that.

There's some really good things coming up on this thread - why didn't we start it in April!

Anyway I found I was always working into the time I would normally have done my evening run (a habit 2 or 3 times a week from running home from work). So Fom about July I was doing less excerise. For the past month I've been going for a short (2-3 miles) run but every morning at the time I would have been getting the bus to work and that's working a threat. It means I'm getting my excerise in before I can be deflected from it and a little less guilt!

Mind those buggers who say excerise energises you can sod off!

I also do the chunking thing but never given it a name. I put 'false meetings' into my calendar as I found, even before lockdown I was constantly in meetings and having no time to action things from those meeting. I'm flexible with it and attend meetings that are priority of course, but shuffle these blocks of time around to make sure I get things done.

[Barrington Boots]

If people are finding concentration an issue, I recommend Bear Focus Timer: https://www.bearfocustimer.com

This is really great!

My job is reactive and luckily works on the principle that if I do all my work then it doesn't matter if I spend the rest of my time mucking about, but I've introduced it to my wife and she's already really into it.

[Jim_Campbell]

If people are finding concentration an issue, I recommend Bear Focus Timer: https://www.bearfocustimer.com

Definitely this. I've used a timer for years... BeFocussedPro, I think, but it doesn't really matter which one. I have it set to give me a five minute break out of every thirty to go for a pee or make a cup of tea (or piss about on social media), and a thirty-minute break after four hours. It's incredibly useful.

[sintec]

I'd already arranged to start working from home prior to Covid as we needed to relocate for my partners job. I concur with others that a good desk and chair are essential (I already had this set up for personaly hobby purposes so it was just a small change of use). Becuase I'd been planning this I also had a small office space set aside in our new house and that's been critical to try and enfoce some sort of work-life separation.

Not commuting anymore is a fantastic relief.  I've spent far too much of the last 10 years sat on public transport or stuck in traffic jams. At it's worst I think I was spending ~3 hours a day travelling which was crippling. Getting that time back has been incredible, I have evenings again.

On the less positive side I'd also found myself not really taking proper breaks. There have been a couple of evenings where my partner has had to drag me away from my desk because I was working far too late. Lunches had started to feel a bit rushed too so this week I started watching One Punch Man as a way of forcing myself to actually stay away from my desk for at least 30 minutes. Regularly dog walks have also been good for enforcing some amount of routine.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I teach from home these days.  I don't miss the early mornings or the commute, but I do miss chatting to students and colleagues who aren't just squares on a screen.  I'm getting more and more students who I haven't even met.

My boss is trying to organise the school so that we'll alternate between a week online and a week in the classroom.  Which would be absolutely perfect for me - I'm picturing the occasional week in an Airb&B log cabin or even a Greek island.  But sadly the rising Covid numbers are putting paid to any hopes of anything opening soon.

[Dandontdare]

Also, a PSA: if you are working from home, get yourself a good chair. Do not spend months at the dining table, unless you later want to spend months having the NHS attempt to repair your totally fucked back.

^ This - I work in private medical insurance and we're getting shedloads of calls at the moment from people with back and joint pain caused by switching from their wonderful ergonomic office furniture to working from a stool at the kitchen table.

As my broadband speed is awful and I don't have a private office space and no room to put a desk and chair in the bedroom, I was deemed unsuitable for WFH. This meant I had a nice long holiday, after which they sent me  a laptop said I'd have to do some admin or something to justify paying me - I really hated WFH as I need to have my work-head on (was the same at uni - could only study in the library, too much temptation to skive at home) and I was trying to stretch an hour or two's work out to fill a full shift as I had to be logged on all the time. I was lucky to be able to afford to take some unpaid leave, so I requested this - effectively, I ended up with a 4 month holiday, mostly paid, partly unpaid, with a few days WFH in the middle. I know many many people have suffered, but lockdown in all honesty has been bloody fantastic for me!

Been back in the office (and on the trams) since 13 July - temperature sensor camera on the door, masks unless seated at your desk, sanitiser stations everywhere, and a one way system around the office, with one lift/stair for up and one for down. All communal areas and kitchens have been sealed off so we're given a snack bag each morning (bottle of water, cereal bar, piece of fruit) and, best of all, we have old-fashioned  tea ladies coming round with a trolley instead of making our own brews!

The best aspect of the WFH situation is that people have been demanding this for years, but employers always said it simply wasn't possible -- we have now proved that it is. Rental prices in London commuter-heavy areas are dropping for the first time in decades as people look for cheaper flats further out. There will definitely be some long-term changes in the way people work in office-based jobs

[JayzusB.Christ]

Maybe I'm being idealistic, but there is the potential for some very positive changes; possibly even a revolution in working and living practices.  More people living where they want to live, rather than where they have to.  Less traffic.  Less urban sprawl.  More buildings used for housing, and fewer for office space.  Companies could even make more money - buying laptops for their staff is definitely cheaper than renting huge city-centre properties.

