Poll: Do you prefer the office or work from home?
355 comments
At the start of the pandemic, I knew I would miss working with people in person, but thought I would be totally great with WFH.
Now, I know that I badly need some amount of in-person time with my coworkers on a weekly basis, or I go crazy.
It's a motivational thing for me. I thrive on solving problems for and with other people, and there's an "out of sight, out of mind" effect for me over zoom. It's just harder for me to get my brain going.
I wish I were better at WFH - maybe with the right type of work I would be. I love everything else about it! My home office setup is awesome, I always hated commuting, I love the flexibility of doing chores during the day or getting some work done at 11pm because I don't feel like sleeping.
But man, I miss people.
Now, I know that I badly need some amount of in-person time with my coworkers on a weekly basis, or I go crazy.
It's a motivational thing for me. I thrive on solving problems for and with other people, and there's an "out of sight, out of mind" effect for me over zoom. It's just harder for me to get my brain going.
I wish I were better at WFH - maybe with the right type of work I would be. I love everything else about it! My home office setup is awesome, I always hated commuting, I love the flexibility of doing chores during the day or getting some work done at 11pm because I don't feel like sleeping.
But man, I miss people.
Working from home means I get to see my wife and children for more hours of the day. It also means that I get to choose when I will allow myself to be interrupted, rather than sitting in an open concept office and being _continually_ interrupted.
I've been working from home for over six years. I never want to return to the office. I will change careers before I return to a software development office.
I've been working from home for over six years. I never want to return to the office. I will change careers before I return to a software development office.
The pandemic really helped me confirm that I prefer the office.
I always sought to establish a clear distinction between my work life and home life and the enforced work from home due to COVID has made the two blur to a point now where I feel like I've lost all rhythm. Now living through a pandemic itself has a way of disrupting the rhythm of life but I feel that the collapsing of space into a singular living and work area doesn't help matters.
Another unexpected thing I've found that I missed while working from home is a commute. Now I imagine a person's opinion of their commute is highly conditioned on the mode of transportation but in my case it's a mostly relaxing public transit ride where I had 20-30 minutes of unstructured time to read, listen to a podcast, or just zone out. It similarly helped create additional space to separate the work life from the home life.
This second point on a commute would probably completely change if I had a 90 minute drive in bumper to bumper traffic. If that was my life, there's a good chance I'd find work from home preferable.
I always sought to establish a clear distinction between my work life and home life and the enforced work from home due to COVID has made the two blur to a point now where I feel like I've lost all rhythm. Now living through a pandemic itself has a way of disrupting the rhythm of life but I feel that the collapsing of space into a singular living and work area doesn't help matters.
Another unexpected thing I've found that I missed while working from home is a commute. Now I imagine a person's opinion of their commute is highly conditioned on the mode of transportation but in my case it's a mostly relaxing public transit ride where I had 20-30 minutes of unstructured time to read, listen to a podcast, or just zone out. It similarly helped create additional space to separate the work life from the home life.
This second point on a commute would probably completely change if I had a 90 minute drive in bumper to bumper traffic. If that was my life, there's a good chance I'd find work from home preferable.
WFH and prefer WFH with one major caveat. I've said this before, but really, I just want my own office. That's all. I'd be pretty okay with going in if I had my own office with 4 walls.
First job of my career, they told me I would have an office of my own. First day I came back in for full time (I had interned there with my own office as well), they tell me they're switching buildings to go open office in about a month's time. I got a precious few weeks with a personal office, and then it was all gone. I hated this change of scenery immediately, but I guess I got used to it after a few years.
Working from home took me back to that zen. I didn't even know how much I had missed it - how much I needed my own space to feel productive.
I've since changed jobs, and I kinda dread having to go to the open office nightmare once this is all over. The facilities are way nicer than my last job, but it's still an open office.
Open. Office. As. Implemented. In. Our. Industry. Is. Stupid.
