Working From Home. Torture
Discussion
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It is if you work as a columnist for the New Yorker. https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/20/journalist-suspende...
oldbanger said:
nealeh1875 said:
What became more and more unbearable was how busy the mrs got .. every 5 minutes was ''i'm in a meeting ' 'ive got a meeting in x '' and then the countdown to said meeting every minute like she was on Apollo .
Ha! Are we married?For some reason WFH full time meant wall to wall Skype calls, as everyone needed extra reassurance and the work also ramped up in volume. It’s calmed down a bit now but it was a nightmare at first.
It always felt her calls were more important than mine, but since WFH again it's been a bit better, maybe thats no baby or the fact i take myself into the living room and watch the IPL while i work now so we get a bit more space
Dog Star said:
Even I, with the commute from hell, am missing the office slightly, however it's more than offset by having my cat next to me all day, snoring away.
Cats are incompatible with wfh. Go to get a drink and come back to find the moggy laying on the keyboard as it's the warmest place with its elbow on the delete key ....I did it solid for 2 yrs+
Took me 3 months to work out how to to not hate it
Now I do it when I can, project work means on site or at home, so random mix
Be grateful you haven't had to go setup nightingale hospitals or spend the last 6 months working on site in Hospitals in London. Because that I can assure you does suck risking my health and maybe life. I'd love to be at home all the time but then I know how to deal with it even without social contact.
Took me 3 months to work out how to to not hate it
Now I do it when I can, project work means on site or at home, so random mix
Be grateful you haven't had to go setup nightingale hospitals or spend the last 6 months working on site in Hospitals in London. Because that I can assure you does suck risking my health and maybe life. I'd love to be at home all the time but then I know how to deal with it even without social contact.
MikeStroud said:
Dog Star said:
Even I, with the commute from hell, am missing the office slightly, however it's more than offset by having my cat next to me all day, snoring away.
Cats are incompatible with wfh. Go to get a drink and come back to find the moggy laying on the keyboard as it's the warmest place with its elbow on the delete key ....My gripe about working from home really relates to the other people in the house, seemingly working different shift pattern.
When I had my last contract, before Covid, I was working in Derby, but living in the week in our second home in Uttoxeter.
So my shift pattern was
6am get out of bed.
7am leave the house.
7.40 get to the office. Work til
11.30 and then lunch and a walk til
12.30 work to 5pm
Back in the house by 6pm.
Evening meal finished by 7pm. Some DIY or paper work or TV til 8.30. Bath.
9.00 pm bed.
Friday. Work from Uttoxeter 7pm til 12 then home by 2pm.
So now I've a contract working from home.
7.30 wake up and have breakfast.
8.00 start work
9.30 get involved in wife's breakfast and get dressed.
10.30 do more work.
11.30 get chastised for making my 4th cup of (decafe) coffee.
Work til offered lunch. Usually 2.30 or even 3pm (I've learnt not to start suggesting lunch before 2pm and I'm not allowed to get my own because I'm supposed to be working) so 7 or 8 hours since I last ate.
After lunch there's usually a suggestion that I should do some exercise. f
k that I need to be working. So if i come down again before 5.30 there's questions asked like "well How many hours are you doing this week"
If tea is not started before 6.30 it's because it's too early. Eventually tea is allowed about 7.30.
Then apparently 10.30 is too early to go to bed.
Its like I'm living in a different planet.
I had a web meeting the other day, and I'm fairly self effacing and called myself a Muppet, due to a minor error in using teams, to 12 other people.
My wife overheard this (I had ear buds in so she couldn't hear the other side of the banter) and later started to give me advice. No fk off, I've got 31 years experience, I went on that self improvement journey in 1992 having been sent to a corporate management study centre to learn how to be assertive. And how to negotiate and all that st.
Anyway, I most dislike to refreshment police.
Also, missing the bacon butty van, but not the 3 stone I've lost.
When I had my last contract, before Covid, I was working in Derby, but living in the week in our second home in Uttoxeter.
So my shift pattern was
6am get out of bed.
7am leave the house.
7.40 get to the office. Work til
11.30 and then lunch and a walk til
12.30 work to 5pm
Back in the house by 6pm.
Evening meal finished by 7pm. Some DIY or paper work or TV til 8.30. Bath.
9.00 pm bed.
Friday. Work from Uttoxeter 7pm til 12 then home by 2pm.
So now I've a contract working from home.
7.30 wake up and have breakfast.
