Downtown Calling: Working from home didn't work for me

[Steely Dan]

After nearly 3 mostly unsatisfying years as a soldier in the WFH army, I just landed a new job down in the loop, 5 days/week in the office!

I can't wait to have daily interaction with co-workers again.

I can't wait to have an office to go to again.

I can't wait to have a commute again.

I can't wait to live in a home that isn't also where I "work".


I know that LOTS of people seem to really love WFH, but man was it not a route that set me up for success. It took a massive toll on my mental health.

[Gantz]

I would love to go back to WFH.
It may be a bit personal, but I think you may have some issues in your house if you don't actually prefer to be there...and would prefer an office to your own home.

[LAsam]

Originally Posted by Gantz

I would love to go back to WFH.
It may be a bit personal, but I think you may have some issues in your house if you don't actually prefer to be there...and would prefer an office to your own home.

Huh? OP didn't say they prefer being in an office to being at home... they said they prefer working at an office versus working from home. I agree with the OP. I'm more productive in the office and enjoy the in-person interactions with my coworkers.

[Busy Bee]

The main achilles heel of WFH will continue to be the consequences of the lack of in person contact with your co-workers and your superiors. Not only will lack of in person socializing contribute to lack of work fulfilment, but it is and will continue to prevent personal and professional advancement that is only possible with in person interactions.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Gantz

I think you may have some issues in your house if you don't actually prefer to be there.

Huh?

I doubt there are many people on this forum who love their home more than I do. Just search my post history for dozens (hundreds?) of posts about how freaking much I LOVE our home, our block, and our neighborhood.

I literally am living my urban dream raising a family in a classic Chicago 3-flat in one of the most classically awesome Chicago neighborhoods around.

But what I absolutely did not enjoy was the isolation created by working in my home, staring into a computer screen all by myself, for 8+ hours a day.

I did it for nearly 3 years.

It wasn't healthy for me.

LOTS of mental health issues.



Downtown here I come!!!

[Crawford]

I could never do that type of work again. Doesn't work if married with kids. Means the spouse has all the burden, and the kids miss out on a parent.

I work hybrid, but full time office work, in an industry that doesn't require it, would be automatic dealbreaker.

[niwell]

I go into the office 1-2 days a week. I hate and resent having to go in more than few other things - just sitting in an empty office with far worse ergonomics than at home, bad air quality and taking the same Teams calls. It rarely works out I'm there the same days as anyone I work directly with, and even when it does the most we do is coffee - my job never really had much team interaction. The aspects that require it are much improved with Teams as opposed to trying to work things out in a boardroom. I'd be happy to go in if there was a reason but there really isn't - the option is there for people who don't like WFH though which is good. Personally I like the ability to get some stuff at home done during lulls in the day, hang out with my dog and go for walks in my neighbourhood.

Pretty much the only thing I do legitimately miss and enjoy about going in is the bike ride, though I managed to get back into a good routine with cycling again this summer. I still make time to meet up for occasional drinks with the few coworkers I consider friends, so there's not much change for me on that front. Plus I've gotten more promotions since the start of COVID than in the years preceding it!

I could see want to go in more if I were younger / earlier in career or maybe if I had kids taking up most of my non-working hours (so long as I wasn't slacking on care). Which is why I'm glad I have the option to go in if I want, just wish there wasn't the mandatory minimum.

[WhipperSnapper]

I find this topic interesting. The discussion is usually centered on one or the other. I don't know anyone that wants to be in the office 5 days a week. There's only a few that want to work from home 5 days a week and that has to do with kids and the stress of the commute (in Toronto) over being in the office. The majority of people want the flexibility to do both every week.

Microsoft Teams is not only adequate in fulfilling working interaction with co workers it is far more efficient. There's so much time wasted moving from meeting to meeting including different buildings around the downtown. The off work togetherness is missed but, I don't think a young, single extrovert needs that 5 days a week.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Huh?

I doubt there are many people on this forum who love their home more than I do. Just search my post history for dozens (hundreds?) of posts about how freaking much I LOVE our home, our block, and our neighborhood.

I literally am living my urban dream raising a family in a classic Chicago 3-flat in one of the most classically awesome Chicago neighborhoods around.

