I Miss Working from the Office • Hacker News Board

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#31

Post by intricatedetail » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:13 AM UTC

mrweasel wrote: post #15

The biggest one for is, as mentioned in the article: casuasl collaboration. I mis being able to just walk over to a coworker. I’m just home every other week, which strikes a reasonable balance for me.

I always found the fact that I can be interrupted at any time in the office very annoying. When I was in the flow and then someone comes up with a question that makes me switch context, then that affected productivity badly. Other colleagues raised this too and in the end we adopted a rule that you either ask a question on Slack or schedule an appointment. After that we found we could get much more done. Some people didn't like this though and left, but with the remaining devs we had an awesome team.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#32

Post by nonbirithm » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:13 AM UTC

I gave up trying to work from home and commute to the office as an essential worker, because the distractions were so frequent I was not getting much work done. I'm the only person in the office and it is night and day for my productivity.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#33

Post by Smaug123 » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:14 AM UTC

intricatedetail wrote: post #23

as1mov wrote: post #14

I recently switched jobs and the new company onboarded me remotely. It's difficult for someone who's new to get acquainted with the new job remotely. Simple things like a small question regarding the codebase turns into a video call with a colleague where you first ping them on chat and ask them if they are free and then schedule the call. Even if the whole thing takes 10 minutes, it's too much compared to just turni…

It seems like a communication issue. Why would you need a video call to ask a question? Problem is that people are used to verbal communication and lack skills to convey a message in writing. When worked in remote first company it was a non issue, rarely had to go on a video call. We had social calls often, but work stuff easily worked out over text. It is also about culture - we had a codebase very well documented a…

It's not quite entirely about culture - I do think that a synchronous call with someone provides better opportunities to detect their unknown unknowns, because you get to see their thought process as they formulate the question. Obviously one can get by without it, but I think this is one of the places where the lack of serendipity actually does hit a little.

Once someone has fewer unknown unknowns, though, the act of asking a question by text can often be enough of a rubber duck that they don't need to hit "send" at all.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#34

Post by mfDjB » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:15 AM UTC

Through my career I've traveled to new countries and cities for work, each time the office helped me connect with people and make new friends, some of my best friends in fact. What does the future hold for me in this respect? It seems like a lonely place.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#35

Post by globular-toast » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:16 AM UTC

I have the complete opposite experience. I miss very little from the office because my desk at home is bigger and cleaner, my monitors are better, it's quiet and private, and my productivity is through the roof.

If productivity is truly down then it just sounds like some work is different and has different needs. As for having a lower quality of life because you now live in a city for no reason, you have to adapt. Things have changed. Deal with it.

And never forget the grass is always greener on the other side.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#36

Post by canofbars » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:16 AM UTC

ArcMex wrote: post #19

Still getting used to being with the missus 24/7. Blissful at first, now getting work done can be difficult. Sometimes it's interpreted as neglect or being aloof, IDK. I miss missing her and making our time together that much more special.

Not really relating to this. While I'm working from home I just put my headphones on and ignore everyone else at home. Are you not able to do this?

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#37

Post by quickthrower2 » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:16 AM UTC

politelemon wrote: post #18

feralimal wrote: post #13

No offices, everyone work at home - everyone so busy... And then you look around, what is all this work achieving? What were we achieving when we worked in the office? Were we doing anything real at all?

We were sustaining the system that sustained us, so that we could sustain it.

We’re all pixers. Making pixels appear.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#38

Post by tingol » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:17 AM UTC

villgax wrote: post #20

I miss being able to leave office-work at the office at 5PM. No calls no BS after 5 is what I miss the most.

I've been working remotely for years and no one calls me after 5pm. Maybe you should change jobs because it has nothing to do with remote work.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#39

Post by qz2 » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:17 AM UTC

I don’t. If I work from home for 15 years then I gain 1 entire year back of my life from not having to commute.

Also no one can tap me on the shoulder :)

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#40

Post by knuthsat » Sat, Nov 21, 2020, 10:18 AM UTC

I have too much pressure from my significant other. She can't look at me doing nothing (when I'm thinking or having my 15 minute rest between productive hours). Every single time I need to clean something up.

I started going to the store and cooking lunch during work hours.

Then I also get complaints about not doing the dishes while I'm working.

It was nice when the work and home were separated and I just did all my household chores on my non-work time. Now I'm constantly interrupted.