6 ms·

The article is light on reasons for increased productivity, but according to anecdotes I've heard, it's due partly to even longer working hours at home. Concre

by panny 6y ago

The article is light on reasons for increased productivity, but according to anecdotes I've heard, it's due partly to even longer working hours at home. Concretely, when salary employees WFH, all hours have become working hours for them. I've read accounts where people are having mental issues due to the dystopic new reality where they are always at work. They end up working around the clock, because they are constantly distracted by family and domestic issues intruding during the work day. To add to their demoralization, no more office perks either. Free coffee, snacks, lunches, after work get togethers, a chance to chat with a cute co-worker, etc are all gone. Decreasing wage is also considered a productivity increase, because same now work for less pay. As people WFH more permanently, there are many receiving salary cuts as they migrate to areas with lower cost of living. The "new normal" seems pretty hellish for some.

theshrike79 6y ago
For others it's a hellscape and for others - like me - it's a blessing. I can work in the morning, make some lunch, work a while after lunch. Then the kids come home, I can help with their homework and keep working for a bit more. I can even assist colleagues in different time zones, since my computer is near me at all times. Just a quick chat during my evening (their morning) will speed things up immensely by unblocking their tasks right away. I've even spent parts of the week at the family cabin and at my in-laws. No one cared, my productivity didn't change a bit. But I think I'm privileged since my company only tracks my productivity and are smart enough to not overwork anyone on purpose. And I've had one burnout already, so I can see the symptoms of overworking and relax well before I run into any issues.
- Maakuth 6y ago
  How are you ever unwinding if you do work around the clock? For me I'm quickly feeling stress symptoms if I start to do work tasks after hours. I have a family too, so in theory it would be great for me too to do family stuff in the middle of the day and then return to work in the evening. But in practice if I do that, work will soon intrude my dreams, my mood worsens and I have less energy.
  - theshrike79 6y ago
    I don't work around the clock. Normally I'd leave for my commute at 0700 to get to the office at 8, and again leave around 1600 and be at home around 1700. When remote, most of my work gets done between 0800 and 1700. There are a few late-night calls (15-30 minutes) due to time zones and maybe a handful of times I need to consult a team on the other side of the planet during the evening. Basically I get to sleep an hour longer, since my commute is 60 seconds and doesn't require me to be dressed. Also I get to take breaks during the day any way I like - that's how I played through Spider-man on PS4 :D
nullsense 6y ago
My 1 hour commute where I got much needed downtime during which I would read books was replaced with sitting in front of my screen working. Basically wound up working additional 2 hours a day. Just totally unable to switch off either. Fucking hate it. Muh happier commuting and working with real people in an office.
- mnahkies 6y ago
  I understand the desire to work with people face to face, but regarding the lack of downtime on your commute: have you considered simply reading at home, or going to a coffee shop for an hour before/after work? I've found replacing my 1 hour subway journey with a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood with a podcast to be much better for my wellbeing
  - nullsense 6y ago
    I'm smart enough to think up those ideas on my own. Unfortunately I can't get my brain to do them. WFH is a real net loss for me. I can't enforce boundaries on my own, so the natural ones are incredibly important to me.
- theodric 6y ago
  Clock in when you would normally arrive at work, and clock out when you would leave. Even my employer, a big, ancient, conservative firm, has started telling employees to set boundaries.
  - nullsense 6y ago
    Only way I could actually do that would be to have a physical shutdown/timed power switch that cut me off. I have that for my personal devices in order to get to bed on time. If I had to WFH long term, I'd institute that for sure, else there's no way I can just switch off. I can't really set my own boundaries.
    - ondee 6y ago
akmarinov 6y ago
I've found the reverse to be prevalent for me. Instead of all hours being work hours, once I'm done with the tasks I've outlined for the day and see that there's not enough time to pick up something new - I just wrap the work day up with some time to spare. If I was in the office, I would've been forced to sit in front of a computer, even if I'm mentally clocked out.
- free652 6y ago
  So just wrap up the day? What about if something happens when you "wrapped" your day up? Or someone got a question? You still need to be at the computer, same as in the office.
  - theshrike79 6y ago
    No one can see me wrap up when I'm at home. I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. If I'm at the office, I can still just walk out when I'm done, but I can't get back to work as quickly if I'm needed. So it's just polite to be physically present for the full work day.
    - free652 6y ago
      > I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. So your phone alerts you about every work email?
      - bananaface 6y ago
        Smartphones have notification schedules for stuff like this. You can enable/disable different notifications during different hours.
      - theshrike79 6y ago
        Emails aren't for urgent stuff. I read those only when I'm at my computer. Slack messages come through when I want to - usually when I'm on the clock. I can quickly check them from my watch of phone and decide if I need to react to it or if it can wait until the next day.
jeremyjh 6y ago
The productivity gains are self-reported. No one can measure this objectively so the CIO can say whatever they want. It is not surprising that they want to say something to make themselves look good, instead of bad.
roland35 6y ago
I think it depends a lot on expectations - I have had different managers who have had different expectations even in the office! I even had one manager who said I was walking from my desk too much and I definitely don't miss that (maybe schedule less meetings??) With WFH I generally don't respond at all off hours. I keep track of my hours on a pad of paper for the week for both my timecard and for my sanity, so when I get to 8 hours I am DONE!
rsynnott 6y ago
> but according to anecdotes I've heard, it's due partly to even longer working hours at home. Yeah, personally I'm definitely working longer hours, though I'm pretty sure I'm less productive per hour, due to the psychological effects (I pretty much constantly feel awful).

