New WFH Crew - Isn't it Great Not Being Too Exhausted to do Anything at the End of the Day Now?

[CarbonCrush]

Sans being stuck at home, I've noticed my productivity has not slipped and I'm accomplishing all my tasks (some at an even greater pace due to no colleague distractions).

And the best thing is having energy to work out, read, cook and watch entertainment without a fog over my head. It's great.

How have you been finding it?

 

[show me your skeleton]

i'm feeling worse, just complete and utter ennui.

 

[GSR]

Work has been as busy as ever these last few weeks, so while being able to sleep in more and not worry about commute is nice, that coupled with the general malaise of being inside for a month+ means I really don't have any extra energy.

 

[Anonymous Tipster]

Are you kidding? I've been working more hours than when I was in the office. I'm more tired and burned out now than I was a month ago.

That said, it's not solely because of WFH, I'm usually more productive that way, but everything is just taking so much longer now and everyone else has more needs that it's not been a great experience thus far.

 

[Palantiri]

Uh, I now have two children under 4 demanding my attention all day while my wife and I try to manage personal and work responsibilities. Our house seems messier, there seems to be less time and we have been passing out pretty damn early.

 

[pokeystaples]

Do not like. I'm the same level of productive I've always been, but now I don't get the hard break of Home and Work. We've had the ability to telework at my gig for years and I never did because I want to leave work at work and have home be home. Glad you're enjoying it tho!

 

[Midramble]

This situation isn't going to help WFH's reputation. Since everyone is home including kids and everyone has more work due to the large shift in workflow people have a lot more on their plate and they may end up associating that with WFH.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

3 kids under 6 and constantly worried about being laid off.

I feel like shit 24/7.

 

[Necromanti]

I've never felt less productive, which has lead to anxiety and working more hours at strange times. It didn't help that I was in the middle of moving and it took weeks until I got access to faster internet. Everything literally took 3 times as long to do.

 

[Directed by Fulci]

There's a pretty long adjustment period for working from home, and it's just not for some people. Even among those who might get to liking it, most folks probably aren't there yet.

 

[Syder]

i'm feeling worse, just complete and utter ennui.

Click to shrink...

I never thought I'd feel nostalgic for the month of January

Seriously, I'd trade this to go back to normal in a heartbeat.. but I say that as someone that still has to work everyday.

 

[Mendrox]

After the first week of having to set everyone up for work at home...yeah it's great. Save about 2,5 hours every day and can do meaningful tasks at home here and there so I save even more time. Lots of time for learning or consuming entertainment stuff too and doing sports. Love it. Also feels like productivity in the whole company has risen a ton. Everyone gets more stuff done and is way more gentle to eachother.

 

[Metal Slugger]

so instead of sitting in an office chair at work you're sitting in an office chair at home

idk OP I'd be exhausted

 

[Darryl M R]

My overall productivity is at an all time low. I finish my work and I don't feel like doing anything else. Before I would possibly learn a new skill or map out my networking and career strategy.

I still push out high quality work, I just don't feel like doing anything else afterward.

I get 1 hour back from not having to commute and I take random breaks to do workouts.

 

[Malverde]

I'm the same way OP. No more bullshit commute. No more "one more thing" as I'm trying to leave. It is great. I'm actually eating breakfast and lunch and I'm exercising now. And losing weight! I used to be exhausted at the end of every work day and basically just sleep and work until the weekend but now I feel like I am enjoying every day.

I'm enjoying this moment, knowing full well my chances of getting laid off continue to go up every day this continues.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I've been fortunate enough to be able to WFH whenever I like for my entire career (~10 years, now). WFH is hugely beneficial for things like not needing to ask permission to stay home for a delivery or house repair, needing to leave early to pick up a kid, come in late for a doc visit, etc. The option is spectacular.

But every day? Ugh, I hate it. I like to have a hard delineation between "work and personal." This forced WFH is terrible - and trust me, for anyone who wants this all the time - slowly but surely your employer will loosen the work hours more and more and more in their benefit, until you're suddenly getting calls and meetings at 6am and 7pm. I'm fortunate to be able to push back on that pretty well, but unless you like saying "no," it'll happen.

 

[opticalmace]

Once things are back to normal I'm going to ask if I can WFH maybe once or twice a week. It's pretty dang nice.

Honestly I almost feel like I should be working more/harder... despite getting all my shiet done. It almost feels like cheating lol.

 

[Dalek]

I feel more exhausted than ever.

 

[UltraMagnanimous]

I'm working 13 hours days. So no.

 

[badboy78660]

I feel more mentally exhausted from the work from home thing now, more than ever. It's bizarre. As a result, I'm even more tired now.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

WFH should stand for Work Forever Hours.

Before I had a clear start and end to my day, now its non stop. There are some benefits and I would love to have this as an option after we get back for days that I need it but given the choice I would 100% go back into an office environment for daily work.

 

[PAFenix]

The time saved from driving to and from work has added on a couple of hours.

I'm accomplishing the same amount of work. But if a connection to one of our vendors goes down, it's a hassle to get in touch with those I need to try to get it fixed.

Also, if Comcast goes out, I'm fucked.

I really don't know how I feel overall. If a day goes smoothly, I feel great. But if something breaks, it stresses me out more than if I were in the office, I think.

 

[Thorn]

*Laugh Cries in Essential Worker*

 

[wenis]

nah dude, this shit sucks.

 

[Venatio]

I had a 90 minute commute each way. And I miss it!