First job of my career, they told me I would have an office of my own. First day I came back in for full time (I had interned there with my own office as well), they tell me they're switching buildings to go open office in about a month's time. I got a precious few weeks with a personal office, and then it was all gone. I hated this change of scenery immediately, but I guess I got used to it after a few years.
Working from home took me back to that zen. I didn't even know how much I had missed it - how much I needed my own space to feel productive.
I've since changed jobs, and I kinda dread having to go to the open office nightmare once this is all over. The facilities are way nicer than my last job, but it's still an open office.
Open. Office. As. Implemented. In. Our. Industry. Is. Stupid.
Going to an office to write software is absolutely insane.
I like going on fridays and leaving early to drink beer with coworkers.
I'm an EM who went from full onsite, to hybrid, to full remote. This is my favorite topic.
Throughout the pandemic we surveyed employees and they largely preferred to WFH. A lesser but significant cohort preferred a hybrid setup. Almost nobody at all was in favor of full-onsite. I was in the hybrid camp. I thought I could have the comraderie of the workplace and the dynamism of a bustling city, plus enjoy the comforts and efficiencies of WFH. On paper it sounds great. In practice it doesn't work at all.
As an employee: I found that the office felt empty and dead which made me question commuting in. Nobody was really around to go to happy hours or have events. A significant portion of the people I wanted to be around were opting to stay home more.
As an employer/manager: We found capacity planning to be hard. You can't save by scaling office space down if everyone is hybrid and still coming in on the same days (tues, weds, thurs, obviously). You also can't have a lively environment with A/B days and half-staff, and it creates headaches around who needs to be in together and when people want to be there. Communicating is easier if everyone just joins the meeting from their own laptop _wherever_ and doesn't need to arrive to a conference room and fight with some silly speakerphone-camera-tv thing.
So I'm ALL IN on remote work. Does it have downsides? Of course. I miss bonding with coworkers, going out to coffee/lunch, and impromptou hack-sessions. What I have gained is different and so much more valuable: Hours of extra time per day to devote to family, friends, health and hobbies. Work is work, and life is life. It's a revelation to realize that you don't _need_ to be IRL buddies with coworkers, just do great work together, and then go do your own thing.
Commuting is literally wasted money and life-- Full-stop. Corporate workspaces are redundant if the work can be done from home rather than letting that space go unused. This is just trimming wasted time and money and putting it somewhere more useful. I also find office attire to be insane. Countless individuals stressing about what shirt/pants/shoes combo to wear... ironing and paying for dry cleaning. Just go on your zoom call wearing something and use your brain to get shit done. Thats the whole point of work.
Throughout the pandemic we surveyed employees and they largely preferred to WFH. A lesser but significant cohort preferred a hybrid setup. Almost nobody at all was in favor of full-onsite. I was in the hybrid camp. I thought I could have the comraderie of the workplace and the dynamism of a bustling city, plus enjoy the comforts and efficiencies of WFH. On paper it sounds great. In practice it doesn't work at all.
As an employee: I found that the office felt empty and dead which made me question commuting in. Nobody was really around to go to happy hours or have events. A significant portion of the people I wanted to be around were opting to stay home more.
As an employer/manager: We found capacity planning to be hard. You can't save by scaling office space down if everyone is hybrid and still coming in on the same days (tues, weds, thurs, obviously). You also can't have a lively environment with A/B days and half-staff, and it creates headaches around who needs to be in together and when people want to be there. Communicating is easier if everyone just joins the meeting from their own laptop _wherever_ and doesn't need to arrive to a conference room and fight with some silly speakerphone-camera-tv thing.
So I'm ALL IN on remote work. Does it have downsides? Of course. I miss bonding with coworkers, going out to coffee/lunch, and impromptou hack-sessions. What I have gained is different and so much more valuable: Hours of extra time per day to devote to family, friends, health and hobbies. Work is work, and life is life. It's a revelation to realize that you don't _need_ to be IRL buddies with coworkers, just do great work together, and then go do your own thing.
