Ask Lemmy

Yes WFH was the best thing to ever happen to me. Saves 2 hours of commute time per day, I can focus without overhearing four simultaneous conversations in my immediate area, my dogs are with me, I can do chores around the house when there's downtime. The only downside is there's no access to my lab so I still have to go in once in a while. Now that my job is forcing RTO I'm desperately searching for a new WFH position but they're starting to get a little scarce and often don't contact me back after applying.

I really like meeting up with coworkers and clients every few months, but almost exclusively because wfh makes me so much more productive that going to talk with people AFTER getting stuff done is very valuable.

I never thought I would be able to wfh before honestly I just thought I'd spend my career finding places to hide to work.

Yes, I don't lose 2-3 hours daily commuting.

I like both. I am allowed to work 4/5 days from home, but I choose to only do 2. I commute to the office by bike in 15 minutes which gives me a fresh start into the day. I can concentrate better in the office. It just doesn't feel nice to me finished my work and moving 2 meter to sit on my couch, I like the feeling of getting home.

The 1-2 days per week I really appreciate, I usually WFH Mondays and Fridays. I can understand everybody who prefers staying home. However I really see a benefit in seeing your colleagues from time to time, I hate meetings and headphones.

I loved it, I had a lot of tasks that would only require intervention every few minutes so I could initiate a task and then go start laundry or something. At the end of the day I was actually free and not just bogged down with more chores.
The biggest drawback was not being around coworkers that I actually liked but that same coin meant I didn't have to be around people I didn't like.
I think if I took another remote job I'd put more effort into having a 3rd place.

I absolutely love working from home and honestly I never plan on working in an office again. I can sleep in, make some breakfast and enjoy my coffee before I login. It’s also great because if I don’t have any work I can play video games or go to the gym. My work life balance is like 80/20 in my favor for once.

No. For a good part of my job I need my lab. While I've got some equipment on my own at home, it does not even come close to what I've got there to work with.

I don't think I could ever go back to working in an office 5 days a week. There is no upside to it for me in anyway.

I go in a few times a month still, for various functions and certain on site tasks, but generally dread it. And I hate my co-workers wasting my time with chit chat.

The biggest benefit was getting way more recognition. in WFH all my tasks are logged, when I was in office 50-60% of my workload was invisible because it was word of mouth. I never got promoted and raises while we were in office, during WFH I have seen my salary more than double.

I prefer labour work to office work, so no.

Hard to say. I'd always pick WFH if the commute is otherwise long or unpleasant (might choose remote for half the week and in person for tne other half), but i do think being around other people working is best for my own productivity.

Yes. It is not all one way but there are so many advantages vs disadvantages, especially for the individual. Typically my commutes have been about an hour. Even when shorter you generally have to head out an hour before and often times I have to give an hour and a half or so as far as stepping out the door. No commute is like getting a 25% increase in hourly pay even if its not hourly. Next is its kinda a paing to bring lunch and not all places have a fridge or such to make it easier. Being able to go eat what you have on hand and do the prep during your lunch time. That while not as big a savings is a nice savings of money or time and generally you eat a bit healthier. Then lastly I see my wife and pets throughout the day. One of the most limiting things with relationships is between work and sleep and life prep stuff and self care needed each day you can't spend as much time with an SO as you might otherwise. Its not like its big but its nice to see each other as you move around or such. Plus I can walk the dog on lunch to which is a big quality of life improvement for her. Basically on the other side you have a bit better and easier communication and collaboration and socialization with your work mates. Now granted I have a WFH space where I live and I can close the door. I have seen some folks working out of their kitchen or stuff and I have no idea how they can be productive like that. So WFH is definately better to me overall but if like I could have a job that was across the street. That would be kinda better.

I used to be in the office every day and say that my coworkers should be in too as it’s much better to develop hardware that way (I’m mechanical engineer).

But then lost that job and new one is fully remote and i really like it. I do wish i could get some hands in tine in the lab with the hardware but they’re too cheap to fly me so I’ve just been building up my own home lab.

I would never want to go to an office again. Maybe it's just me, but the social anxiety I feel by constantly being surrounded by strangers in tight quarters really weighs on me. There's constant pressure to fit in, to do small talk, to ignore annoyances like that group of coworkers who never seem to be working and are always laughing loudly. The distractions, the social anxiety, and then there literally getting sick because someone comes to work sick as fuck. So many times I would hear people sneezing and coughing 15-20 feet from my desk and then within a couple of days I would also be sick (for weeks). Even at companies who encouraged wfh if sick. Ridiculous.

I do miss grabbing a beer after work with the select few coworkers who I actually bonded with, but then again even that often came with being forced to talk to a few people who kinda grated on my nerves.

I also enjoy being able to take walks and do chores from home without fearing being judged or reprimanded. I honestly probably get more work done at home anyway. In some ideal world where I'd go into an office with like < 10 people who I actually like, with a short or enjoyable commute, 3 days a week, I'd probably enjoy that a lot. But none of those conditions have been present at any job I've had or maybe even have heard of.

It's also shitty for pets to be gone most of the day all week. So yeah, fuck an office. Can't even wear the most comfortable clothes there, and my last office situation was extremely lax about the dress code. The negatives outweigh the positives several-fold for me.

