The permanent Working From Home thread.

[Milkfloat]

I thought I would start a thread for those people who work from home permanently, rather than just due to Covid. I was hoping it could be a thread that gives some insights into what makes it successful and what causes issues. However, this being CycleChat I am sure it will meander all over the place and probably end up a blind alley or two. Feel free to skip 'my story' below and jump in with your ideas, experiences and thread diverts.

My story - I have worked for the same multinational company (throughout many different names and owners) for almost 25 years mainly based in the same office, but I have bounced around the world for a few years living away for a year or two at a time. The office is actually small with the number of employees varying from 8-25 over the years, some of us have worked together for more than two decades. We are merely a provincial outpost in a large company that does not actually need a provincial outpost at all, the employees survive because we have unique global skills and are lucky. The company announced last week that we will be closing 3 UK offices leaving 2 (one in London and they seem to have forgotten about a tiny office in Omagh). This is part of a bigger plan to close about 30 offices over Europe. During previous office closures people have been laid off or if they were lucky assigned to another office with the understanding that they won't actually go in very often. This time it is different, the whole company has been working from home reportedly over Covid so the company is open to flexible working. In our case, it is less than flexible, it is a permanent WFH. Whilst I have manage to make it work during Covid I am worried about the future. My main worry is how I will cope without the face to face interactions. I spend 4 -5 hours a day on video calls, so I do have interactions but not face to face. I do the following to try and keep my sanity but am looking for more ideas.

• Have a separate room for work that I can close the door on at the end of the day
• Try to do some sort of activity during the day to get moving, even something as simple as hang out the washing or cycling to the shop at lunch time.
• Use my standing desk for at least 2 hours a day
• Have a weekly call with the people in my office for a 'water cooler' style chat.

I do find myself working longer hours than before as it is difficult to turn off. I find I am sitting far more during a day than if I were in the office, I think I just need to concentrate more on getting up and about.

So a few questions for those in the same boat:

• How are you coping and what do you find helps?
• Does your company contribute towards the increased costs?
• How do you heat the room you are in? I have an electric oil radiator, but am considering shelling out on smart thermostats on each radiator so I can close down the whole house apart from my room.
• Do you still feel engaged with other team members or those in your locality and has your company helped with this?
• How long have you managed to survive doing this for?

 

[HMS_Dave]

Sort of relevant i suppose. Ive been self employed, working at home for a number of years. Im beginning to dislike it, honestly. At first, it is great. Freedom, go to work naked etc etc... But when your home becomes your work place, you begin to not want to be at home, in the same way as you're glad to be out of the work place at the end of the day. I did pile weight on, i did become more lazy and i was never really a lazy person before...

The perks still remain, as in you do spend more time with the family, but it really isn't quality time. You're working at the end of the day, so it just isn't the same and there are many distractions...

A1: Routine is key, despite what "they" tell you. Set yourself work hours and STICK to them. If you don't you could find yourself negotiating with yourself and end up with piles of work to do in a short space of time, increasing stress...

A2: I am my company. Costs are mine to absorb.

A3: Central Heating.

A4: No, I might as well be in Siberia.

A5: Years. But probably not for another 1-2 years. Im looking to move on from self-employment and engage with other people again...

 

[Archie_tect]

I started my architect practice 26 years ago from a spare room at home when our 2 children were small.

i took the children to school for 9 each morning so when I got home I was 'at work'. I picked them up at 3:30 and stopped for the day [if I was really busy I'd do a bit more when they were asleep]. Mrs A_T worked part time by then so she did similar hours but over 4 days.

I employed two people still working from home but having 2 people in the house all day got so that the house wasn't 'ours'. I found an office in the vllage but hated it as I was often in the office on my own far longer than if I'd been working at home. I've employed six people full-time in those 26 years but enjoy working on my own more than ever.

I closed my practice office in Feb 2019 to just work on my own again on things I wanted to do, so the Covid lockdowns haven't made much differenece to be honest as most of the work I do gets sent out as PDF attachments to emails and I've always communicated by email so that I have an audit trail- never taken to zoom or Teams meetings- miss sketching out solutions on site- but that'll return. I insulated the integral garage and that's where the copier and plotter are wired into the wifi router which is directly below the 'office' so everything works- it's a better set-up than the office so no plans to change anything now. Since closing the practice I'm saving on overheads so my income is a fraction of the turnover I needed to run the office- and all the stress of managing people and workload has gone.

I always stop for tea mid-morning, take a lunch break, and a coffee around 3:30 in the afternoon with Mrs A_T who retired in Oct 2018, and we go for a good walk most days or I go for a bike ride while she does yoga or her exercise class on Zoom twice a week. Averaging 12000 steps a day, including the bike ride equivalent, since the first lockdown last year so we're both fitter and more active than when I was in the office!