But what I absolutely did not enjoy was the isolation created by working in my home, staring into a computer screen all by myself, for 8+ hours a day.

I did it for nearly 3 years.

It wasn't healthy for me.

LOTS of mental health issues.



Downtown here I come!!!

You will love it - Hopefully it's in a fun part of downtown......

I get it - I hate WFH for too long myself, but I don't mind working remotely at all. Having a specialized job though can facilitate that, especially if it's tech based.

[destroycreate]

My company has a really nice office near Santa Monica, and my team and I have casually agreed to go in on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's really nice to have a break from my apartment, have a reason to put on big boy pants, and enjoy lunch with co-workers. Also, it's great to build relationships with other people I don't work with directly in the office.

I like that we can do that 2x a week, and then the other 3 days I can be comfortable at home. As long as I don't have to go in more than 3x a week, I'm happy.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Microsoft Teams is not only adequate in fulfilling working interaction with co workers it is far more efficient. There's so much time wasted moving from meeting to meeting including different buildings around the downtown. The off work togetherness is missed but, I don't think a young, single extrovert needs that 5 days a week.

Interaction with coworkers is a lot more than just meetings. There are countless times when work neighbours can have an informal chat about some minor issue that would probably never happen remotely. Even just getting to know your coworkers can make it easier to get things out of people. Not to mention lasting friendships - I have several good friends from past workplaces who I never would have gotten to know well working remotely.

Some people work better at home, some don't. Different strokes.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

After nearly 3 mostly unsatisfying years as a soldier in the WFH army, I just landed a new job down in the loop, 5 days/week in the office!

I can't wait to have daily interaction with co-workers again.

I can't wait to have an office to go to again.

I can't wait to have a commute again.

I can't wait to live in a home that isn't also where I "work".


I know that LOTS of people seem to really love WFH, but man was it not a route that set me up for success. It took a massive toll on my mental health.

It's okay maybe one or two days a month, but like you I prefer to be in the office as well. It's just easier to do my job in the office. I like to save WFH time for when it snows. I work four ten hour days each week...so I'm home three days a week as it is.

Best of luck in your new position.

[edale]

Different strokes for different folks, but I can't imagine why anyone would look forward to a commute. I get the social aspect of the office and getting out of your house and what not. But commuting, be it by transit or driving, sucks imo. It's about 1.5 hours a day stuck behind the wheel of my car or waiting for the train and bus. Time that could be used for any number of more enriching things.

I find it much harder to have live-work balance on the days when I have to work from the office. On days when I work from home, I can put a load of laundry in at lunch, take the dog for a walk around the block during the afternoon slump, sign up for an exercise class right after work, etc. On days when I work from the office, I have a stressful commute home, and then everything I need or want to do for myself has to be condensed into a ~3 hour window. Instead of closing my laptop at 6 and heading to a yoga class at 6:15, I scramble to make it home in time to run my dog out and head back out to try to make the 7:15 class. Get home around 8:30 and still have to fix myself dinner, eat, shower...and maybe one tv show or a chapter or two of reading before going to bed. It's all so rushed and stressful, and I absolutely hate it.

[PhillyRising]

Originally Posted by edale

Different strokes for different folks, but I can't imagine why anyone would look forward to a commute. I get the social aspect of the office and getting out of your house and what not. But commuting, be it by transit or driving, sucks imo. It's about 1.5 hours a day stuck behind the wheel of my car or waiting for the train and bus. Time that could be used for any number of more enriching things.

I find it much harder to have live-work balance on the days when I have to work from the office. On days when I work from home, I can put a load of laundry in at lunch, take the dog for a walk around the block during the afternoon slump, sign up for an exercise class right after work, etc. On days when I work from the office, I have a stressful commute home, and then everything I need or want to do for myself has to be condensed into a ~3 hour window. Instead of closing my laptop at 6 and heading to a yoga class at 6:15, I scramble to make it home in time to run my dog out and head back out to try to make the 7:15 class. Get home around 8:30 and still have to fix myself dinner, eat, shower...and maybe one tv show or a chapter or two of reading before going to bed. It's all so rushed and stressful, and I absolutely hate it.

