5 ms·

I genuinely miss the office. Being in a different space for work (one that was pretty gorgeous), in a nice part of downtown, able to tap people on the shoulder

I genuinely miss the office. Being in a different space for work (one that was pretty gorgeous), in a nice part of downtown, able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat, more spontaneous collaboration (right before we went remote again I overheard two people discussing an area I have some expertise in and was able to interject and provide useful insight), extra productivity (I do better when I'm around others working, worse when I am alone), the occasional happy hour, the occasional lunch with others, the not horrible drive where I can jam tunes or listen to podcasts and have some time to myself. Not being able to do all of that has brought me lower and lower as the months go by. Made a similar comment on reddit and got downvoted into oblivion but this is really how I feel and it really does impact me negatively. I'm sure I'm not the only one, though it does feel like I might be in the minority.

xtat 5y ago
Yes please don't randomly tap people on the shoulder and ask quick questions.
hansor 5y ago
Amen! You are not alone. :)
zmmmmm 5y ago
I get a lot of what you say but this one drives me bonkers: > able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat My work requires so much focus, having people randomly tap me on the shoulder to ask a question they could just drop in chat is debilitating. I'm curious you phrase "having to ping them over chat" negatively? I would say the same sentence almost totally in reverse: "Now I no longer have to interrupt people to ask them a question, I can just ping them over chat for a reply when they are ready"
- gaoshan 5y ago
  Our work is very collaborative and being able to get quick feedback on some issue is nice. Having to ping them over chat is annoying because while it may result in a quick answer it may also just disappear into the ether (or the chat app fails to deliver, the person steps away but you don't know this, etc.). Again, our work is collaborative and if someone wants to be left alone they throw on headphones in which case everyone knows to just ping them over chat so they can respond whenever is convenient for them.
  - justrudd 5y ago
    If I may, what industry do you work in that needs this level of collaboration and such a quick turnaround on it? I agree with you that it can be nice. But in thinking back on my career, I’ve never been in an industry that needed it (beyond dealing with operational events).
    - loganfrederick 5y ago
      For me the right middle ground was the collaborative coffee break. Different team members or even departments spend ten minutes walking or lounging in the kitchen, and that's where comradery and spontaneous ideas and collaboration can happen, without it disrupting the big chunks of flow in the day. This I do miss working from home.
  - tikhonj 5y ago
    It sounds like you're saying that work can't be collaborative without people interrupting each other with no warning, but that isn't my experience at all—my experience has been that the most collaborative work happens when people are intentional about how and when they communicate, which seems easier to encourage in a remote setting.
- stevage 5y ago
  Absolutely, that was the worst part of office working. I've worked from home for 5 years now and love that part.
- baud147258 5y ago
  in the office, even if the person I want to ask a question is next to me, I'd usually ping them beforehand and wait for their answer, it feels more polite this way.
- distrill 5y ago
  Even for something quick, I will type up a question and then go over it a few times, make some edits, probably provide some links for context. It just feels like a bigger deal than just asking someone next to you. In person they can cut me off when they start to get it, or I can tell from their face that I need to keep going with more context, it's just more more collaborative. In chat I'll either end up having to answer a ton of follow up questions for detail, or I'll drown the question in context. Yes, I can get better at asking questions. But tbh most of this complexity stems from me trying to ask questions well to begin with. IDK, pinging someone over chat seems like more of an intrusion than just asking a question. Also, I won't, like, ask someone to take off their headphones for this. I'll ask them at lunch, or when we're grabbing coffee / snacks. Over chat there's no coffee break, it's all "headphone" time, from my perspective.
  - kwhitefoot 5y ago
    > In person they can cut me off when they start to get it, the problem is that you have already interrupted their flow. Getting back into that takes valuable time.
    - distrill 5y ago
      I'll wait for coffee or lunch. There are natural places throughout a work day to ask someone a question without interrupting their work time. I specifically said that I wouldn't interrupt someone's flow.
  - Draiken 5y ago
    But the act of tapping someone in the shoulder and break their concentration already does all the harm IMO. Once you've done that, headphones on or off is redundant. In my experience, 99% of these disturbances could be avoided with a bit more effort on the side of the person interrupting. So what generally happens is that the person concentrating loses his focus - very likely getting out of the zone - and helps them with something that they could've done themselves. For me it really seems selfish the majority of the time. Urgent matters, things that really block you and you absolutely can't figure out, sure. Almost anything else can wait a bit for a response.
- QuercusMax 5y ago
