Is wfh all that it's cracked up to be? Let's have a moan about it
Unless you have been living under a rock on Mars, you would have heard about a pandemic doing the circuit; Britain has been in and out of lockdown since March 2020. We are currently on the third (and what I hope, final) lockdown. This one by far seems the longest and the toughest, but that may be an accumulative emotion of the past year than just an isolated feeling about lockdown 3.
By now, most of us have, in one form or another, experienced working from home. We've seen the pros (waking up 5 mins before work starts and still logging in on time!) and we've seen the cons (unannounced, unnecessary video calls!). In theory, working from home sounds amazing- take your laptop to the park, enjoy sunshine, respond to emails and log off a cheeky half hour early. While some people may have experienced this kind of working from home, some people's working from home experience is far from this. Here's the pros and cons I have found from working remotely.
Pros
Zero commute
Morning commute used to be annoying as hell. So many people in such close proximity, all thinking their job is the most important and each person is on a mission and no one has time for any niceness. Even thinking about it makes me shudder. So glad I've not had to endure that for the past year!
Getting ready
You are ready as soon as you are awake. You no longer need to get your hair done or wear any make up or even wear smart office clothes. You can wear what you are comfortable in. I've heard about some people saying they have continued to get ready in the morning as it puts them in the work frame of mind. I say each to themselves and while this may work for some people, I much rather enjoy messy bun, no make up and in pjs all day long.
Productivity
I've seen myself being more productive at home. There is less distractions and I can focus more on the task at hand. However, this to me is not entirely a pro, so I will leave this bit short and segway into how this is also a con...
Cons
Logging off
While being productive is a good thing, not being able to log off and mentally switch off from work is not great. As 5:00pm approaches and you see you still have a few more things to do, it gets tempting to finish as much as you possibly can so that the next day you have a more reasonable workload. You tell yourself, 'just another 5 to 10 mins won't hurt' and then several 5 and 10 minutes later, it gets to 8:00pm and you are exhausted. This is not great- work does not pay you for 24/7 hours so you are shortchanging yourself by working longer.
Video calls
Have I mentioned how much I hate video calls? To me, video calls is inviting colleagues into my home and that is beyond what I am comfortable with. Work is for work and home is for home. So video calls when working from home feels me with dread and I hate it. Don't even get me started on the small chit chats that people try to do to 'bring fun' into the work meetings....That's not fun by a long shot. It's just prolonging the already awful meeting!!
Training sessions
Imagine having training sessions via Zoom and then you lose internet connection and when you get it back, you are out of the Zoom call. You text the work Whatsapp group your manager created so you can get back in but no response and no one sees your message until after the training session has finished....Ah, the joys of a training session whilst working from home.
Socialising via Zoom
This one is not necessarily a con. It really depends on the sort of person you are and how outgoing you are and how much you enjoy socialising with colleagues outside of work. Until recently, I was working for an estate agent. They hosted some Zoom parties, which took place on Thursday evenings from 5:00pm till 8:00pm. This drove me nuts. I took part cause I felt I had to as it was something hosted by work. But I resented that they were eating into time that were not paying me for. On the times, I just did not want to join in, I'd have people ask why not which made me feel obligated to join in despite never enjoying it. But if you enjoy Zoom parties, then this would go into your pro list.
The main thing that bothered me about working from home was that there was no real separation between home and work. Your bed became both your sleep space and your work space. I've read a few articles on remote working culture on LinkedIn and there are many who swears by this. They claim they have secured amazing business deals whilst in the bath. So if this person is bringing work into her bath, will she be bringing in her relaxation into work? I think not....The importance of rest and relaxation sometimes does not get the priority it deserves and it gets so easy to become burnt out while working from home.
I am a strong member of the anti wfh club. I believe everything has a place and work should be conducted in the office and left in the office. My experience of working from home has not been the best and I hope that all this will soon be a thing of the past....And I can finally have a cup of coffee in Starbucks with a favourite colleague.
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