Commuting is literally wasted money and life-- Full-stop. Corporate workspaces are redundant if the work can be done from home rather than letting that space go unused. This is just trimming wasted time and money and putting it somewhere more useful. I also find office attire to be insane. Countless individuals stressing about what shirt/pants/shoes combo to wear... ironing and paying for dry cleaning. Just go on your zoom call wearing something and use your brain to get shit done. Thats the whole point of work.
Work from home has a huge list of tangible benefits to employees. It seems hard to argue against.
When we were in the office, there were many random events that I miss.
As an introspective person, I think WFH has done hidden damage by enabling my introversion to an extreme degree. However, I think that's more of a strike against my personality than against WFH.
Less time driving and travel costs.
Freedom to take a breaks however you please.
Fewer distractions (YMMV).
More autonomy.
Better office equipment (depends).
When we were in the office, there were many random events that I miss.
Eating lunch with people, often from other departments/projects.
Free food in the break room.
Playing MTG with coworkers.
Playing Smash Bros with coworkers.
Random hallway discussions.
As an introspective person, I think WFH has done hidden damage by enabling my introversion to an extreme degree. However, I think that's more of a strike against my personality than against WFH.
I would love to see this poll broken up into some kind of demographics of:
Are you single/married/married with kids, do you have roommates (and are they also wfh) what industry do you work in, what stage of your career are you in, are you managing people, etc.
I thought WFH would be great but it happened too early in my career. I had no savings and too many roommates, and I was not learning nearly as much on the job as I was while we were all in person. I still had to learn how to do my tasks but stopped having conversations with random coworkers about projects they were working on, stopped gossiping about our personal lives, all of our activity became measured and quantified (I freaking hate the MS-Teams online status) and my motivation suffered hard for all of it. It's hard for me to tell if it's my workplace that became dysfunctional or myself, but I wish I had spent long enough time in the office to get sick of it before being wfh.
I thought WFH would be great but it happened too early in my career. I had no savings and too many roommates, and I was not learning nearly as much on the job as I was while we were all in person. I still had to learn how to do my tasks but stopped having conversations with random coworkers about projects they were working on, stopped gossiping about our personal lives, all of our activity became measured and quantified (I freaking hate the MS-Teams online status) and my motivation suffered hard for all of it. It's hard for me to tell if it's my workplace that became dysfunctional or myself, but I wish I had spent long enough time in the office to get sick of it before being wfh.
I struggle with ADHD, and I know I work much more effectively from the office. I learned during the pandemic that I really need and missed the social interactions that occur in the office, both for my mental health and for my job (there's nothing wfh that beats a five minute hallway conversation to meet new people, learn about projects, brainstorm, problem solve, etc etc). I also need the commute to help force me to bike and stay in shape (and it does wonders for my mood!).
But at the same time, the flexibility of working from home is incredible. I have been baking like a fiend because it's perfectly suited for the periodic breaks I take during the day. I can take a nap or go for a walk almost whenever I want. I don't feel bad about these things because I'm not wasting time walking to a meeting or waiting in line for the bathroom, and they make me more productive.
So, hybrid I guess.
But at the same time, the flexibility of working from home is incredible. I have been baking like a fiend because it's perfectly suited for the periodic breaks I take during the day. I can take a nap or go for a walk almost whenever I want. I don't feel bad about these things because I'm not wasting time walking to a meeting or waiting in line for the bathroom, and they make me more productive.
So, hybrid I guess.
I'm torn between the two.
On the one hand, I feel like working in the office makes me more productive and is better for my mental health. It's a change of environment, and I'm working around colleagues who keep me a bit more focussed (less likely waste 30 minutes watching YouTube if a coworker is right beside you).
Also, on the hour-long commute I tend to read, which is terrific. So many of these books have changed my life for the better. When I'm at home I find I have too many distractions. You make a cup of tea, the cat meows and you let her in, she meows again and you let her out. You decide to read outside. Then you realise it's too sunny and grab a hat. Before you know it you've burnt through 30 minutes.