  When I'm sitting in close proximity to other humans, I can often tell what they are doing. People can give signals that they are currently occupied; this could be things like putting on headphones, etc. It's pretty easy to tell when someone is doing focused work vs. talking to a desk mate, etc.
- patcon 5y ago
  I hear what you're saying. However, i loved being tapped and then helping people. it was my very favourite distraction, and assuming i was actually helping them with work, I felt zero guilt about losing my focus. it's very personality specific, I suppose * shrug *
tezzer 5y ago
I'm with you, 100%
tmm 5y ago
For those of you who miss the office, what does your life look like outside it? Do you have an active social circle? Do you have regular, sustained, positive interaction with your neighbors (i.e. do you do more than say hello in passing)? Kids who do sports? A long commute or a short one? A house or an apartment? Do you do your own housework or do you hire it out? When you're in the office, where do you work (e.g. private office, cubicle, open plan)? Prior to working from home (since late 2018), my social circle was limited to the office. After nine years in the same neighborhood, I knew two neighbors (three before the ones next door moved away) and only one who I knew well enough to ask to pet-sit. Work and commuting consumed all of my time. I had a boat I visited once a month (mostly to make sure it still floated), hobbies that sat unnoticed for weeks or months at a time, and a house and garden that were decaying around me; all because I never had time for them. I paid a housekeeper to clean and a lawn service to cut the grass. I never liked the commute, but I did enjoy the office. Lunch with coworkers, happy hour at the bar next to the office, hanging out in the cafeteria or someone's office were all enjoyable activities. I would never trade a single benefit of working from home to get them back. Double my salary and a short commute (or a chauffeur) might tempt me back for a while (if only because I could then pay people to do a lot of the projects I'd otherwise put off), but it wouldn't keep me. Work from home has allowed me to: - not be distracted if I don't want to be. No one is on a speakerphone; there aren't conversations in the hallway; if the espresso machine makes noise, it's because I'm using it. Even having a private office with a solid, lockable door didn't insulate me from office noise the way working from home does (yes, there are more dogs barking, children playing, and lawns being mowed ... but unless I'm in a meeting those noises aren't distracting the way people talking is) - meet many of my neighbors (helps that they're mostly all working from home too) - spend more time at the marina. Used to be, I could only do that on weekends - work on my house. Used to be, I was too tired when I got home, so again limited to weekends - take a break from work during the day and still be productive on something else (housework, hobbies, etc). Before, taking a break from work meant a visit to the cafeteria or a chat with a coworker. Weeding a garden, washing my car, folding clothes, organizing my tools; all of these are fantastic activities for thinking up solutions to work problems - go racing every Wednesday night. Before, if I wanted to be at the dock at 5:00, I'd have to leave the office by 3:00. That really wasn't possible. Now I leave my house at 4:45 to be there on time. This, by far has been the biggest impact ... new friends at 36, who knew! - reclaim two hours of my life from commuting ... sure I could have moved closer to the office, but I tried that once and my next job just took me that much farther from home - reclaim my evenings because I'm not exhausted from commuting - work on my schedule. Aside from meetings, I can mostly work when I know I'll be most productive ... either early in the morning or late in the evening. And noone cares if I take a nap at 2:00 every day
mdekkers 5y ago
> able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat The ability for me to switch of chat/email and just get stuff done, without people tapping on my shoulder or standing next to me because they want something is one of the key reasons why I have been working from home for the past 10 years. I’ll come to the office for a week or two every 8 weeks or so, and that’s it. My productivity takes an insane nosedive in the office, simply because open-plan, interruptions and distractions.
- Leherenn 5y ago
  I am ok with people switching off for a while, but then you really need to catch up, otherwise it's really painful for people working with you. I've had colleagues who would maybe quickly look at their mail/chat once a day (usually early in the morning before most people arrived). Latency is high, but that's manageable. But the most annoying is that maybe you would get an answer, maybe not. So you would need to ping them several times over several media, hoping one catches their attention. In meetings you regularly have to re-state/explain stuff because it was sent in a email and they didn't read it, while everyone else is up to date. A common example: assign them a MR. Gitlab is too noisy (by default), so they redirect every mail from Gitlab to the trash and don't get a notification. You ping them on chat about the MR, wait a couple of days, no review. So you re-ping them. This time a review happens, maybe the next day. There are some comments, so you fix/answer them. Of course they don't know that you did (and don't check), so you need to re-ping them and wait. Depending on how insistent you are, even a small MR can take a week or two. The end result (which might be what they want ultimately) is that you avoid collaborating with them as much as possible because of how painful it is.