(IT support) Overall it should be more appealing, but its honestly more distracting for me to be at home, and i dont even have a pet or a roommate. Significantly reduced gas/food budget (i cant stand being stuck in an office without getting up and going somewhere else for a while, so i ate out a lot) is a major pro as well.

I kinda like the ability to actually get up and go look at a piece of equipment rather than just poke at it remotely through a GUI or command lines. People can actually demonstrate whatever issue they're having, right then and there.

I get to work from home exclusively. My right to do that is never questioned. My boss is super understanding and my work gives me holidays whenever I want on short notice. I get raises all the time and if any of our clients start being toxic I'm allowed to shove them out of the nearest airlock. Yes, I love being self employed 😁.

Everyone should at least once, seriously consider starting their own business and working from home permanently. Specially now you can literally put everything you love doing, whatever it is, into ChatGPT and it'll tell you the best business for YOU to start, how to structure it, what you'll need and how to make it all work (Yes, yes AI will be the end of us bla bla but in the mean time it's a goldmine of free information and inspiration).

Having a job can be nice and cosy but working for yourself is incredible. There's no HR, no KPI's decided by someone else, no office politics and you can work from home wearing scuba gear if you want to. It really is worth trying to find your bliss and not just accepting things as they are.

Couple of little success nuggets I will add... Only buy hardware/software as you need it, not before. In fact, don't buy anything until there's a clear need. No office space, no business cards even, no cool e-ink tablet to take notes with or other vanity silliness. Nothing you don't need. Don't offer services you don't need to offer. If you behave like a swiss army knife, you'll be treated like one forever.

Whatever you're selling, make it a monthly subscription. This might be the most important bit of advice I have if you want to work happily from home for yourself successfully. Try out a bunch of networking groups and join a couple that focus on friendship first and business second. Those are your office pals who will bring you clients, be clients and give you advice and all you have to do is the same for them.

I guess no one's reading this far down but that's ok. For some reason your post inspired me 🤭

I love it. I'm salaried, not paid hourly, so my work output/performance is results-based. I don't need to spend 8 hours in a building to do my work. Not having to get up early and commute also gives me close to 3 “unpaid” hours back every day, time I can use for other things.

I love my wfh arrangement, my workplace is trying to go back to hybrid with higher percentage onsite, thankfully/unfortunately I have some chronic illnesses that prevent me from coming into the office without putting my health at risk, so full remote I stay and I crush every developer story they give me so they are plenty pleased

I have been working from home for more than twenty years now, when I started doing one or two days a week before then I am old enough to predate any sort of Internet VPN and had to dial in directly.

In my time I have had jobs were I have never been into the office, not even once, for the duration of working there.

Main benefits are:

--The time and cost savings of a lack of commute, which are significant

--Get paid London rates while living somewhere a lot lot cheaper

--Get to spend far more time with my kids as they grew up

--Work from anywhere, I have worked from sail boats and while camping

--Quiet days you can do what you want

Main downsides:

--Busy days can turn into no sleep multiple days if you aren't careful

--You are often expected to be available for far longer hours due to no commute dead time

--No such thing as a snow day, and sick days you have to be really ill to be off

--I don't get to dress up for work anymore

I work from home most of the time.

Pro:

• The cantina is excellent.
• Flexible working hours.
• No dress code.
• No commute

Con:

• Too much office gossip and drama

I love it, but it does not work for everyone

I have my own separate office in my basement with plenty of privacy. I stick to a normal work schedule. And perhaps often overlooked: my team is all remote as well.

The last point is important: if your team is both on and off site, it can be difficult to make sure everyone is included in all the casual information sharing. My team uses a shared Teams chat as a low friction water cooler, which works great for us.

We often jump on a voice call with screen sharing too work together. It works even better than in person because we can both have our own computers instead of one person looking over the other person's shoulder.

If you have a good manager, they may be able to mitigate this, but it's more difficult than it sounds. If not handled correctly, this can lead to team segmentation and isolation. Working hybrid can sometimes get around this while still being flexible enough that people can wfh when they need to. For any business it needs to be the decision of the direct managers so they can decide what is right for their team.

That all said, I love not having the 1.5hr commute anymore, no walk-in interruptions, being able to run errands or go to appointments without taking the whole day off etc. It's a major part of my job satisfaction.

If your commute is reasonable and you get satisfaction from going to the office then maybe you're happier on site or hybrid. Full time wfh can be lonely at times.

If you hate going in to the office, make sure your environment at home is set up so you can focus and work as effectively as at the office and give it a shot. Talk to your manager. You may need to convince them it's a good idea first.

I worked from home for about 5 years, company promised it was here to stay and then of course forced us back in 3 days starting last year.

Now they're forcing four days starting next month and I'm very sad

wfh 99.9% since 2020. my slice of software dev has really embraced it as part of the culture - most job opps are still remote, enough to filter out any in person or hybrid. love it, could never go back to commuting and socializing in person. i struggle sometimes with productivity/adhd but that happened in the office too. so many days just spent fiddling on my phone with one ear listening for footsteps. i keep getting hired/promoted so despite my shortfalls i must be doing something right.

I like working from home, but mostly because I don't really do much work.