by panny 6y ago

theshrike79 6y ago

For others it's a hellscape and for others - like me - it's a blessing. I can work in the morning, make some lunch, work a while after lunch. Then the kids come home, I can help with their homework and keep working for a bit more. I can even assist colleagues in different time zones, since my computer is near me at all times. Just a quick chat during my evening (their morning) will speed things up immensely by unblocking their tasks right away. I've even spent parts of the week at the family cabin and at my in-laws. No one cared, my productivity didn't change a bit. But I think I'm privileged since my company only tracks my productivity and are smart enough to not overwork anyone on purpose. And I've had one burnout already, so I can see the symptoms of overworking and relax well before I run into any issues.

Maakuth 6y ago
How are you ever unwinding if you do work around the clock? For me I'm quickly feeling stress symptoms if I start to do work tasks after hours. I have a family too, so in theory it would be great for me too to do family stuff in the middle of the day and then return to work in the evening. But in practice if I do that, work will soon intrude my dreams, my mood worsens and I have less energy.
- theshrike79 6y ago
  I don't work around the clock. Normally I'd leave for my commute at 0700 to get to the office at 8, and again leave around 1600 and be at home around 1700. When remote, most of my work gets done between 0800 and 1700. There are a few late-night calls (15-30 minutes) due to time zones and maybe a handful of times I need to consult a team on the other side of the planet during the evening. Basically I get to sleep an hour longer, since my commute is 60 seconds and doesn't require me to be dressed. Also I get to take breaks during the day any way I like - that's how I played through Spider-man on PS4 :D

nullsense 6y ago

My 1 hour commute where I got much needed downtime during which I would read books was replaced with sitting in front of my screen working. Basically wound up working additional 2 hours a day. Just totally unable to switch off either. Fucking hate it. Muh happier commuting and working with real people in an office.

mnahkies 6y ago
I understand the desire to work with people face to face, but regarding the lack of downtime on your commute: have you considered simply reading at home, or going to a coffee shop for an hour before/after work? I've found replacing my 1 hour subway journey with a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood with a podcast to be much better for my wellbeing
- nullsense 6y ago
  I'm smart enough to think up those ideas on my own. Unfortunately I can't get my brain to do them. WFH is a real net loss for me. I can't enforce boundaries on my own, so the natural ones are incredibly important to me.
theodric 6y ago
Clock in when you would normally arrive at work, and clock out when you would leave. Even my employer, a big, ancient, conservative firm, has started telling employees to set boundaries.
- nullsense 6y ago
  Only way I could actually do that would be to have a physical shutdown/timed power switch that cut me off. I have that for my personal devices in order to get to bed on time. If I had to WFH long term, I'd institute that for sure, else there's no way I can just switch off. I can't really set my own boundaries.
  - ondee 6y ago

akmarinov 6y ago

I've found the reverse to be prevalent for me. Instead of all hours being work hours, once I'm done with the tasks I've outlined for the day and see that there's not enough time to pick up something new - I just wrap the work day up with some time to spare. If I was in the office, I would've been forced to sit in front of a computer, even if I'm mentally clocked out.

free652 6y ago
So just wrap up the day? What about if something happens when you "wrapped" your day up? Or someone got a question? You still need to be at the computer, same as in the office.
- theshrike79 6y ago
  No one can see me wrap up when I'm at home. I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. If I'm at the office, I can still just walk out when I'm done, but I can't get back to work as quickly if I'm needed. So it's just polite to be physically present for the full work day.
  - free652 6y ago
    > I can go about my business around the house and get back in minutes if someone pings me on Slack. So your phone alerts you about every work email?
    - bananaface 6y ago
      Smartphones have notification schedules for stuff like this. You can enable/disable different notifications during different hours.
    - theshrike79 6y ago
      Emails aren't for urgent stuff. I read those only when I'm at my computer. Slack messages come through when I want to - usually when I'm on the clock. I can quickly check them from my watch of phone and decide if I need to react to it or if it can wait until the next day.

jeremyjh 6y ago

The productivity gains are self-reported. No one can measure this objectively so the CIO can say whatever they want. It is not surprising that they want to say something to make themselves look good, instead of bad.

roland35 6y ago

I think it depends a lot on expectations - I have had different managers who have had different expectations even in the office! I even had one manager who said I was walking from my desk too much and I definitely don't miss that (maybe schedule less meetings??) With WFH I generally don't respond at all off hours. I keep track of my hours on a pad of paper for the week for both my timecard and for my sanity, so when I get to 8 hours I am DONE!

rsynnott 6y ago

> but according to anecdotes I've heard, it's due partly to even longer working hours at home. Yeah, personally I'm definitely working longer hours, though I'm pretty sure I'm less productive per hour, due to the psychological effects (I pretty much constantly feel awful).