I guess it does depend on how far you live from work. It takes me maybe 30 minutes tops going in because I leave home at 6am when there is not much traffic and 45 minutes going home at 5...but I take back roads almost all the way home...crank up my music and I don't feel too stressed. When we were WFH for weeks at a time during Covid spikes...I couldn't stand being at home all the time. A few times a month is okay for me.

[Investing In Chicago]

I haven't been in an office since 2011, and I know people commute to work daily, but with 2 little kids I don't even see how it's feasible. 

Kids get dropped off at 8am and pickup is at 430pm, assuming a 40 min commute, what's the point of going into an office at that point. 
Going into an office for even 10 min on a weekly basis is a massive deal breaker for me. Not even slightly interested.

[Shawn]

As an introvert in an industry which still loves the idea of open offices where "everyone can seamlessly communicate, collaborate, and ideate everywhere, all the time", I could never go back to 5 days a week in that environment.

I hate hearing other people's phone / Zoom / Teams conversations; I hate other people listening in on mine (even unintentionally); I hate being constantly ripped out of my flow state to answer questions or frankly engage on any level when I'm trying to focus.

I'd consider a role where the majority of my time was on-site only if the office setup had private, physically separated individual desks. I much prefer an 80s cubicle farm to the open office idiocy of the early 2000s through now.

[JManc]

I hope my position goes to total WFH. As much as I like working with my colleagues out here in the Bay Area, I'm eager to return back to my wife and home in Houston. The flights back and forth are getting old every two weeks. Most of our meetings in the office are VC anyway. Right now we went from having to come into the office 3x a week to just one day.

[llamaorama]

I don't mind going in the office, I get cabin fever being at home constantly.

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

I guess it does depend on how far you live from work. It takes me maybe 30 minutes tops going in because I leave home at 6am when there is not much traffic and 45 minutes going home at 5...but I take back roads almost all the way home...crank up my music and I don't feel too stressed. When we were WFH for weeks at a time during Covid spikes...I couldn't stand being at home all the time. A few times a month is okay for me.

Same here, I live a few minutes from my office so it's not a big deal. I've admittedly never had a high-friction commute in my life.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Been doing mostly WFH nearly 3 years now, and totally the last ~2.25 of those years. Have mixed feelings about it. I like it that I don't have to commute and, thus, get more sleep, but I get distracted at home a lot. Sometimes those are worthwhile distractions, but sometimes not. We might be going to a mixed mode sometime soon, which would probably be a nice compromise for me.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by Shawn

As an introvert in an industry which still loves the idea of open offices where "everyone can seamlessly communicate, collaborate, and ideate everywhere, all the time", I could never go back to 5 days a week in that environment.

I hate hearing other people's phone / Zoom / Teams conversations; I hate other people listening in on mine (even unintentionally); I hate being constantly ripped out of my flow state to answer questions or frankly engage on any level when I'm trying to focus.

I'd consider a role where the majority of my time was on-site only if the office setup had private, physically separated individual desks. I much prefer an 80s cubicle farm to the open office idiocy of the early 2000s through now.

I absolutely agree with this. I couldn't stand being in an open work environment with people looking over my shoulder to my screens or listening in to my phone calls. It would be incredibly distracting. Luckily my office is an actual office and room of its own where I could close the door and no one would bother me.

Even more lucky is since covid I've just decided to work from home nearly 100% of the time. I've been in my office probably 5 times in the last 3 years. The company I work for is very small, and my boss is very hands off, so even though most everyone else is back working in the office, I'm definitely not. The reasons I prefer working from home are: to spend time with my young family and to avoid commuting. I have 2 young sons, I want to watch them grow up as much as I can, I want to be a part of getting them to school, and I want to walk down the street to pick them up at the bus stop in the afternoon. I also would have approximately 1.5 hours of commuting every day, unless I went in early to cut off 15 minutes of drive time before rush hour. But that would mean I couldn't be there when my boys wake up and eat breakfast with them everyday, and I couldn't play with them much before dinner and bed time. Now, I do all of that.

Even before covid I found it very strange that I spent 8-9 hours a day at my office and with my co-workers, and only maybe 4-5 waking hours with my young kids. I like my co-workers just fine, but that time discrepancy felt wholly out of whack and majorly wrong to me.