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I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

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Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#361
post #333
post #85

In my company the only ones that want to go back to the office are those engineers and managers that spend most of their day just walking around, talking to everyone about non important stuff, inviting you to have a coffee, and making jokes until 5pm. Just the people that have nothing to show at the end of the quarter. The most productive engineers, and the ones I enjoy working the most are the remote ones. The only…

I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are introverts and there are productive engineers who are extroverts. Making jokes in the office and having conversations does not take time away from doing good work - no dev is productive 100% of the time. Humans are social animals, and working _with_ someone is impo…

Extraverted engineers tend to not give others an option to be introverted. "We only do pair programming and TDD at our company" and other insanity.

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there are also huge human costs that go along with working alone all day, and in the same environment as the rest of your life. For example, commuting, while not nice most of the time, has one great impact on life: it allows you to break from work, which is not happening when you have sleep/work/hobbies/life at the same place. I'm not saying you should spend 1h in traffic or subway, but 20min and walking would…

You can also go walking/running if you WFH, which I do. At any time I want. If I'm stressed of work mid day I'll just go running for an hour and will feel super. Couldn't properly do that if I worked from office.

Why not? What's stopping you?

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#363
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The most productive engineers ... are the remote I was way more productive in the office. Home is too fun and distracting. The sounds and vibe of the office have work associations in my brain. > Problem is when people mix the office with their entire social Life. You sound like a joy to work with. What's wrong with making friends at work? I have other friends (although age makes meeting new people harder) but work…

> The sounds and vibe of the office have work associations in my brain. You’ll find that once you’re not used to that anymore, reaclimating to it will be a nightmare (and very stressful)

I found that no, that's not the case at all. I'm very relaxed now that I'm finally back in an office. I was very stressed working from home.

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#364
post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And that's a perfectly reasonable approach to hiring for a new company. And likely discriminatory. I prefer working from home because I (am caring for an ailing parent|just had a baby|am not neurotypical|have a disability|etc.) WFH is going to start being seen as a "reasonable accommodation" because the last 18 months have proven that lots of jobs can be done just fine without a physical office and denying that to e…

why is this downvoted?

>why is this downvoted?

I didn't vote, but probably it's mostly because of "In short: suck it up", because it seems like a crudely-expressed attempt to deny others the option of disagreement or further discussion

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#366
post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may just be my experience as a young person in San Francisco / Silicon Valley, but it's very common for office life and social life to be highly intertwined. I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. Many of us moved here and joined competitive, demanding companies. People bond in these situations. I really look forward to being back in the office and having a significant part of my social life return. Don't…

> it's very common for office life and social life to be highly intertwined Until there's a conflict of interest between the two zones or between two colleagues and it all goes to shit. Trust me, keep work and friends separated.

I know everyone has their own experiences, but I've just never experienced this. Makes me wonder what "friends" one is keeping as company.

I know, and I try and socialise with people who know, that work is just work, and its not worth sacrificing personal/social life just to simp for a boss.

I've met my best friends at work. I've moved across the world to another country with former colleagues. Created extremely deep connections with colleagues who've lead me to much personal growth.

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#367
post #85

In my company the only ones that want to go back to the office are those engineers and managers that spend most of their day just walking around, talking to everyone about non important stuff, inviting you to have a coffee, and making jokes until 5pm. Just the people that have nothing to show at the end of the quarter. The most productive engineers, and the ones I enjoy working the most are the remote ones. The only…

>In my company the only ones that want to go back to the office are those engineers and managers that spend most of their day just walking around, talking to everyone about non important stuff, inviting you to have a coffee, and making jokes until 5pm. Just the people that have nothing to show at the end of the quarter.

This is more applicable to managers, who have a lot to lose and might feel compelled to protect their dubious skills/roles/responsibilities, which are now being eroded and automated by 'Bossware'.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/01/bossware/#bossware

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/06/inside-invasive-secret...

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#368
The few times I was able and allowed to go back to the office, I personally loved it. Having separation between work and the rest of life is much harder when working from home. It also means I get to see and talk to more than 3 people. Much appreciated.

It does probably help that work is a 20 to 15 minute cycle, and I work in a 3-person room, rather than an open space.

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#369
post #333
post #85

In my company the only ones that want to go back to the office are those engineers and managers that spend most of their day just walking around, talking to everyone about non important stuff, inviting you to have a coffee, and making jokes until 5pm. Just the people that have nothing to show at the end of the quarter. The most productive engineers, and the ones I enjoy working the most are the remote ones. The only…

I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN. Everyone’s job is different, everyone is different. There are productive engineers who are introverts and there are productive engineers who are extroverts. Making jokes in the office and having conversations does not take time away from doing good work - no dev is productive 100% of the time. Humans are social animals, and working _with_ someone is impo…

> I can’t believe such over generalized garbage is upvoted on HN.

"When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. 'That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3' can be shortened to '1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: I went to the office for the first time. I fucking hated it

#370
post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The most productive engineers ... are the remote I was way more productive in the office. Home is too fun and distracting. The sounds and vibe of the office have work associations in my brain. > Problem is when people mix the office with their entire social Life. You sound like a joy to work with. What's wrong with making friends at work? I have other friends (although age makes meeting new people harder) but work…

> The sounds and vibe of the office have work associations in my brain. You’ll find that once you’re not used to that anymore, reaclimating to it will be a nightmare (and very stressful)

From my experience it’s best to keep coworkers and friends in separate circles. Most of your coworkers aren’t truly your friends and have their own personal motives. You compete against them during performance reviews and promotions. It’s difficult to determine if you can trust or confide in any coworkers. Stick with true friends you can confide in and have healthy relationships with.
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