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Personally speaking, I cannot wait to have the opportunity to be back to the office 100% of the time. I just cannot cope with the lack of proper division betwee

Personally speaking, I cannot wait to have the opportunity to be back to the office 100% of the time. I just cannot cope with the lack of proper division between my home life and work life. Some of my colleagues agree, but I obviously recognise the fact that most do not. Even before the pandemic our organisation had hybrid working conditions and I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re aiming for again in the near future; for good or for ill.

loloquwowndueo 5y ago
“ lack of proper division between my home life and work life.” This tells me you’re doing WFH wrong or don’t have enough discipline for it. That’s okay, wfh is not for everyone, but don’t blame this on anyone but yourself. There are tons of ways to have that proper separation, including but not limited to, replacing the transitional commute with a walk to switch contexts. You can find a lot of tips and techniques on the web. When I’m done with work for the day, I’m done, and it doesn’t intrude in my home life, even though my “office” is literally in the next room.
- seoaeu 5y ago
  I'm sorry, but seriously how out of touch do you have to be that 14+ months into the pandemic you still think that people can't have poor WFH experiences for reasons out of their control?
  - pdimitar 5y ago
    Can you give a few examples of those reasons?
    - seoaeu 5y ago
      Lack of a dedicated home office, children/family members interrupting, noisy surroundings, bad setup, etc. I'd argue that "brain chemistry unsuited for WFH" qualifies as well.
      - pdimitar 5y ago
        I understand that life circumstances and general aversion to WFH can make one not like it -- absolutely. And the reasons enumerated are fair. I don't think your original parent poster meant ill, IMO they were just saying that bending your home WFH setup to your will is achievable but I get it that some people just don't want to -- or their estate is too small or otherwise unsuitable for WFH (like kids not understanding your need to focus). Where it gets problematic is that even if some people absolutely can't do WFH (and some absolutely can't do work from office like myself for the last 10 years and a half) and even with us respecting each other, the end result is not always productive -- one group doesn't work well with the other (reasons unknown, at least for me?) and it all kind of ends up in "us vs. them" mentality. :(
- ushkarev 5y ago
  I don’t blame anybody at all. You may well be right, there are likely many ways to make working from home more comfortable for me. Although I’ll add that I only have one room so my “office” is literally my bedroom. However, why must I make it work if/when I get other options? I liked working in an office with other people. I definitely don’t mean to generalise - I know loads of people who don’t feel the same way as I do. I was just sharing my personal experience.
  - loloquwowndueo 5y ago
    Oh if you have other options and you prefer them, go for it :)
- dimmke 5y ago
  I am reasonably productive WFH (I was 2 days a week remote before pandemic and have had fully remote jobs in the past)- but the way some people talk about it really bothers me. The people that want it, really want it, are almost like zealots about it. Where if anybody mentions that they struggle with WFH, they get mad almost like it's a kid raising his hand to tell a teacher they forgot to collect the homework. And I get it - Going full remote would literally be life changing for a lot of people. But there has to be nuance there. People often talk about the importance of a "third place" in communities. A place that isn't home or work for people to socialize. The WFH zealots are advocating for a complete elimination of even a "second place" - But the workplace is something a lot of people benefit from. You form deeper connections and sometimes friendships with your coworkers, some people use it as a way to concentrate away from the responsibilities of home. Getting rid of the office would have huge implications on our society as a whole. I also feel that WFH was easier for me when I did it after having been in office for a long time. Both in terms of connections with the team and having office time helps instill discipline around work. As newer generations enter the work-force without that, I can see it being really hard for them (in both directions - in that they slack off and don't do anything or that they become workaholics.)
  - benrbray 5y ago
    I really like your point about losing our "second place". It's a great way to verbalize the feeling I've had that permanent WFH on a major scale takes American individualism to the logical extreme. Rather than learning to live with each other, we'll all just retreat to our own little castles (or shacks), taking all focus away from making public spaces enjoyable for everyone. Who needs public transit when we never leave home? Whatever your station in life is where you'll stay, there are no trains coming. We'll all have a carefully curated whitelist of like-minded neighbors to protect ourselves from witnessing any of the negative externalities of our lifestyles. Our only view of the outside world will be entertainment news that coddles our doxastic anxiety, telling us the exactly what we want to hear at all times.
    - dimmke 5y ago
      >takes American individualism to the logical extreme. It's funny that you opened your comment complimenting how I verbalized something, but this feels like an even better verbalization of it. What's the answer to my crappy 2 hour a day commute? Remote work, not funding public transportation. It's all about convenience without stopping to think of what we're losing as humans. We didn't evolve to live these siloed lives without any sense of community. I feel like American society forments a lot of loneliness. And the tone of it really comes through in the people who advocate so fiercely for it - there's an entitlement there.

