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I Miss Working from the Office

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Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#411

Post by partisan »

randmeerkat wrote: post #360
partisan wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the exact opposite for me. At work, we had 3 monitors, standing desks, great chairs, a gym, free breakfast and lunch, full private bathrooms with showers and towels and toiletries, amazing views, etc. Now I compete for space with some children, a spouse who also works from home, and I work on a 14 inch laptop screen from a couch. It’s a downgrade and I would work from the office if it were practical. We can go i…

You had all of that plus amazing views..?! That sounds amazing.

Plus amazing views.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#412

Post by tayo42 »

ghaff wrote: post #254
Jugurtha wrote: post #65

Yes. Some people on the internet were also advocating for a return to the office because people could not stand the loneliness anymore and need to interact socially. I had to point out that this was symptomatic of a poor social/family life [outside of work]. If someone is lonely working remotely and they miss humans, it is a sign the only humans they interacted with were colleagues. It's also a sign of what the perso…

One also has to wonder what "office life" will be like at the many companies where, even if things don't stay fully remote, a lot of people default to coming in a day or two a week. I fully expect a lot of workplaces will shift to being a place you come into in order to have meetings now and then for many. In addition, as many have noted, part of the loneliness problem that many are facing is only partly about office…

This is a good point, a lot of people are nostalgic for office life, but if those coworkers are never there what socializing are you going to be doing?

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#413

Post by heavyset_go »

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…

> Who misses the single most time sink in our lives?

Right? I'm having a hard time believing someone loves being forced to waste time twice a day, by increasing the likelihood of being in automotive accidents. Go hop on a bus or ride the train if you miss it that badly.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#414

Post by heavyset_go »

Tomis02 wrote: post #165
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.…

> Nobody's losing their minds, exactly, but plenty of people aren't really happy. There seems to be a lot of newfound concern for the wellbeing of the employees. Interesting how this wasn't an issue before Covid hit, and nobody was asked "would you prefer to work from home rather than having to deal with constant distractions in the office? Would you like to not waste your life away on a useless commute? Are you happ…

> Nah, it's only an issue now.

It's similar to how the people who would say, "suck it up, buttercup" to people with mental illnesses, are now hand-wringing about mental illnesses exacerbated by measures against COVID. They don't really care, they just found an excuse that sounds good enough to them to rail against something they don't like.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#415

Post by egypturnash »

I miss you guys working from the office. I transitioned to a laptop-at-the-cafe world years ago and now everywhere I work at is chock full of displaced workers looking for something better than the kitchen table, and has a lot fewer places to sit. At least I'm in the tropics so there's been a a growth in outdoors seating, I can't imagine how crazy I'd be going if I was still in the north.

I've got a decent home studio but getting the heck away from home regularly is really important for staying sane.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#416

Post by zmmmmm »

Grimm1 wrote: post #309
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'm in a studio apartment with every distraction I could possibly imagine (most of my own design since before this I'd just come here just to rest and recharge) the first few months were rough and overall I really prefer the office. The only thing working from home has done for me in terms of work is give me some more flexibility and prepared me for how to block out the distractions for when I move on to my own thing…

Curious about your "work in VR" comment - what is your setup?

I have been trying to do this with my Oculus Quest 1 but the resolution just seems to low / rendering quality too poor. I can see the potential for the future though and am very curious if a Quest 2 gets over a significant hump in terms of these problems.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#417

Post by bitwize »

My office was fucking WeWork. Or, as I call it, WePlayPingPong because the environment is not conducive to actual work. I was so glad to WFH, so much more productive, and I'm praying $COMPANY doesn't make us go back to the office when all this shit is over. Although they didn't renew their WePlayPingPong lease, so it might be an improvement, but still.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#418

Post by geewee »

newusr1121 wrote: post #394
slumdev wrote: post #239

I don't miss the office at all, and I never want to go back. If management asks us to go back full-time, I will start looking for another job. I'm happier and more productive than ever. I never want to go back to rotting in a cube farm pretending that 1-2 productive hours a day is enough. 1. Cubes, cube pods, and "open offices" are inhumane. 2. I don't have to wear headphones to "hear myself think" anymore. 3. Meetin…

Absolutely. There is absolutely nothing I miss about the office. I get my own bathroom at home that is clean and doesn't smell like shit all day long. I don't have to time my bathroom breaks or wait in line. I don't have to search on different floors to find a free bathroom. Not to mention the shitty quality public bathrooms you have in the US with 1 inch gaps so people get a nice view of you taking a dump. I can do…

I've only visited the US briefly but those toilet gaps were truly, truly awful

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#419

Post by comprev »

Waterluvian wrote: post #328

I've been WFH for three years and hope to never ever ever go back. I do more in 20 hours than I did in a whole work week. And I don't have to drive. I only need one car. The savings and improved convenience is just ludicrous. My one and only must-repeat tip: spend money on a proper office space. If you can, have a dedicated room. And prepare to spent a few thousand on a proper desk and chair. Okay I lied, two pieces…

100% with you on the dedicated room. Locking the door at the end of the working day is vital to me.

Re: I Miss Working from the Office

#420

Post by zmmmmm »

adrianmonk wrote: post #364
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…

> you can deduct these on your taxes as a portion of your home You can (and I have), but there are some caveats: (1) It needs to be "regular and exclusive use" (see https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employe... ). Put your desk and computer in a separate room, and it's pretty clear that qualifies. If you live in a small apartment and have your desk in your bedroom, then I'm not sure. (2) It's only a…

Another caveat depending on your jurisdiction: where I live, claiming part of your home as a work place excludes it from qualifying as you "residence" for tax purposes and can mean you get hit with a raft of other complications.

For my case, I claimed 1 room of my house as a home office for 10 years, and then when we sold the house my accountant told me we had to pay a huge sum of money in tax because there is a capital gains tax exemption for your primary residence but 25% of the house now did not qualify for that. I paid something like 5 times as much in capital gains tax as I saved from those minor tax writeoffs over the years.

Also - make sure to check insurance. Costs could be higher or you might even not be covered at all.

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