On the other hand, since working from home during the pandemic I've filled the time saved with a lifelong dream of mine - learning to play guitar! I'm absolutely loving it.
So a mix is a pretty good compromise
On the one hand, I feel like working in the office makes me more productive and is better for my mental health. It's a change of environment, and I'm working around colleagues who keep me a bit more focussed (less likely waste 30 minutes watching YouTube if a coworker is right beside you).
Also, on the hour-long commute I tend to read, which is terrific. So many of these books have changed my life for the better. When I'm at home I find I have too many distractions. You make a cup of tea, the cat meows and you let her in, she meows again and you let her out. You decide to read outside. Then you realise it's too sunny and grab a hat. Before you know it you've burnt through 30 minutes.
On the other hand, since working from home during the pandemic I've filled the time saved with a lifelong dream of mine - learning to play guitar! I'm absolutely loving it.
So a mix is a pretty good compromise
I find that I get more emotionally jerked around working in person and can insulate myself from it working from home.
Coworker acts curt to me as though they are superior and more productive than me? Rage ensues and I get an ungodly amount of work done.
Come across an inspiring/encouraging coworker or get recognition for something? I feel great and feel like I take more risks.
Coworker types super loud or acts inconsiderately? My productivity is hampered and I keep focusing on that instead of getting work done.
Attractive coworker or someone I want to impress within sight? I can’t concentrate on actual productivity and try to overcompensate by typing more and acting zoned in.
Feel like a social failure during lunch and forced to sit passively as a couple douchebag workers on adderall dominate the conversation? Feel like a bitch for a few hours.
At home, I’m as productive as I need to be and my motivation allows me to be. No more emotional volatility regarding how I relate to others around me.
Fucking incredible if you ask me.
Coworker acts curt to me as though they are superior and more productive than me? Rage ensues and I get an ungodly amount of work done.
Come across an inspiring/encouraging coworker or get recognition for something? I feel great and feel like I take more risks.
Coworker types super loud or acts inconsiderately? My productivity is hampered and I keep focusing on that instead of getting work done.
Attractive coworker or someone I want to impress within sight? I can’t concentrate on actual productivity and try to overcompensate by typing more and acting zoned in.
Feel like a social failure during lunch and forced to sit passively as a couple douchebag workers on adderall dominate the conversation? Feel like a bitch for a few hours.
At home, I’m as productive as I need to be and my motivation allows me to be. No more emotional volatility regarding how I relate to others around me.
Fucking incredible if you ask me.
Working from home was very bad for both my productivity and my mental health. Going in and seeing coworkers every day as mandatory social interaction is a godsend, and I now know I don't want to work for any company that is 100% WFH. The lower friction to just talk to people sitting next to me over having to DM them, and overhearing them complain or talk about whatever random thing they are working on is also a substantial upgrade in feeling connected to the work that I'm doing.
I'm never going back to work in an office. If companies stop with WFH I'll become a freelancer on Upwork or whatever.
Sure, there are many advantages to being in the office, learning and career-wise. But those advantages are related to just one aspect of life: work. With WFH I get perks in every aspect of life, plus it is healthier for me and to the environment, while also being better to the community I'm in - I get to spend my money here locally and not in some corporate park.
Sure, there are many advantages to being in the office, learning and career-wise. But those advantages are related to just one aspect of life: work. With WFH I get perks in every aspect of life, plus it is healthier for me and to the environment, while also being better to the community I'm in - I get to spend my money here locally and not in some corporate park.
Been working from home for 12+ years now. I can't imagine going back to an office.
I get more work done at home than I ever did in an office and I have 7 kids and we homeschool.
I get more work done at home than I ever did in an office and I have 7 kids and we homeschool.
I didn't realize how much I love working from home till the pandemic began.
Last spring, I left a company I'd been at for five years and had made several friends at because they wanted us to return to the office. I ended up landing at an all-remote subsidiary of a multinational that's super cautious about covid and hasn't even started to reopen their offices at all aside from a small handful of people who do shipping and receiving and need to do physical stuff in person. I don't regret it one iota. I ended up getting a drastic pay increase and a seriously more impressive title out of the switch.
