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One efficiency of WFH that is underappreciated is the ability to match working hours to capacity. I can't count how many times I was in the office and 3 PM roll

One efficiency of WFH that is underappreciated is the ability to match working hours to capacity. I can't count how many times I was in the office and 3 PM rolled around and I was completely spent. I knew that with a herculean effort I could probably squeeze a few more drops of productivity into my day, but it wasn't worth it. But you can't just "go home" at 3 PM. So you check some emails. Look over your shoulder and pull open Reddit or – dare I say – Hacker News and you while away those final 90 minutes until you can walk out the door having said you worked a full 8 hour day. Neither you nor your employer really want those 90 minutes spent that way, but it happens, and it's demoralizing all around. When working from home there is sooo much more flexibility to match productive hours with working hours. When I'm excited and energized and a project is in that flow state I might actually put in 10 hours. Other times at that 3 o'clock slump, I put headphones in and phone into a meeting (or listen to a recording) while doing random chores around the house. What time I check out of work is now a fuzzy mental calculation of how much energy I have, how productive I'd be, how much demand there is for my time, and, yes, a little bit of a simple desire to have life outside of work.

sph 3y ago
Careful, going down this path will make you realise that if you can optimise your workday and eliminate any distractions such as meetings and wasted time, you'd fill 3-4 hours of extreme focused work, and you'd be spent. In normal office work, these 4 hours of focus are spread over 8 hours. I have reached this state, and it feels surreal to complete a day's worth of work in my morning, so I have the entire afternoon for chores, research and other unstructured me or family time. The silver lining of the pandemic is that it might be the first step towards the abolishment of the 40 hours week. We're talking about 4 day work week now and it's still far too much time dedicated to your employer, that's still filled with mostly nonsense. We should be pushing for the 15-20 hour work week instead. Or just be your own boss I guess.

sph 3y ago

Careful, going down this path will make you realise that if you can optimise your workday and eliminate any distractions such as meetings and wasted time, you'd fill 3-4 hours of extreme focused work, and you'd be spent. In normal office work, these 4 hours of focus are spread over 8 hours. I have reached this state, and it feels surreal to complete a day's worth of work in my morning, so I have the entire afternoon for chores, research and other unstructured me or family time. The silver lining of the pandemic is that it might be the first step towards the abolishment of the 40 hours week. We're talking about 4 day work week now and it's still far too much time dedicated to your employer, that's still filled with mostly nonsense. We should be pushing for the 15-20 hour work week instead. Or just be your own boss I guess.