 

[Redcrayon]

I'm effectively trying to work and look after my four-year-old at the same time. My wife is an NHS employee which means I'm pretty much doing half my day's work after my daughter has gone to bed. We're exhausted and have little time to accomplish anything outside of survival mode, but it could be a lot worse.

 

[CesareNorrez]

In some ways more exhausting. We had a new employee start March 16th. My work started WFH on March 11th. This was an employee taking over many of my responsibilities so I had to train them. It's been grueling at times because I've had to talk far more than usual. It's mostly computer work but not being able to show my keyboard and how I use it makes sessions longer. Thankfully they are mostly flying solo at this point.

It's great having not to commute, but my ~30 minute commute was often a decompression period that made it easy to separate my work and homelife.

Still being in the comfort of my house relaxes me during the work hours and I can escape and mentally reset in a way I can't at the office.

 

[carlsojo]

I'm working harder at home than I was in the office and now I don't have anyone to talk to during the day. So I feel way worse.

 

[kiaaa]

If you were too exhausted to do anything after a normal work day (obviously not 10+ hours), you just needed to try a little harder and you'd get used to doing more.

Problem is that most people just come home and plop down on the couch or chair and let themselves wind down completely. If you try to get your chores/workout or whatever done right after work, you'll find you have more energy in general going forward.

 

[Razgriz417]

worse, working longer hours and its dipping into weekends

 

[ApatheticDolphin]

I think I'm probably getting less done now

 

[Deleted member 2620]

I love saving an hour each day, but I'm still forced to sell 8 hours of my labor for less than its value in order to keep a roof over my head and I have less freedom in the rest of my day so

 

[Random Painted Highway]

No

2 wfh adults with hard jobs
2 kids including an almost 5 year old that requires constant supervision and the other 3rd grader constant prodding to do work.

I have to do work almost every night from 10 to midnight and work 2-4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

The lack of the 2 hr commute and kids activities doesn't make up for the inability to perform substantive tasks during the daytime. I can respond to emails texts phone calls and give orders and instructions to people, but trying to actually make progress on something is nigh impossible.

Quite a few nights i fire up a game between midnight and one am just to blow off some steam. There is no time other than limited switch action.

 

[PersonAndStuff]

But then we don't have anything to do.

 

[cheeseholidays]

I feel disconnected and like I lack the context of anything going on

 

[StarsTurnCold]

Besides the whole pandemic/quarantine thing, I feel amazing. I don't think I can go back to working in an office again after working from home. This should be the standard when feasible.

 

[shnurgleton]

Really hate it. My mental health is plummeting

 

[Septimus Prime]

No. Working while trying to take care of kids is insane and exhausting. Often I'll put the kids to bed and then fall asleep. I didn't even brush my teeth last night.

I look forward to going back to the office when this is over.

 

[t0rment]

fuck no, my back is killing me and it feels like my life is all the same thing all the time.

 

[Tathanen]

I love it, I wake up an hour/hour-and-a-half later every day cause no commute, I can visit with the kid whenever I want, easy to exercise around lunch, and even if I bleed past 5 at the end of the day it's still no worse than if I was on the train for an hour. Can get dinner started earlier too. Wish I could do this forever.

 

[808s & Villainy]

No. Instead of actually leaving home and having a distinct divide between home and work, it's now all blurring together. I wake up and instantly start work. I "leave" work whenever and I'm more prone to working later because I don't have a commute to think about. Plus the fact in person interactions with coworkers are gone is a bummer. Video chat (where everyone's camera is off) and slack aren't the same. Plus I live in a small apt in a city. I don't have an office space or an actual desk/chair. I'm pretty sure I'm slowly fucking up my back and my posture working on the couch. It sucks

 

[BDS]

Yeah, I've had more time to cook nicer dinners instead of just throwing something in the oven. And getting to sleep in is nice.

 

[Astronut325]

I love working from home. The thing that is making it difficult now is kids being home. I have two young kids. Each need some level of attention/supervision to keep them engaged. Else I have to glue them too screens. My younger one can only do screens for a little while. She wants to play and do physical activities with me a lot since she doesn't have school friends to play with.

 

[djplaeskool]

I've billed more hours per week in the past three weeks than I think I have in the past 3 years...
The massive increase in demand (IT) and still having to periodically go on site has been rough, but manageable, I guess.

 

[MikeProtagonist]

I used to like working from home, but now I'm quite over it already. Also, we have much more to do currently. The good thing is that I won't be out of a job anytime soon, but it's a bit stressful to get things done so much faster.

 

[finalflame]

Nah I walk 9 minutes to work, I miss going into the office and having free food, drinks, snacks, amenities, gym, etc.

 

[Kelsdesu]

I feel perfectly fine. I prioritize request that require my immediate attention and work on the "busy- body stuff later in the day." Its quite awesome.

Nah I walk 9 minutes to work, I miss going into the office and having free food, drinks, snacks, amenities, gym, etc.

Click to shrink...

Okay I do miss that, but I just bought a bunch of snacks, so I'm good on that end too.

 

[2PiR]

No, I am saving my commute time, but as a software engineer, my work has increased. And everyone is fucking micromanaging, meetings and status report constantly. And also chasing people over skype/team is not ideal. Its been very shitty few weeks tbh.

 

[Bing147]

I've gained back 7.5 hours a week in travel to/from work time and somehow feel like I have less than ever.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

I tell y'all what I love not having a half-hour commute each way. Thankfully my actual work hasn't really changed much one way or the other.