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I Miss Working from the Office

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Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#211

Post by sharken »

Symbiote wrote: post #170
dandellion wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very good point, I'm really enjoying working from home and I attributed it mostly to not having to do the one hour commute each way, but there's so many more things that add up: - At home I have the most comfortable chair I could find on the market that fits me perfectly. At work there are very basic adjustable chairs and they use some slippery fabric. - At home I have an ergonomic mechanical keyboard vs. a…

Why not take a keyboard and mouse into the office? That issue at least is easy to fix. (I have a couple of colleagues who brought their own keyboards. We'd buy a decent keyboard for anyone who wants one, but they already had them from previous jobs with people who wouldn't do this.)

Indeed, bringing your own keyboard and mouse if necessary should be a nobrainer. Though having the employer pay for those things would be even better, but it’s not always the case.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#212

Post by [deleted] »

bartread wrote: post #42

> I miss productivity! Our engineering productivity has fallen through the floor since COVID despite everyone working longer and harder; I fundamentally do not think remote teams can ever be as productive as in-person teams. So far I haven't found this to be the case. Somewhat the opposite in fact, although here I'd credit our move from scrum/scrumban to Shape Up as much as working from home. It's not perfect though.…

[deleted]

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#213

Post by sharken »

joefife wrote: post #99
paul_f wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bit unfair. Many people socialized with the bowling team, through their church, at school, as part of a volunteer organization, etc, that may have also all shut down because of COVID.

Exactly. Before covid my life revolved around a cycling group, hiking groups, two running clubs. Now it's all be taken away.

A vaccine will hopefully bring some much needed sanity back into the world.

In my country Corona related deaths are about 1% of all deaths, but it’s treated as if it is extremely deadly.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#214

Post by plif »

st1x7 wrote: post #48

I think that what isn't discussed enough is the variance in quality of your office environment and of your home office and how that quality affects your preferences about working from home. It sounds quite obvious but in these arguments people often just state what they personally like and leave it at that. Your office can be place where you still have the option to work uninterrupted but also get the benefits of fac…

I moved during the pandemic and went from an awful to pretty great home office setup.

It's much better, don't get me wrong, but I'm surprised at how much I still miss the office. It's all about the people for me. I had no idea how much energy I got from the team and being together in the same space, even as a fairly introverted technologist. Remote communication technology is nowhere close to being able to replicate that. It's one of those things you don't realize is missing until it's gone.

I'm hoping to be able to continue with some hybrid of WFH and in-office post pandemic. However, if I had to pick one, I'd choose in-office no doubt -- even with my fancy home office.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#215

Post by dkdk8283 »

st1x7 wrote: post #48

I think that what isn't discussed enough is the variance in quality of your office environment and of your home office and how that quality affects your preferences about working from home. It sounds quite obvious but in these arguments people often just state what they personally like and leave it at that. Your office can be place where you still have the option to work uninterrupted but also get the benefits of fac…

I built a proper home office with a built in desk and electric chroma key roller shade.

My drive for socialization has been pushed to friends and family. No more work talk off the clock.

To say my qualify of life has increased by a order of magnitude is an understatement

Full disclosure: I have misophonia and also detest office smells.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#216

Post by ubercow13 »

Nursie wrote: post #174
donatj wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t follow. Why should where I spend the majority of my waking hours, the majority of my life in practical terms, not also be my primary source of socialization? I genuinely feel the opposite. Relying on your few off hours to satisfy your innate human need for socialization places an unhealthy demand on your off hours, not to mention an unfair demand on your friends and family. I am now forced to spend 8 hours a…

Because you're there to work. Because you'll change employer, maybe frequently, and most of your relationships with colleagues will fall away when you do, where relationships with friends are lifelong. WFH allows me to see more of my partner and my real friends in my local area, removing wasted commuting time into the bargain.

I have changed “local area” much more often than workplace in my career so far. I feel like in an average inner city office where many people are likely to have moved around for work, especially amongst younger people, it's probably not the case that they have a healthy group of lifelong friends already in their local area.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#217

Post by plif »

tartoran wrote: post #198
sbuk wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment really resonates with me. The difference for me is that we have an amazing office space, comfortable chairs, big desks and monitors and ample space. But, it's open plan and extremely noisy, with interruptions being frequent. It's not a space that allows deep work. I feel that 1 or 2 days in the office would make for a healthy harmony between work and life. We also really need to rethink working hours.

I completely share the sentiment. But I don’t see a world where companies keep on paying for their office spaces only to have their employees go there once or twice a week.

I do. I think something like this could become a competitive differentiator (smoother collaboration when you need it) and recruiting tool.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#218

Post by GreenWatermelon »

chrisan wrote: post #209

> I miss productivity! I don't understand the productivity unless you just have bad employees playing games or browsing reddit. My productivity has never been higher. I get more done and have more free time to work on unplanned projects/spikes exploring new tech or rethinking old problems that could be solved better. > I miss having my employer pay for electricity and heat and fast symmetric multi-gigabit Internet ac…

> Productivity

Some people have issues separating work and home, especially when the lines blur too much due to working from home. an Office makes you know you're at work, and thus it's easier to focus. For many, working from home means more distractions and thus a harder time focusing.

> Personal preference

Everything here is a personal preference, which is not a bad thing. The title starts with "I miss..." so it's not like the author claimed it's a thesis on working from home. It's the author's personal experience which resonated with quite a lot of people, of whom you aren't.

Maybe they also enjoyed the human companionship, which isn't the same over video. Maybe they don't live in a place where they can easily switch to a bigger house for a spacious work space.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#219

Post by toyg »

donatj wrote: post #181
toyg wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Humans were never intended to spend so much time alone Humans were also never intended to be forced to somehow "produce money" with other humans. "Being a social animal" for millennia meant finding your role in a relatively small group of people who shared your basic values about survival and mores , and that you could observe and befriend (or fight) over a literal lifetime, while carrying out tasks that were direc…

Then and now it all comes down to just “people near you”. You didn’t choose your village mates, you were born into it. You have more flexibility now, but you’re still just working with people you didn’t choose. Finding your role in a relatively small group of people describes most of my experience working in offices. You share the time and experiences doing some thing you have to do, not something you want to do. Loc…

But "back then" you would likely get to know them much more than you do your work colleagues. Note I'm not saying it was better, but it was definitely closer than the average work relationship today. You'd likely know their children and their relatives, share festivities etc. You can do that with workmates now but it's entirely optional, whereas before it effectively wasn't. And you would do it over decades.

> Locating sustenance or making copies, it’s same same

Your belly going hungry is a direct incentive in ways that "maybe in three months I'll get a salary increase if I do this well" simply is not, imho.

> you have things in common by socializing, not the reverse.

See, that's the difference between tribe life and modern life: now you don't even know if you have anything in common unless you actively socialize. In a tribe, commonality was immediate and from birth, socialization was a given, and you had to take active steps to be alone. Now it's effectively the opposite: you are alone unless you take steps not to be. Which has its pros and cons.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#220

Post by rcpt »

I miss it to but I don't miss the commute or the South Bay.

If the valley weren't so awful this WFH would really be getting to me. But that's not the case and I'm really enjoying my time.

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