xtat 5y ago

Yes please don't randomly tap people on the shoulder and ask quick questions.

hansor 5y ago

Amen! You are not alone. :)

zmmmmm 5y ago

I get a lot of what you say but this one drives me bonkers: > able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat My work requires so much focus, having people randomly tap me on the shoulder to ask a question they could just drop in chat is debilitating. I'm curious you phrase "having to ping them over chat" negatively? I would say the same sentence almost totally in reverse: "Now I no longer have to interrupt people to ask them a question, I can just ping them over chat for a reply when they are ready"

gaoshan 5y ago
Our work is very collaborative and being able to get quick feedback on some issue is nice. Having to ping them over chat is annoying because while it may result in a quick answer it may also just disappear into the ether (or the chat app fails to deliver, the person steps away but you don't know this, etc.). Again, our work is collaborative and if someone wants to be left alone they throw on headphones in which case everyone knows to just ping them over chat so they can respond whenever is convenient for them.
- justrudd 5y ago
  If I may, what industry do you work in that needs this level of collaboration and such a quick turnaround on it? I agree with you that it can be nice. But in thinking back on my career, I’ve never been in an industry that needed it (beyond dealing with operational events).
  - loganfrederick 5y ago
    For me the right middle ground was the collaborative coffee break. Different team members or even departments spend ten minutes walking or lounging in the kitchen, and that's where comradery and spontaneous ideas and collaboration can happen, without it disrupting the big chunks of flow in the day. This I do miss working from home.
- tikhonj 5y ago
  It sounds like you're saying that work can't be collaborative without people interrupting each other with no warning, but that isn't my experience at all—my experience has been that the most collaborative work happens when people are intentional about how and when they communicate, which seems easier to encourage in a remote setting.
stevage 5y ago
Absolutely, that was the worst part of office working. I've worked from home for 5 years now and love that part.
baud147258 5y ago
in the office, even if the person I want to ask a question is next to me, I'd usually ping them beforehand and wait for their answer, it feels more polite this way.
distrill 5y ago
Even for something quick, I will type up a question and then go over it a few times, make some edits, probably provide some links for context. It just feels like a bigger deal than just asking someone next to you. In person they can cut me off when they start to get it, or I can tell from their face that I need to keep going with more context, it's just more more collaborative. In chat I'll either end up having to answer a ton of follow up questions for detail, or I'll drown the question in context. Yes, I can get better at asking questions. But tbh most of this complexity stems from me trying to ask questions well to begin with. IDK, pinging someone over chat seems like more of an intrusion than just asking a question. Also, I won't, like, ask someone to take off their headphones for this. I'll ask them at lunch, or when we're grabbing coffee / snacks. Over chat there's no coffee break, it's all "headphone" time, from my perspective.
- kwhitefoot 5y ago
  > In person they can cut me off when they start to get it, the problem is that you have already interrupted their flow. Getting back into that takes valuable time.
  - distrill 5y ago
    I'll wait for coffee or lunch. There are natural places throughout a work day to ask someone a question without interrupting their work time. I specifically said that I wouldn't interrupt someone's flow.
- Draiken 5y ago
  But the act of tapping someone in the shoulder and break their concentration already does all the harm IMO. Once you've done that, headphones on or off is redundant. In my experience, 99% of these disturbances could be avoided with a bit more effort on the side of the person interrupting. So what generally happens is that the person concentrating loses his focus - very likely getting out of the zone - and helps them with something that they could've done themselves. For me it really seems selfish the majority of the time. Urgent matters, things that really block you and you absolutely can't figure out, sure. Almost anything else can wait a bit for a response.
QuercusMax 5y ago
When I'm sitting in close proximity to other humans, I can often tell what they are doing. People can give signals that they are currently occupied; this could be things like putting on headphones, etc. It's pretty easy to tell when someone is doing focused work vs. talking to a desk mate, etc.
patcon 5y ago
I hear what you're saying. However, i loved being tapped and then helping people. it was my very favourite distraction, and assuming i was actually helping them with work, I felt zero guilt about losing my focus. it's very personality specific, I suppose * shrug *