Back in October, I went out drinking with my former boss and he told me my old company cancelled their return to the office and went all-remote again when the delta surge started. I'm enjoying my new company too much to go back, though (and, no, they haven't replaced me, and that's a long story).
Some clarification on the subsidiary I work for: they were remote-first even before covid, and while they had an office, nobody was required to work there in person even well before the pandemic started. While our parent company wasn't remote-first, as soon as covid began, they immediately told my subsidiary's landlord that they wouldn't be renewing the lease. I've also been told that the parent company has 100% committed that all meetings will be Zoom-only forever even after offices reopen, because they've found that, as a multinational company, Zoom-only meetings have solved a problem where, pre-covid, if a team had 1-2 members in a different office than everyone else, those 1-2 members would be marginalized on the team and cut out of major decisions. Zoom has been the great equalizer.
Edit: Oh yeah, the best part is that I'm in Texas but everyone else on my team is on the east coast. So I get to work from 8-4 and then close my laptop and enjoy the rest of my afternoon. Getting off at 4 every day has done wonders for my mental health.
Last spring, I left a company I'd been at for five years and had made several friends at because they wanted us to return to the office. I ended up landing at an all-remote subsidiary of a multinational that's super cautious about covid and hasn't even started to reopen their offices at all aside from a small handful of people who do shipping and receiving and need to do physical stuff in person. I don't regret it one iota. I ended up getting a drastic pay increase and a seriously more impressive title out of the switch.
Back in October, I went out drinking with my former boss and he told me my old company cancelled their return to the office and went all-remote again when the delta surge started. I'm enjoying my new company too much to go back, though (and, no, they haven't replaced me, and that's a long story).
Some clarification on the subsidiary I work for: they were remote-first even before covid, and while they had an office, nobody was required to work there in person even well before the pandemic started. While our parent company wasn't remote-first, as soon as covid began, they immediately told my subsidiary's landlord that they wouldn't be renewing the lease. I've also been told that the parent company has 100% committed that all meetings will be Zoom-only forever even after offices reopen, because they've found that, as a multinational company, Zoom-only meetings have solved a problem where, pre-covid, if a team had 1-2 members in a different office than everyone else, those 1-2 members would be marginalized on the team and cut out of major decisions. Zoom has been the great equalizer.
Edit: Oh yeah, the best part is that I'm in Texas but everyone else on my team is on the east coast. So I get to work from 8-4 and then close my laptop and enjoy the rest of my afternoon. Getting off at 4 every day has done wonders for my mental health.
A university teacher. I work from the office for now but without student. I understand the appeal of online classes but man do I miss in-person teaching. In an online class, there's virtually no reaction from students (as most students here prefer to turn the camera off) and I feel like I'm a YouTuber who's constantly talking to an empty camera.
Perhaps a bit different from the usual stories and situations I hear, so I figure I'll share my thoughts.
A few years ago (end of 2018) I ended up with a debilitating combo of anxiety, panic, depression, and stress from being overworked. That year and the following were the most difficult of my life. I had quit my job at the beginning of 2019 because I couldn't even think about work due to the cinstant chest pain. After half a year, I'd improved somewhat but began running out of funds and found another job. Unsurprisingly, my health improvements stagnated again and I continued to deal with chest pain and throat issues.
Then 2020 came. My team went remote and, suddenly, I was able to rest my back, improve my diet, avoid the majority of stressors (aside from pandemic-related ones). I ended up leaving that job for one that was intentionally full-time remote. Working remote has been the best thing to happen to my health in years. I've lost 40 pounds, eat healthier, and have total control to manage my day.
I know others prefer the office, but I don't think I'd ever want to go back regularly.