8.00 start work
9.30 get involved in wife's breakfast and get dressed.
10.30 do more work.
11.30 get chastised for making my 4th cup of (decafe) coffee.
Work til offered lunch. Usually 2.30 or even 3pm (I've learnt not to start suggesting lunch before 2pm and I'm not allowed to get my own because I'm supposed to be working) so 7 or 8 hours since I last ate.
After lunch there's usually a suggestion that I should do some exercise. f
k that I need to be working. So if i come down again before 5.30 there's questions asked like "well How many hours are you doing this week" If tea is not started before 6.30 it's because it's too early. Eventually tea is allowed about 7.30.
Then apparently 10.30 is too early to go to bed.
Its like I'm living in a different planet.
I had a web meeting the other day, and I'm fairly self effacing and called myself a Muppet, due to a minor error in using teams, to 12 other people.
My wife overheard this (I had ear buds in so she couldn't hear the other side of the banter) and later started to give me advice. No f
k off, I've got 31 years experience, I went on that self improvement journey in 1992 having been sent to a corporate management study centre to learn how to be assertive. And how to negotiate and all that st. Anyway, I most dislike to refreshment police.
Also, missing the bacon butty van, but not the 3 stone I've lost.
davidc1 said:
If the wife or girlfriend is at home and kids at school also then do what i do. Once or twice a week go and have a nice lie on the bed with her. Rounds off my lunch nicely.!
I'm thinking of suggesting I take 11 to 2 as a lunch and then work in the evening when she's watching crap on the telly. Obviously after 11.10 I'll need something to do. MikeStroud said:
Cats are incompatible with wfh. Go to get a drink and come back to find the moggy laying on the keyboard as it's the warmest place with its elbow on the delete key ....
So true.My cat has begun to drive me nuts since myself and my wife began full time WFH in April.
He's spent 10 years being quite aloof and independent, comes and goes all hours via his cat flap. Now he won't leave us alone, and has an obsession with being 'with us' while we work, which translates to jumping up on the desk and standing/walking/lying down on documents and keyboards and getting really upset if we try to push him away. He will do this more if he thinks you are in a video call of any kind.
He has also now realised that 'Lunch' is a thing having never seen it before on a regular basis. When roughly 12:30 arrives, he will start meowing, then make his was downstairs to the kitchen and waits for us to come down to make lunch, which he will then proceed too attempt to take from us.
If you try to just shut the door of each of our office rooms, he spends ages rattling them, jumping up at the handle, putting his paw under them and pulling, rolling about and bashing into them, all in an effort to get in.
nealeh1875 said:
I'm now in the 2nd stint of WFH, company had us back for 3 weeks or so before BOJO said if you can WFH then do so etc,
Initially I loved it, loads more time with the little one, she was 8 months at the time and i loved every second, weather was lovely so out in the garden daily with her.
What became more and more unbearable was how busy the mrs got .. every 5 minutes was ''i'm in a meeting ' 'ive got a meeting in x '' and then the countdown to said meeting every minute like she was on Apollo .
I couldn't wait to get back to the office in the end.. what I realised when I got back was how much I disliked it. There's no fancy offices, nowhere nice to walk, I become so tired sitting at my desk all day. At least WFH you get them 5/10 mins when its a bit quieter to take a break. Unless you smoke in the office you don't really have any breaks apart from lunch.
I am loving it again WFH, little one in nursery FT, she is 16 months now or so and there is no way we could work and look after her, Well done to anyone who does !
Hopefully mrs gets her office furniture approved soon and I will like it even more ! its very cramped on the dining room table
Micro desks have been popular in our companyInitially I loved it, loads more time with the little one, she was 8 months at the time and i loved every second, weather was lovely so out in the garden daily with her.
What became more and more unbearable was how busy the mrs got .. every 5 minutes was ''i'm in a meeting ' 'ive got a meeting in x '' and then the countdown to said meeting every minute like she was on Apollo .
I couldn't wait to get back to the office in the end.. what I realised when I got back was how much I disliked it. There's no fancy offices, nowhere nice to walk, I become so tired sitting at my desk all day. At least WFH you get them 5/10 mins when its a bit quieter to take a break. Unless you smoke in the office you don't really have any breaks apart from lunch.
I am loving it again WFH, little one in nursery FT, she is 16 months now or so and there is no way we could work and look after her, Well done to anyone who does !
