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Anecdotally, I can tell you that I am definitely getting up later. Between not having to be get my daughter to school by 7:20 and then a 45 minute drive to the

Anecdotally, I can tell you that I am definitely getting up later. Between not having to be get my daughter to school by 7:20 and then a 45 minute drive to the office. I can roll out of bed about 7:45 and still be at my desk by 8ish. Honestly, work from home has been such a quantum leap in my quality of life. The fact that I am not spending 1.5 hours in the car every day has given me a surprising amount of time and energy. I don't dread the alarm clock going off every morning, and I can do fun things (at least, fun things that are COVID-safe) after work. I would be perfectly content to never return to an office. Probably won't happen, so I'll enjoy it while I can.

disposekinetics 6y ago
My experience has been similar. I start my day about ten minutes after I wake up, and I'm home the moment my day is done. Effectively giving two more hours of free time. With the exception of the global pandemic this is the most relaxed I have been in years.
HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago
Absolutely. The few times I've had to go into the office, it's been a major chore. I get far more done every day because even though I have a private office at work, there's still a constant background hum of chatter, people working, office machinery, etc. Not to mention that I can make pretty much anything I want for lunch, take random walks around the house or down the street to stretch my legs, jump up and do calisthenics for a few minutes at random. I'm loving this so much!
icelancer 6y ago
>> Honestly, work from home has been such a quantum leap in my quality of life. Likewise, but backwards. I hate not being in the office at least 2-3 days per week, seeing people, socializing. EDIT: WFH is great and I love it, but for me, I'm not as productive full-time on-site or full-time off-site. Having a hybrid approach is my sweet spot.
jkinudsjknds 6y ago
A quantum leap is very, very small :)
dhosek 6y ago
I have a pair of six-year-olds at home. I'm waking up later because I can, but I'm also missing out on the 45 minute "L" ride to and from work which was prime reading time for me, plus having that built-in walk at each end of the ride for exercise. I actually feel like I have less free time now than I did before.
- the_af 6y ago
  Exactly. The time gained by not commuting is spent (and worse) on stressing out and watching my 1-year old while trying to accomplish something job-related at the same time.
baxtr 6y ago
Today, for the first time, I went back to the office. It was horrible. I had to get up earlier. I had to shower before my first meeting. Get entirely dressed. Walk to the subway. Walk, walk, walk. Just to sit at a desk in an office with my laptop carried from home. What a waste of time and energy! PS: yes, it was nice to see some colleagues but I don’t wanna do it more than once a week. Max!
- Spartan-S63 6y ago
  Totally with you there. I switched jobs from a 100% in-office software engineering gig to a remote-first software company. The upshot was that there was an office in my city that I could go into and work from a couple days a week. The WFH-default, office-optional model is what I prefer now.
- ghaff 6y ago
  In a lot of places, offices are also going to be a lot different for a long time. For example, masks, limited use of conference rooms, no food service/snacks/drinks, separation, etc.
- watwut 6y ago
  The walking part is healthy through.
  - baxtr 6y ago
    Absolutely! My smartwatch was quite happy today. I just wasn’t used to it anymore I guess :D
    - HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago
      For me that's the only drawback. I have a 0.75 mile walk from the bus to work so it forced me to get a minimum of exercise. Now I have to force myself to go for daily walks. Luckily I have a 10 year-old who will keep asking until I say yes.
bluejay2 6y ago
I've actually had the opposite experience: I am waking up earlier, without an alarm clock. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for why, but overall I guess I just feel more rested and have been able to maintain more consistency in my schedule. Less socializing on weekends (which means no late nights) helps too (although I do miss some of it) As an aside, I've always said I'll know I've made it when I no longer have to wake up to an alarm clock. This is not the scenario I quite had in mind, but I'll take it.
the_af 6y ago
Wow. My experience is so different. I wake up somewhat earlier than normal, though I'm groggy and take hours to fully wake up once out of bed. My productivity is completely shot. My wife, daughter and I spend the day grouchy and stressed out. I worry about my job and my sanity. After work, I find no joy in my hobbies -- I'm worried about how little I accomplished, and start dreading the next day. I don't miss commuting, the one thing I find in common with your post.
- PaulStatezny 6y ago
  That sounds like a terrible experience. It sounds like it's hard for you to be productive working from home, so you're stressed out about your job security, and that's having an (understandably) big impact on your mood. I hope things turn around soon for you!
- radu_floricica 6y ago
  Working from home productively is objectively hard. It took me close to a decade to figure it out. I know people that gave up a freelancing career because it was too frustrating. Good news is that there's so much more information about this nowadays. Start with a google of "deep work" and go from there. It'll be time well invested. You may not get to prefer WFH, but you can definitely improve things.
  - the_af 6y ago
    The problem is specifically working from home with your spouse who also works and babies/toddlers/kids all day long at home because of the lockdown. It's a killer combination and it's not merely "working from home" (which of course has its own challenges). A person without kids or single may find it ideal. I don't.
8fingerlouie 6y ago
> I would be perfectly content to never return to an office. Probably won't happen, so I'll enjoy it while I can. I have the same experience. I absolutely loved working from home every day. Here in Denmark, where things have opened up again after COVID-19, there was lots and lots of talk about how working remotely had changed society, and things would probably never return to the old "normal". Fast forward about 4 weeks, and everybody is driving to work like they used to like COVID-19 never happened. So much for change :)
- BrandoElFollito 6y ago
  Exactly the same in France, except that you still hear about the "revolutionary changes" this brought. Tomorrow is one of the black weekends in France (worst road conditions in the year because of people commuting to or from vacation) and this is exactly like every year.

disposekinetics 6y ago

My experience has been similar. I start my day about ten minutes after I wake up, and I'm home the moment my day is done. Effectively giving two more hours of free time. With the exception of the global pandemic this is the most relaxed I have been in years.

HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago

Absolutely. The few times I've had to go into the office, it's been a major chore. I get far more done every day because even though I have a private office at work, there's still a constant background hum of chatter, people working, office machinery, etc. Not to mention that I can make pretty much anything I want for lunch, take random walks around the house or down the street to stretch my legs, jump up and do calisthenics for a few minutes at random. I'm loving this so much!

icelancer 6y ago

>> Honestly, work from home has been such a quantum leap in my quality of life. Likewise, but backwards. I hate not being in the office at least 2-3 days per week, seeing people, socializing. EDIT: WFH is great and I love it, but for me, I'm not as productive full-time on-site or full-time off-site. Having a hybrid approach is my sweet spot.

jkinudsjknds 6y ago

A quantum leap is very, very small :)

dhosek 6y ago

I have a pair of six-year-olds at home. I'm waking up later because I can, but I'm also missing out on the 45 minute "L" ride to and from work which was prime reading time for me, plus having that built-in walk at each end of the ride for exercise. I actually feel like I have less free time now than I did before.

the_af 6y ago
Exactly. The time gained by not commuting is spent (and worse) on stressing out and watching my 1-year old while trying to accomplish something job-related at the same time.

baxtr 6y ago

Today, for the first time, I went back to the office. It was horrible. I had to get up earlier. I had to shower before my first meeting. Get entirely dressed. Walk to the subway. Walk, walk, walk. Just to sit at a desk in an office with my laptop carried from home. What a waste of time and energy! PS: yes, it was nice to see some colleagues but I don’t wanna do it more than once a week. Max!

Spartan-S63 6y ago
Totally with you there. I switched jobs from a 100% in-office software engineering gig to a remote-first software company. The upshot was that there was an office in my city that I could go into and work from a couple days a week. The WFH-default, office-optional model is what I prefer now.
ghaff 6y ago
In a lot of places, offices are also going to be a lot different for a long time. For example, masks, limited use of conference rooms, no food service/snacks/drinks, separation, etc.
watwut 6y ago
The walking part is healthy through.
- baxtr 6y ago
  Absolutely! My smartwatch was quite happy today. I just wasn’t used to it anymore I guess :D
  - HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago
    For me that's the only drawback. I have a 0.75 mile walk from the bus to work so it forced me to get a minimum of exercise. Now I have to force myself to go for daily walks. Luckily I have a 10 year-old who will keep asking until I say yes.

bluejay2 6y ago

I've actually had the opposite experience: I am waking up earlier, without an alarm clock. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for why, but overall I guess I just feel more rested and have been able to maintain more consistency in my schedule. Less socializing on weekends (which means no late nights) helps too (although I do miss some of it) As an aside, I've always said I'll know I've made it when I no longer have to wake up to an alarm clock. This is not the scenario I quite had in mind, but I'll take it.

the_af 6y ago

Wow. My experience is so different. I wake up somewhat earlier than normal, though I'm groggy and take hours to fully wake up once out of bed. My productivity is completely shot. My wife, daughter and I spend the day grouchy and stressed out. I worry about my job and my sanity. After work, I find no joy in my hobbies -- I'm worried about how little I accomplished, and start dreading the next day. I don't miss commuting, the one thing I find in common with your post.

PaulStatezny 6y ago
That sounds like a terrible experience. It sounds like it's hard for you to be productive working from home, so you're stressed out about your job security, and that's having an (understandably) big impact on your mood. I hope things turn around soon for you!
radu_floricica 6y ago
Working from home productively is objectively hard. It took me close to a decade to figure it out. I know people that gave up a freelancing career because it was too frustrating. Good news is that there's so much more information about this nowadays. Start with a google of "deep work" and go from there. It'll be time well invested. You may not get to prefer WFH, but you can definitely improve things.
- the_af 6y ago
  The problem is specifically working from home with your spouse who also works and babies/toddlers/kids all day long at home because of the lockdown. It's a killer combination and it's not merely "working from home" (which of course has its own challenges). A person without kids or single may find it ideal. I don't.

8fingerlouie 6y ago

> I would be perfectly content to never return to an office. Probably won't happen, so I'll enjoy it while I can. I have the same experience. I absolutely loved working from home every day. Here in Denmark, where things have opened up again after COVID-19, there was lots and lots of talk about how working remotely had changed society, and things would probably never return to the old "normal". Fast forward about 4 weeks, and everybody is driving to work like they used to like COVID-19 never happened. So much for change :)

BrandoElFollito 6y ago
Exactly the same in France, except that you still hear about the "revolutionary changes" this brought. Tomorrow is one of the black weekends in France (worst road conditions in the year because of people commuting to or from vacation) and this is exactly like every year.