A few years ago (end of 2018) I ended up with a debilitating combo of anxiety, panic, depression, and stress from being overworked. That year and the following were the most difficult of my life. I had quit my job at the beginning of 2019 because I couldn't even think about work due to the cinstant chest pain. After half a year, I'd improved somewhat but began running out of funds and found another job. Unsurprisingly, my health improvements stagnated again and I continued to deal with chest pain and throat issues.
Then 2020 came. My team went remote and, suddenly, I was able to rest my back, improve my diet, avoid the majority of stressors (aside from pandemic-related ones). I ended up leaving that job for one that was intentionally full-time remote. Working remote has been the best thing to happen to my health in years. I've lost 40 pounds, eat healthier, and have total control to manage my day.
I know others prefer the office, but I don't think I'd ever want to go back regularly.
I think my views have changed over the course of the pandemic— originally I was thrilled by not having to commute, being comfortable, having an easy way to take a break.
Now in 2022 it sort of feels like living at the office, and the lack of separation between the two can be annoying. The flexibility to pick when I want “intense focus” time at the office has been working really well for me. (Thank goodness my company allowed us to be hybrid.)
Now in 2022 it sort of feels like living at the office, and the lack of separation between the two can be annoying. The flexibility to pick when I want “intense focus” time at the office has been working really well for me. (Thank goodness my company allowed us to be hybrid.)
We went to temporary work from home at the beginning of the pandemic. Well it's been 2 years now.
I have hated every minute of it. I used to have a 15 minute commute which was a nice bit of time to get my thoughts in order. Now I roll out of bed when my alarm goes off and do daily stand-up on zoom in my home office literally 5 minutes later. My brain is literally still asleep.
I miss people, I miss spontaneous interactions, I miss interactions with people who are not in my department. With very rare exception, I have not spoken to anyone outside of my department of 15 people in 2 years. There are over a thousand people in my company.
My wife works nights and I work during the day, which is the worst of all worlds. I hear her TV shows, TikToks, etc through the walls and they really distract me. I have noise canceling headphones, they only go so far.
When I worked at the office, my brain knew it was work time and could focus. At home, my brain is like "oh you should do the dishes", "what was that loud bang, you should check the basement?". My output has completely crashed.
My friends all had kids and moved to the exurbs, so I've seen them a couple times since the whole thing started. I'm genuinely losing my mind from lack of social interaction.
I want to go back to the office so badly.
I have hated every minute of it. I used to have a 15 minute commute which was a nice bit of time to get my thoughts in order. Now I roll out of bed when my alarm goes off and do daily stand-up on zoom in my home office literally 5 minutes later. My brain is literally still asleep.
I miss people, I miss spontaneous interactions, I miss interactions with people who are not in my department. With very rare exception, I have not spoken to anyone outside of my department of 15 people in 2 years. There are over a thousand people in my company.
My wife works nights and I work during the day, which is the worst of all worlds. I hear her TV shows, TikToks, etc through the walls and they really distract me. I have noise canceling headphones, they only go so far.
When I worked at the office, my brain knew it was work time and could focus. At home, my brain is like "oh you should do the dishes", "what was that loud bang, you should check the basement?". My output has completely crashed.
My friends all had kids and moved to the exurbs, so I've seen them a couple times since the whole thing started. I'm genuinely losing my mind from lack of social interaction.
I want to go back to the office so badly.
I've been fully remote since 2017. It's not just about personal convenience. The fully remote teams I've been a part of tend to have far more efficient meetings. I've now pushed status checks or round robin style stuff to Slack workflows. Every meeting I go to in this "good" remote world has an agenda, and generally good discussions. And I actually feel like more of a part of large organizations.
Yeah, we are planning proper "meatspace" get togethers, which will help gel the team more. But that's 2-4x a year. I don't think that needs to happen a lot to really reap some social benefits.
For everyone seeking more social interaction; just go find it locally, outside of work.
I guess I'm fully in the camp of work being intense, but time bound. And that's what remote work affords me, though I've learned to draw the lines between my work time and my personal time starkly. Once you get it right, office environments feel like such a drag in comparison.