Hopefully mrs gets her office furniture approved soon and I will like it even more ! its very cramped on the dining room table
scottri said:
I'm not saying don't work. I'm saying remember to make the most of the time it gives you back which is normally wasted in traffic etc. I would regularly do way over my contracted hours but it doesn't stop you going for a walk at lunch time. And it doesn't matter where you are when you are on a pc all day. People go to the canteen and piss about for an hour or two in the office. So why not go out for a meal when you are not in the office.
Nice assumptions and stereotyping in this post. My commute was a 10 min walk in the morning, or 2 stops on the DLR on the way home, as it is too dangerous to walk in the dark. I deliberately compromised on choosing this flat to be close to the office, as I never in my life thought I would work from home.
In the office I would never get a lunch break, maybe 5 mins to grab a wrap from the canteen on the floor, but often wouldn’t finish eating it until 3pm, as 12 - 2:30 is the only time you can reasonably get UK / EU, HK / SG and the east coast all on the phone at the same time.
I was doing consistent 11 - 13 hour days in the office, but that was fine with a proper chair, desk, multiple screens, A/C and lighting, and most importantly the company of other humans, with a shared sense of purpose and common goal to work towards. You’d also walk at least 100 meters for toilet breaks, get a change of scenery with meeting rooms, have a view across the london skyline etc.
Now I am far less efficient at home, so it’s longer days or working weekends as well, in a 3m x 3.5m box, staring at a blank white wall.
On one day my Fitbit recorded 150 total steps for the day. Just glued to the desk to back to back commitments. I went 5 months from March to August not interacting with another human other than those I live with (one of whom is vulnerable, and for their protection the rest of us are very constrained in what we can do and who we can see) and Amazon Fresh delivery drivers.
Talking with my friends, nearly all of them are in the same boat, and lots of people are being asked to do more with less this year to retain their jobs, particularly in “up or out” cultures and those who are managing teams, supporting their staff, adapting to vastly increased expectations around D&I etc.
The gym used to be a release, but since CoVID that hasn’t been safe.
Back in April it was a complete mental health disaster waiting to happen... now it is actually happening.
Edited by klan8456 on Saturday 7th November 17:02
klan8456 said:
scottri said:
I'm not saying don't work. I'm saying remember to make the most of the time it gives you back which is normally wasted in traffic etc. I would regularly do way over my contracted hours but it doesn't stop you going for a walk at lunch time. And it doesn't matter where you are when you are on a pc all day. People go to the canteen and piss about for an hour or two in the office. So why not go out for a meal when you are not in the office.
Nice assumptions and stereotyping in this post. My commute was a 10 min walk in the morning, or 2 stops on the DLR on the way home, as it is too dangerous to walk in the dark. I deliberately compromised on choosing this flat to be close to the office, as I never in my life thought I would work from home.
In the office I would never get a lunch break, maybe 5 mins to grab a wrap from the canteen on the floor, but often wouldn’t finish eating it until 3pm, as 12 - 2:30 is the only time you can reasonably get UK / EU, HK / SG and the east coast all on the phone at the same time.
I was doing consistent 11 - 13 hour days in the office, but that was fine with a proper chair, desk, multiple screens, A/C and lighting, and most importantly the company of other humans, with a shared sense of purpose and common goal to work towards. You’d also walk at least 100 meters for toilet breaks, get a change of scenery with meeting rooms, have a view across the london skyline etc.
Now I am far less efficient at home, so it’s longer days or working weekends as well, in a 3m x 3.5m box, staring at a blank white wall.
On one day my Fitbit recorded 150 total steps for the day. Just glued to the desk to back to back commitments. I went 5 months from March to August not interacting with another human other than those I live with (one of whom is vulnerable, and for their protection the rest of us are very constrained in what we can do and who we can see) and Amazon Fresh delivery drivers.
Talking with my friends, nearly all of them are in the same boat, and lots of people are being asked to do more with less this year to retain their jobs, particularly in “up or out” cultures and those who are managing teams, supporting their staff, adapting to vastly increased expectations around D&I etc.
The gym used to be a release, but since CoVID that hasn’t been safe.
Back in April it was a complete mental health disaster waiting to happen... now it is actually happening.