I know life is rarely that simple, but you never know.

[Dandontdare]

Maybe I'm being idealistic, but there is the potential for some very positive changes; possibly even a revolution in working and living practices.  More people living where they want to live, rather than where they have to.  Less traffic.  Less urban sprawl.  More buildings used for housing, and fewer for office space.  Companies could even make more money - buying laptops for their staff is definitely cheaper than renting huge city-centre properties.

I know life is rarely that simple, but you never know.

Totally agree - lockdown has proved that there are many ways to work flexibly, and lots of positive ways we can rethink offices, commuting and housing - but as with everything, the suits will find some way to screw us over and take any benefits for themselves (I know I risk of sounding like a Pat Mills/Legendary Shark hybrid, but when you learn that American billionaires have increased their wealth by a third during the pandemic as millions lost their jobs, and countless other examples, it becomes clear that the ONLY priority for the rich and powerful is wealth and power - keeping what you've got and seeking more)

[The Legendary Shark]

...a Pat Mills/Legendary Shark hybrid...

Great. Now how am I supposed to sleep tonight?

[Dandontdare]

...a Pat Mills/Legendary Shark hybrid...

Great. Now how am I supposed to sleep tonight?

as well as THEY want you to and no more

[IndigoPrime]

the suits will find some way to screw us over and take any benefits for themselves

The way this could happen is in the sale of offices and infrastructure and in then NOT assisting people who work from home regarding expenses. We therefore need legislation to mandate companies provide safe workspaces for people at home, and relevant expenses for e.g. internet/phone connectivity. "Here's a laptop" is not sufficient. "Here's a laptop, screen, keyboard and mouse and £500 for a chair and desk, and please expense 50% of your internet connectivity costs and 25% of your power bill" would be a better starting point.

[The Legendary Shark]

Unionise! We need the Multinational Executive of Outsourced Workers, or MEOW for short. Together, we can pool our resources as a group in the intimate struggle to keep away from each other and stay at home.


I'll be the treasurer...

[judgeurko]

Maybe I'm being idealistic, but there is the potential for some very positive changes; possibly even a revolution in working and living practices.  More people living where they want to live, rather than where they have to.  Less traffic.  Less urban sprawl.  More buildings used for housing, and fewer for office space.  Companies could even make more money - buying laptops for their staff is definitely cheaper than renting huge city-centre properties.

I know life is rarely that simple, but you never know.

Yes I hope so to. The pandemic has been horrible for many people but at such a time there is an acceleration of somewhat more radical ideas. Flexible working shouldn't be a radical idea but the elite who own a lot of offices & have a vested interest in us going back to the office don't want to give us that are fortunate to be able to work from home that opportunity. However I do feel we need a balance, working from home should not become the default as human interaction is necessary & often long periods of home working mean personal stress issues are not picked up on by co-workers or bosses.

[Tiplodocus]

Our work managed to shift 30000 people to home working in the space of a couple of months. I had previously WFH two days a week but am now full time WFH  and don't see myself getting back to an office before April.

And not my old Glasgow office either... that is liable to shut so I will probably end up WFH full time with a trip to Edinburgh or Greenock once or twice a month.

Mrs Tips now also WFH full time. She is hoping NEVER to have to go back to work in an office. She loves it. We are lucky enough to be rattling about a big house now the kids are growed up so have an office each.

Our work also provided WFH bundles; desks and chairs but most importantly for me 24 inch monitors, keyboard, mouse and thin clients.  I was previously using a laptop and using proper keyboard and monitor is game changing.

We also do the "walk to work"- about thirty minutes but have found ourselves working on later than we usually would because we don't need to log off and get a train home. So we set some hard alarms to make sure we finish work at our allotted times.

[IndigoPrime]

I was previously using a laptop and using proper keyboard and monitor is game changing

This. If you're a freelancer only using a laptop, INVEST IN A PROPER SET-UP. If you're WFH, hassle your employer about the same. Your eyeliner should be within the top third of the display when you're sitting up straight. Laptops are an ergonomic shitshow in the long term.

So we set some hard alarms to make sure we finish work at our allotted times.

Also a very good piece of advice. It's too easy to forget that your time is yours. If you'd have been on the train home, that time was 'stolen' from you; there is no need to then give that back to your company, because you've been trained to think commuting time = work time. Commuting time was always your time, but a necessary evil to get to work.