Yeah, we are planning proper "meatspace" get togethers, which will help gel the team more. But that's 2-4x a year. I don't think that needs to happen a lot to really reap some social benefits.
For everyone seeking more social interaction; just go find it locally, outside of work.
I guess I'm fully in the camp of work being intense, but time bound. And that's what remote work affords me, though I've learned to draw the lines between my work time and my personal time starkly. Once you get it right, office environments feel like such a drag in comparison.
I've been working from home for about five years and vastly prefer it. I wouldn't be completely against going to the office one day per week, my previous company did this (my current company doesn't have an office in my country much less nearby). It would take something significant to get me back in an office full time again.
I've done both and I'm indifferent.I recognize this is probably a very pro WFH crowd but there are pros and cons to both of them. I find collaboration is just easier in person and most of the big "aha!" moments I've had came during water cooler talk.I've also had co-workers whose quality of work completely shit the bed when we went WFH and some of them were let go by management because of it. On the other hand, being able to just get up and go to the kitchen whenever I have down time or get some chores done whenever I have a moment is pretty great.
Saw the light of wfh in 2020. Won't consider returning to the office anytime soon. I'm sensitive to my environment, and staying home has been a game changer. It's opened my eyes to other ways I was ignoring my needs, too. Now I can spend my precious introvert people budget on things that are more important to me than office interactions, and perform better at work to boot.
I recognize other people prefer office work and that's totally fair. I'm just glad that the pandemic has opened easier avenues for people like me.
I recognize other people prefer office work and that's totally fair. I'm just glad that the pandemic has opened easier avenues for people like me.
For context, I'm a PhD researcher in physics. I can't imagine ever going back to working from home, and I'm dreading the inevitable day the next pandemic hits. The experience of being able to casually to someone's office and sit around a blackboard, having a discussion, is something I just never managed to replicate with teleconferencing. Curiously I am not the only one here with this experience, and almost everyone here in the institute I work at has returned to the office full-time. This is even despite working from home being mandatory by law in Belgium, and I'm unclear how the administration deals with it, as I doubt they can argue in-office presence is necessary for theoretical physics (i.e. we don't even have the excuse of having to run experiments).
Though another issue is that my home office is also my bedroom, and after a while of working from home I get an intense feeling of being cooped up that doesn't go away even after going outside. On the other hand, my office at work is very quiet and isolated. I realize for people with a decent home office but who have to work in some kind of open office at work, these experiences might be the other way around entirely. Apart from that, I was already allowed a lot of flexibility in choosing the hours I come and go, so I never had an issue with commuting or taking breaks for things like appointments with doctor/dentist/hairdresser/... etc...
Either way I'm genuinely happy for people who prefer WFH having that choice more and more, and occasionally I enjoy the flexibility of WFH for a day or so.
Though another issue is that my home office is also my bedroom, and after a while of working from home I get an intense feeling of being cooped up that doesn't go away even after going outside. On the other hand, my office at work is very quiet and isolated. I realize for people with a decent home office but who have to work in some kind of open office at work, these experiences might be the other way around entirely. Apart from that, I was already allowed a lot of flexibility in choosing the hours I come and go, so I never had an issue with commuting or taking breaks for things like appointments with doctor/dentist/hairdresser/... etc...
Either way I'm genuinely happy for people who prefer WFH having that choice more and more, and occasionally I enjoy the flexibility of WFH for a day or so.
Part of why working from home was soo effective for me at first is all the good will and camaraderie that I'd built up with my coworkers over many years - and vice versa. I imagine that if I had started a new role during the pandemic it'd have been quite different.
When people ping you on Slack or email and ask you in a really curt/terse way for something it can feel very transactional without the occasional small talk to humanise your coworkers. And I find it really hard to do that sort of small talk remotely/virtually.
So I think personally I need to have a day every week or two when you have a coffee/lunch/beer with people and get a chance to really have the small talk and put a face with the name. I also love huddling around a whiteboard for certain problems. Before Omicron I started going in one day a week and focusing it on the socialising and the meetings where in-person felt useful.
