I’ve worked from home a few years now, and whilst the upsides are well known I’ve personally found some challenges there too. Have you experienced anything similar? How did you deal with it?
My tale:
When the UK went into lockdown (along with everyone else) in early 2020 I started working from home full-time. For the first year I was with the same team I’d worked with for years whilst in the office, so nothing really changed except my location.
I switched jobs mid-2021 and the new team was much smaller. I work as a software developer, and this team was a grand total of three people including myself. We didn’t have many meetings, only one a week, and except for being assigned new work I never interacted with anyone. It took a big toll on my mental health and I quit after three months.
I took an extended break from software development and started working on a plant nursery, driving tractors and tending plants - it was so much fun, but paid very little and ate into my savings a lot.
Went back to software development last year and thankfully manage things much better. I’m not a very social person, so it was surprising how important socialisation was to my mental wellbeing. I’m now part of quite a large team that speaks regularly, and when I next change jobs I know that this is something I need to look for.
I also have a garden now, so when the call of the wild hits me I go outside and sniff my tomato plants. I do miss driving tractors though.
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I’ve been working from home for about ten years, so when COVID happened, it was no real change for me.
Generally, I love it, but I’ve always worked on and with geographically separate teams, so even when I have an office nearby, I’d only be going to it to be on Zoom/Teams meetings anyway.
Financially, it’s great! It’s wonderful not having a commute, saves a ton on gas, vehicle wear and tear, and the habit of spending money on lunch. I also don’t have to maintain and upkeep as many “professional” sets of clothing.
It’s also great for keeping up with house chores, when I take a break to stretch, I can throw in some laundry or fill up the dish washer.
Downsides- work life balance. Work is always there. My work set up is right next to my personal PC set up and when an email comes in after hours, it can be tough to not address right there.
I’ve been fully WFH for about 3 years now, and its a mix of pros and cons. Mostly pros, though. If I had to pick the key factors, they would be (in no particular order):
Pros:
- No commute, I get more time per day!
- I control my working environment. I pick the temperature, music, lighting, furniture, and everything else.
- Privacy (I previously worked in a cube farm)
- Flexible(ish) working hours. As long as I’m available for meetings and slack conversations, it doesn’t really matter when I actually work. I can sleep in and work late, or vice versa, without it being a huge inconvenience.
- More time with my wife!
Cons:
- Call me strange, but I really miss the social aspect of working in an office. Water cooler talk, team coffee breaks, lunch with friends, secretly passing birthday cards, and all that stuff. Even office drama can be fun once in a while.
- Lack of a daily structure
- No option for a face-to-face meeting, even if its really needed.
It’s almost all I’ve known at this point. I had a normal placement year, finished Uni, went back to work and then started working from home half a year later due to COVID. It’s turned into hybrid but I’m starting a new job soon which will be almost entirely remote.
I like it. I feel really lucky that I get to be with my partner on the days she works from home, even if I am working. We go for a walk at lunch and have coffees. It’s also closer to what I used to do as a hobby in programming; work with a team of people from my home. Saving money and time from daily commuting is a huge plus.
Your break sounds amazing. Anything that changes your focal point from a screen to something like entire fields are the best for desk job workers.
A common theme here is being able to spend more time with partners, I never considered how much time you’re forced to spend apart when you work 100% office based. That’s definitely a huge upside to WFH.
Yeah, it’s just nice that I get to have more time around the person I practically chose to share my life with. It is sad to think how much time we’d have to spend away from each other if none of this happened.