Edited by klan8456 on Saturday 7th November 17:02
t. Even before lockdown and wfh,13 hour days badly timed lunches vulture1 said:
I hope you get paid lots cos your work sounds st. Even before lockdown and wfh,13 hour days badly timed lunches
To be honest it’s a lot better than the 6 years I did in Sydney where I had a 1 hour commute each way, plus worked 8 - 6, come home and have a handful of hours to myself, then join aforementioned calls from 10pm - 1am, back up at 6am to get ready for work again. Rinse and repeat, plus worked every second Saturday evening 10pm - 4am. t. Even before lockdown and wfh,13 hour days badly timed lunches On several occasions I just slept on the floor at the office as it simply wasn’t worth the time to go home and come back again.
klan8456 said:
Nice assumptions and stereotyping in this post.
My commute was a 10 min walk in the morning, or 2 stops on the DLR on the way home, as it is too dangerous to walk in the dark. I deliberately compromised on choosing this flat to be close to the office, as I never in my life thought I would work from home.
In the office I would never get a lunch break, maybe 5 mins to grab a wrap from the canteen on the floor, but often wouldn’t finish eating it until 3pm, as 12 - 2:30 is the only time you can reasonably get UK / EU, HK / SG and the east coast all on the phone at the same time.
I was doing consistent 11 - 13 hour days in the office, but that was fine with a proper chair, desk, multiple screens, A/C and lighting, and most importantly the company of other humans, with a shared sense of purpose and common goal to work towards. You’d also walk at least 100 meters for toilet breaks, get a change of scenery with meeting rooms, have a view across the london skyline etc.
Now I am far less efficient at home, so it’s longer days or working weekends as well, in a 3m x 3.5m box, staring at a blank white wall.
On one day my Fitbit recorded 150 total steps for the day. Just glued to the desk to back to back commitments. I went 5 months from March to August not interacting with another human other than those I live with (one of whom is vulnerable, and for their protection the rest of us are very constrained in what we can do and who we can see) and Amazon Fresh delivery drivers.
Talking with my friends, nearly all of them are in the same boat, and lots of people are being asked to do more with less this year to retain their jobs, particularly in “up or out” cultures and those who are managing teams, supporting their staff, adapting to vastly increased expectations around D&I etc.
The gym used to be a release, but since CoVID that hasn’t been safe.
Back in April it was a complete mental health disaster waiting to happen... now it is actually happening.
Do you not communicate with anyone by video or telephone calls? We have team video calls first thing each morning and straight after lunch every day without fail. Sometimes it work related but others times it’s dogs, covid developments or general chit chat. Keeps us all sane and talking. My commute was a 10 min walk in the morning, or 2 stops on the DLR on the way home, as it is too dangerous to walk in the dark. I deliberately compromised on choosing this flat to be close to the office, as I never in my life thought I would work from home.
In the office I would never get a lunch break, maybe 5 mins to grab a wrap from the canteen on the floor, but often wouldn’t finish eating it until 3pm, as 12 - 2:30 is the only time you can reasonably get UK / EU, HK / SG and the east coast all on the phone at the same time.
I was doing consistent 11 - 13 hour days in the office, but that was fine with a proper chair, desk, multiple screens, A/C and lighting, and most importantly the company of other humans, with a shared sense of purpose and common goal to work towards. You’d also walk at least 100 meters for toilet breaks, get a change of scenery with meeting rooms, have a view across the london skyline etc.
Now I am far less efficient at home, so it’s longer days or working weekends as well, in a 3m x 3.5m box, staring at a blank white wall.
On one day my Fitbit recorded 150 total steps for the day. Just glued to the desk to back to back commitments. I went 5 months from March to August not interacting with another human other than those I live with (one of whom is vulnerable, and for their protection the rest of us are very constrained in what we can do and who we can see) and Amazon Fresh delivery drivers.
Talking with my friends, nearly all of them are in the same boat, and lots of people are being asked to do more with less this year to retain their jobs, particularly in “up or out” cultures and those who are managing teams, supporting their staff, adapting to vastly increased expectations around D&I etc.
The gym used to be a release, but since CoVID that hasn’t been safe.
Back in April it was a complete mental health disaster waiting to happen... now it is actually happening.
Edited by klan8456 on Saturday 7th November 17:02
georgefreeman918 said:
Do you not communicate with anyone by video or telephone calls? We have team video calls first thing each morning and straight after lunch every day without fail. Sometimes it work related but others times it’s dogs, covid developments or general chit chat. Keeps us all sane and talking.
Oh yes, calls all day, but it’s no substitute for an in person conversation. After 30 mins of Zoom, between the bad audio quality, freezing video, lines dropping out its just exhausting. Repeat that x10 (at least) each day. At least I know it’s not just me suffering
https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigue
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