loloquwowndueo 5y ago

“ lack of proper division between my home life and work life.” This tells me you’re doing WFH wrong or don’t have enough discipline for it. That’s okay, wfh is not for everyone, but don’t blame this on anyone but yourself. There are tons of ways to have that proper separation, including but not limited to, replacing the transitional commute with a walk to switch contexts. You can find a lot of tips and techniques on the web. When I’m done with work for the day, I’m done, and it doesn’t intrude in my home life, even though my “office” is literally in the next room.

seoaeu 5y ago
I'm sorry, but seriously how out of touch do you have to be that 14+ months into the pandemic you still think that people can't have poor WFH experiences for reasons out of their control?
- pdimitar 5y ago
  Can you give a few examples of those reasons?
  - seoaeu 5y ago
    Lack of a dedicated home office, children/family members interrupting, noisy surroundings, bad setup, etc. I'd argue that "brain chemistry unsuited for WFH" qualifies as well.
    - pdimitar 5y ago
      I understand that life circumstances and general aversion to WFH can make one not like it -- absolutely. And the reasons enumerated are fair. I don't think your original parent poster meant ill, IMO they were just saying that bending your home WFH setup to your will is achievable but I get it that some people just don't want to -- or their estate is too small or otherwise unsuitable for WFH (like kids not understanding your need to focus). Where it gets problematic is that even if some people absolutely can't do WFH (and some absolutely can't do work from office like myself for the last 10 years and a half) and even with us respecting each other, the end result is not always productive -- one group doesn't work well with the other (reasons unknown, at least for me?) and it all kind of ends up in "us vs. them" mentality. :(
ushkarev 5y ago
I don’t blame anybody at all. You may well be right, there are likely many ways to make working from home more comfortable for me. Although I’ll add that I only have one room so my “office” is literally my bedroom. However, why must I make it work if/when I get other options? I liked working in an office with other people. I definitely don’t mean to generalise - I know loads of people who don’t feel the same way as I do. I was just sharing my personal experience.
- loloquwowndueo 5y ago
  Oh if you have other options and you prefer them, go for it :)
dimmke 5y ago
I am reasonably productive WFH (I was 2 days a week remote before pandemic and have had fully remote jobs in the past)- but the way some people talk about it really bothers me. The people that want it, really want it, are almost like zealots about it. Where if anybody mentions that they struggle with WFH, they get mad almost like it's a kid raising his hand to tell a teacher they forgot to collect the homework. And I get it - Going full remote would literally be life changing for a lot of people. But there has to be nuance there. People often talk about the importance of a "third place" in communities. A place that isn't home or work for people to socialize. The WFH zealots are advocating for a complete elimination of even a "second place" - But the workplace is something a lot of people benefit from. You form deeper connections and sometimes friendships with your coworkers, some people use it as a way to concentrate away from the responsibilities of home. Getting rid of the office would have huge implications on our society as a whole. I also feel that WFH was easier for me when I did it after having been in office for a long time. Both in terms of connections with the team and having office time helps instill discipline around work. As newer generations enter the work-force without that, I can see it being really hard for them (in both directions - in that they slack off and don't do anything or that they become workaholics.)
- benrbray 5y ago
  I really like your point about losing our "second place". It's a great way to verbalize the feeling I've had that permanent WFH on a major scale takes American individualism to the logical extreme. Rather than learning to live with each other, we'll all just retreat to our own little castles (or shacks), taking all focus away from making public spaces enjoyable for everyone. Who needs public transit when we never leave home? Whatever your station in life is where you'll stay, there are no trains coming. We'll all have a carefully curated whitelist of like-minded neighbors to protect ourselves from witnessing any of the negative externalities of our lifestyles. Our only view of the outside world will be entertainment news that coddles our doxastic anxiety, telling us the exactly what we want to hear at all times.
  - dimmke 5y ago
    >takes American individualism to the logical extreme. It's funny that you opened your comment complimenting how I verbalized something, but this feels like an even better verbalization of it. What's the answer to my crappy 2 hour a day commute? Remote work, not funding public transportation. It's all about convenience without stopping to think of what we're losing as humans. We didn't evolve to live these siloed lives without any sense of community. I feel like American society forments a lot of loneliness. And the tone of it really comes through in the people who advocate so fiercely for it - there's an entitlement there.