The catch with that is that it means 'work from home' can't be 'work from anywhere' - as everybody needs to be an occasionally commutable distance from the office for it to work. I also realise that it doesn't save the company money on the office if every team comes in the same day - so you might need a roster kind of thing to maximise the space. That sounds solvable to me though - enough so where it is my preference if we can make it work for 2022...
When people ping you on Slack or email and ask you in a really curt/terse way for something it can feel very transactional without the occasional small talk to humanise your coworkers. And I find it really hard to do that sort of small talk remotely/virtually.
So I think personally I need to have a day every week or two when you have a coffee/lunch/beer with people and get a chance to really have the small talk and put a face with the name. I also love huddling around a whiteboard for certain problems. Before Omicron I started going in one day a week and focusing it on the socialising and the meetings where in-person felt useful.
The catch with that is that it means 'work from home' can't be 'work from anywhere' - as everybody needs to be an occasionally commutable distance from the office for it to work. I also realise that it doesn't save the company money on the office if every team comes in the same day - so you might need a roster kind of thing to maximise the space. That sounds solvable to me though - enough so where it is my preference if we can make it work for 2022...
I prefer working from the office, not because of the social aspect but because I find that I just can't bring myself to be nearly as productive at home as opposed to in the office.
What I really miss was the period in time where I could work in the office and everyone else was working from home. The quiet of no-one else around, the productiveness of not being at home and the commute for that period of time between work/home where I can have some time just to myself.
What I really miss was the period in time where I could work in the office and everyone else was working from home. The quiet of no-one else around, the productiveness of not being at home and the commute for that period of time between work/home where I can have some time just to myself.
If by "office" you mean some large open office that you're forced to report to by 9:30-10:30 and stay for 8 hours glued to your desk the whole time with countless meetings, then no I prefer the freedom of working remotely.
I think "working remotely" is more accurate description because one can work remotely without working from home (eg. working out of a coworking space, coffee shop, or park)
I think "working remotely" is more accurate description because one can work remotely without working from home (eg. working out of a coworking space, coffee shop, or park)
When I first came to the Bay Area I was thrilled that California law stated unequivocally that I could work on, and profit by, my own stuff on my own time and equipment. I exploited that law by consulting on other projects while I worked for Intel.
But what I discovered was that since I had made "home" as much an office as "work" I didn't have anywhere to go that wasn't "work." That was very stressful for me since sometimes you really do need to get away.
After that experience I became much more judicious about working from home. A trick I used to help maintain mental sanity was to "set up" a home office for doing work when I needed/wanted to work from home, but then taking it down when I was done. That it wasn't there was the important bit in allowing me to not get stressed out about it.
But what I discovered was that since I had made "home" as much an office as "work" I didn't have anywhere to go that wasn't "work." That was very stressful for me since sometimes you really do need to get away.
After that experience I became much more judicious about working from home. A trick I used to help maintain mental sanity was to "set up" a home office for doing work when I needed/wanted to work from home, but then taking it down when I was done. That it wasn't there was the important bit in allowing me to not get stressed out about it.
I would like hybrid, but I think it is missing the biggest benefit about WFH, which is that it lets you move away from the office. I would rather my house now be near my office so I could go in a few days a week, but if it were close enough for that I wouldn't have been able to afford it.
I'll never go back to an office. I've had two kids since the pandemic started and working from home has allowed me to spend way more time than I ever expected to. It's not worth anything else to be in the office. I don't have a commute so I can use those hours to get things done, plus I'm not fatigued/drained by dodging traffic, etc. I was also able to move to a lower cost of living area, which also happens to be closer to family which also helps with childcare. WFH is more human. Going to work was a total grind which I don't thing I could physically or mentally put up with again (if I weren't forced to by necessity). Plus remote work also allows me to live closer to things I want to do (like mountains for alpine sports).
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30239283