I'm working less as I near retirement and work becomes less important - still pay into my self employed pension but I could start taking a tax free lump sum when I want to stop. I only work with people I like now so that helps! Work fits in around other things these days as people have learnt that I don't immediately jump or work silly hours anymore.

 

[Oldhippy]

I manage a retirement complex have a separate office two floors below my flat. Love it.

 

[gavroche]

I work permanently from home now and do very little. I get paid every 4 weeks, regardless of how much work I have done and can't see any changes until the day I leave this earth.
I don't have to justify my work day to anyone and can do as much or as little as I please.
I didn't even have to do an interview to get this job and it is secure for life. Great
What am I doing which sounds so good?



I am a pensioner, otherwise known as OAP.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

I started working from home freelance about 25 years ago. Loved it. I worked very silly hours, the weeks flew past as I was so busy. After a serious illness five years ago I cut down the number of hours and clients and became lazy. When one of my best clients offered me a salaried position, I agreed and accepted a hefty pay cut for the benefits of colleagues, paid leave, pension contributions and all the other perks of the job. Then COVID struck and I have been permanently WFH-ed. So now I've got the worst of both worlds.

 

[swee'pea99]

Been working at home for about a decade now, and it suits me down to the ground. I work now & then: quite long periods of nowt occurrin' - the more so since covid - but it doesn't worry me too much. The mortgage is paid off, and we have a pretty abstemious lifestyle so even occasional work is enough to pay the bills. And if push came to shove I have a fair savings buffer if needed. When things are quiet I somehow pass the time walking the dog, going for a ride, doing bits of shopping, reading books, listening to music, watching old movies, doing the hoovering, cooking, clipping the hedge, talking to my offspring and other family members, 'chatting' on Telegram to friends & family, reading the paper, fixing old MP3 players, fettling with my wife's website, posting on CC...I tell you, the glamour, fun and excitement never lets up.

 

[DCLane]

When my university goes back to whatever the new 'normal' might be it's unlikely we'll be delivering in the same way. So whilst the seminars might be face-to-face my lectures won't necessarily be. I'll miss that; I enjoyed the 'theatre' part of it - I'm not a theoretical academic but an applied, practical one. However;

• How are you coping and what do you find helps?

I vary from coping well to not coping at all. Having structure helps.

However, the PC I use is mine for everything so it's easy to both get distracted and work too many hours. I start / switch off Skype and MS Teams at 9am/5pm but tend to work all hours anyway; as an academic on a professional contract we get the job done when we can. Some days I've done 3-4 hours work, others 16-18 depending upon what's needed and I've managed this way for over 20 years.

• Does your company contribute towards the increased costs?

No. I have done the claim for working from home, but as I also to a self-employed tax return it goes into that. The tax relief bit is here: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

I save a bit by not commuting, which was almost always by bike, as car use and particularly parking was expensive. I tended to only commute when we were racing or in bad weather however.

• How do you heat the room you are in? I have an electric oil radiator, but am considering shelling out on smart thermostats on each radiator so I can close down the whole house apart from my room.

We converted the garage into a study when we bought our current house in 2004: it was part of the original purchase decision. Over the years it's moved from my study to being SWMBO's office but with Covid she's in hospital more than out treating patients. I've got a small corner at the back. We've got an oil-filled radiator as extra but also have a central heating radiator.

• Do you still feel engaged with other team members or those in your locality and has your company helped with this?

Not as engaged but we have a virtual coffee morning once a week. It's OK, but not as good as before.

• How long have you managed to survive doing this for?

I've done a year - due to the Covid risk to my health I moved to wfh on 8 March last year. SWMBO's been doing it on and off for 5 years.

Given the changes at my work I'll be doing this for at least 2 days a week from September when we're due to go back.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Right all you "working" from home lot. GET BACK TO WORK!

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

The company announced last week that we will be closing 3 UK offices leaving 2 (one in London and they seem to have forgotten about a tiny office in Omagh). This is part of a bigger plan to close about 30 offices over Europe. During previous office closures people have been laid off or if they were lucky assigned to another office with the understanding that they won't actually go in very often. This time it is different, the whole company has been working from home reportedly over Covid so the company is open to flexible working. In our case, it is less than flexible, it is a permanent WFH.

If you (and perhaps some others from your office) could go to the remaining office in London 1 or 2 days a week, would that make things a lot more appealing?

It would be an odd employer that outright refused such an accommodation.

 

[fossyant]

I work in a Uni like DCLane. I'm not needed to be in, but miss the face to face. I'm Finance and support Faculties. I can see us being in when needed for management meetings, but not at other points.