tezzer 5y ago

I'm with you, 100%

tmm 5y ago

For those of you who miss the office, what does your life look like outside it? Do you have an active social circle? Do you have regular, sustained, positive interaction with your neighbors (i.e. do you do more than say hello in passing)? Kids who do sports? A long commute or a short one? A house or an apartment? Do you do your own housework or do you hire it out? When you're in the office, where do you work (e.g. private office, cubicle, open plan)? Prior to working from home (since late 2018), my social circle was limited to the office. After nine years in the same neighborhood, I knew two neighbors (three before the ones next door moved away) and only one who I knew well enough to ask to pet-sit. Work and commuting consumed all of my time. I had a boat I visited once a month (mostly to make sure it still floated), hobbies that sat unnoticed for weeks or months at a time, and a house and garden that were decaying around me; all because I never had time for them. I paid a housekeeper to clean and a lawn service to cut the grass. I never liked the commute, but I did enjoy the office. Lunch with coworkers, happy hour at the bar next to the office, hanging out in the cafeteria or someone's office were all enjoyable activities. I would never trade a single benefit of working from home to get them back. Double my salary and a short commute (or a chauffeur) might tempt me back for a while (if only because I could then pay people to do a lot of the projects I'd otherwise put off), but it wouldn't keep me. Work from home has allowed me to: - not be distracted if I don't want to be. No one is on a speakerphone; there aren't conversations in the hallway; if the espresso machine makes noise, it's because I'm using it. Even having a private office with a solid, lockable door didn't insulate me from office noise the way working from home does (yes, there are more dogs barking, children playing, and lawns being mowed ... but unless I'm in a meeting those noises aren't distracting the way people talking is) - meet many of my neighbors (helps that they're mostly all working from home too) - spend more time at the marina. Used to be, I could only do that on weekends - work on my house. Used to be, I was too tired when I got home, so again limited to weekends - take a break from work during the day and still be productive on something else (housework, hobbies, etc). Before, taking a break from work meant a visit to the cafeteria or a chat with a coworker. Weeding a garden, washing my car, folding clothes, organizing my tools; all of these are fantastic activities for thinking up solutions to work problems - go racing every Wednesday night. Before, if I wanted to be at the dock at 5:00, I'd have to leave the office by 3:00. That really wasn't possible. Now I leave my house at 4:45 to be there on time. This, by far has been the biggest impact ... new friends at 36, who knew! - reclaim two hours of my life from commuting ... sure I could have moved closer to the office, but I tried that once and my next job just took me that much farther from home - reclaim my evenings because I'm not exhausted from commuting - work on my schedule. Aside from meetings, I can mostly work when I know I'll be most productive ... either early in the morning or late in the evening. And noone cares if I take a nap at 2:00 every day

mdekkers 5y ago

> able to tap people on the shoulder for quick questions rather than having to ping them over chat The ability for me to switch of chat/email and just get stuff done, without people tapping on my shoulder or standing next to me because they want something is one of the key reasons why I have been working from home for the past 10 years. I’ll come to the office for a week or two every 8 weeks or so, and that’s it. My productivity takes an insane nosedive in the office, simply because open-plan, interruptions and distractions.

Leherenn 5y ago
I am ok with people switching off for a while, but then you really need to catch up, otherwise it's really painful for people working with you. I've had colleagues who would maybe quickly look at their mail/chat once a day (usually early in the morning before most people arrived). Latency is high, but that's manageable. But the most annoying is that maybe you would get an answer, maybe not. So you would need to ping them several times over several media, hoping one catches their attention. In meetings you regularly have to re-state/explain stuff because it was sent in a email and they didn't read it, while everyone else is up to date. A common example: assign them a MR. Gitlab is too noisy (by default), so they redirect every mail from Gitlab to the trash and don't get a notification. You ping them on chat about the MR, wait a couple of days, no review. So you re-ping them. This time a review happens, maybe the next day. There are some comments, so you fix/answer them. Of course they don't know that you did (and don't check), so you need to re-ping them and wait. Depending on how insistent you are, even a small MR can take a week or two. The end result (which might be what they want ultimately) is that you avoid collaborating with them as much as possible because of how painful it is.