I do have a work laptop - it would be difficult with our own machines as it's all VPN'ed and locked down - like being in the office for files etc, but if you are on a personal machine it's a nightmare as the IT policy is very strict. We have separate workplaces - well the shed office. MrsF was initially working from the desk in the corner of the lounge, but was furloughed. She got a new job in January and that's been WFH, so she's had either the conservatory or desk in lounge. I've got myself a docking station but have now got used to three screens rather than two - I've realised I don't need to print - I've possibly printed 10 pages in a year. The additional screens help. At work I use two 24" screens with the laptop, but I'll be using the laptop screen too - that's OK for Teams and outlook, the other two can have excel and the finance system open, or word.

I take longer lunches a couple of times a week to go for a ride - I don't have to be back at my desk like my wife does. I stil make sure I'm logged on as usual, but I'm usually off by 5pm unless a meeting runs over. I'm not falling into the trap of working late.

I was lucky as I just got an assistant last year just before lockdown - we'd been fighting for one for years. Made life much better as we can balance the work out well.

 

[dodgy]

I've worked from home permanently for about 12 years now, and about 3 years on and off even before that. What I've learned over the years is there's broadly 2 types of people; those who absolutely love working from home and those that would prefer to be in the office - ok, there's a 3rd type, the ones who would do a bit of both. The first group can't understand the second group and vice versa. This is because it's not about the desk space you have at home, or your internet speed, it's your mentality and personality. The ones who would rather be in the office tend to be the type to organise meetings all the time and bother you at your desk, the ones who prefer to work from home just get on with it. 🤷‍♂️

I admit I've heavily generalised here, but there's some truth in it, now I await to be told I'm wrong by someone who prefers the office

 

[Ridgeway]

I left a large company about 10yrs ago and set up my own company to work as a consultant for several clients, so since then i've been home office although until C19 i used to travel 3-4 days a week. Key things for success for my WFH have been:

• Dedicated space (mine is really small, approx 4m x 1.8m)
• Well insulated door to keep family noise out
• Have some structure to your day: i start at 07:30hrs, tea break at 10am, lunch at 12:30, tea break 15:00hrs and then finish at 19:00hrs
• Invest in some decent kit: chair, desk and what ever PC gear you may need
• Desk riser can be useful, i use mine during presentations as i feel more comfortable standing
• Wired headset, i gave up on BT headsets as they need charging and often fail to connect, a headset just focuses your mind on the person talking and everyone will be able to hear you much more clearly, i look a tw@t with mine but it serves a purpose

When i started working from home in 2011 my wife asked me on occasion to prepare the children lunches for when they returned home (school is 300m away) and as they all came home for lunch at different times i realised i that i had no idea of what went on at home when i was away at work, i hardly knew the teachers as i was never at school meetings etc. Nowadays the teachers know me and i get much more involved in home life, it can only be a good thing

 

[bruce1530]

I’ve been most working from home for the last year. I work in IT, for a University. We areonly going onto campus when absolutely essential - I reckon about 75% of my department have not been onsite for the last year, and for the rest of us, it's just occasional visits when something needs fixed or replaced. For me, that was roughly once a week last year, although I haven’t been there at all since January.

I’m fortunate in that I’ve got plenty of space to work at home - both of the girls have places of their own, so I commandeered one of the bedrooms. But being stuck in that space, staring at a screen all day can make you a bit stir crazy. Most people say “but you work in IT, that’s what you would be doing anyway” - but it’s not. In the pre-covid world, I’d probably only spend an hour or so each day at the computer in my office - the rest of the time would be meeting people, moving between buildings, and doing “stuff that needs doing”.

I’m saving lots of time - and money - on not commuting - that was at least an hour a day, each way, and £180 a month. Also not spending on Starbucks etc. But on the downside, I’ve got a huge backlog of podcasts that I’ve not listened to - that was how I passed the time on the train. I’ve also put on about 4kg, which I attribute to not commuting - normally my commute would involve walking for more than a mile each way; add the walking around the site and a lunchtime walk, and I was easily doing 10,000 steps each day by the time I got home from work.

I’m making a point of keeping in touch with other people I work with - but you tend to do that only with the people you work directly with. It’s been a year since I spoke to some people who share the same office space, and who I'd chat to every day while waiting for the kettle to boil.

 

[Milkfloat]

If you (and perhaps some others from your office) could go to the remaining office in London 1 or 2 days a week, would that make things a lot more appealing?

It would be an odd employer that outright refused such an accommodation.

They would probably be quite happy about it, us employees not. We like our lives too much for the commute time and cost.