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When working from home is toxic

morgan.zoemp.be

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Re: When working from home is toxic

#61

Post by voakbasda »

stank345 wrote: post #19

Getting back to working from the office last week has done wonders for my mental health. I went from being locked up for a year WFH with my wife and kids in a small row home working out of my goddamn basement to actually being able to concentrate in a beautiful, still-mostly-dead office with a view. There's an exercise room on my floor that no one uses so it's basically my private gym. I can chat a bit with the few c…

I have had the exact opposite reaction. I work remotely and have for almost 30 years. I live deep in the forest with no neighbors for interaction. I love it.

This week was my first trip to town for errands where I was not mandated to wear a mask. In less than a week, social distancing has become a thing of the past. Life looks completely normal again, and I hate everything about it.

I still wear my mask and keep my distance, but I got the distinct impression that this will not be tolerated by the majority for much longer. When most people stop doing something that was “normal”, it is longer viewed as normal; our abrupt population-wide shift seems to emphasize this perceived deviance in the eyes of many. Consequently, I felt even more like an outsider than usual, even though there were a handful of others wearing masks.

Even before the pandemic, I needed the extra bubble of space. I actively avoided crowds. The pandemic created a world that I enjoyed greatly, and I feel a tragic loss that it is now past and may never be seen again.

You may feel liberated and whole again, but I feel like I am back to living in Hell. I face existential dread at the very prospect of going to town. One man’s pleasure is another man’s poison.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#62

Post by ghaff »

shagie wrote: post #12
xwdv wrote: post #2

You know what we need? Something that is the equivalent of a blue check mark for remote workers. The check mark would mean that this worker has a home office setup that meets or exceeds standards for remote work. The certification process can be handled by a neutral third party. The standards would be stringent, a laptop on on some corner desk wouldn’t quality. You must have a room with a door that can be closed IMO.…

For WFH, the organization that I work in had a form that I had to fill out prior to getting authorization. It essentially looked like something from OSHA. * The working area is maintained between 68°-76° * The working area is free of tripping obstructions * The working area has a adjustable chair * The working area has handholds on any staircase of more than two steps Etc... And yes, I am working on improving the are…

Hah. I have a pretty nice home office but it probably doesn't consistently fall in to that temperature range. Often colder in the winter and I don't turn on the noisy window AC unless it gets really hot. (And I don't know what tripping hazards are.) But, sure, I'll check the boxes. Lying to employers is pretty traditional.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#63

Post by long_time_gone »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #55

To me the home office wins out by a lot: Small cubicle with no window near by is a common office situation. Lack of exposure to sun disrupts the circadian rhythm. Vs Sitting next to a window at home. Many Office AC systems don't filter the air from pollutants adequately. Cheap office carpets tend to have all kinds of chemicals that off gas. No way to open a window to get fresh air. Vs the typical home office with a w…

==Sitting prolonged times in a chair, and not being to take a bathroom break for long times.==

Your office doesn’t let you use the restroom?

Re: When working from home is toxic

#64

Post by dukeofdoom »

long_time_gone wrote: post #63
dukeofdoom wrote: post #55

To me the home office wins out by a lot: Small cubicle with no window near by is a common office situation. Lack of exposure to sun disrupts the circadian rhythm. Vs Sitting next to a window at home. Many Office AC systems don't filter the air from pollutants adequately. Cheap office carpets tend to have all kinds of chemicals that off gas. No way to open a window to get fresh air. Vs the typical home office with a w…

==Sitting prolonged times in a chair, and not being to take a bathroom break for long times.== Your office doesn’t let you use the restroom?

The one office where I worked, it was always locked and logged with an access card. So I never tended to use it as often. Vs now I can take a shower at home any time I want to.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#65

Post by Kiro »

probably_wrong wrote: post #21

> My concern with such a chart is that not everyone has a home office that looks as good as a traditional workplace. In addition, interruptions happen at home too and chatting with coworkers is not a problem per se. I wish every person arguing for or against home office would open their comment detailing what their home setup looks like. As someone living in an apartment with no backyard and a small desk placed in th…

I have a fantastic setup at home. Much better than the open plan office I'm used to but I still hate working from home. My home would never qualify as an accepted working environment. I don't even care about colleagues. I just want the separation between work and home.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#66

Post by underseacables »

probably_wrong wrote: post #21

> My concern with such a chart is that not everyone has a home office that looks as good as a traditional workplace. In addition, interruptions happen at home too and chatting with coworkers is not a problem per se. I wish every person arguing for or against home office would open their comment detailing what their home setup looks like. As someone living in an apartment with no backyard and a small desk placed in th…

I live in a modest ranch house with my wife and kids, and my “home work area” is the kitchen table. I was overjoyed to return to the office so I could get my job out of my house. The separation makes all of our lives significantly easier.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#67

Post by cortesoft »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #38
cortesoft wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is really hard to enforce office boundaries on two year olds. He doesn't seem to care no matter how many times I sit him down to tell him I need to work.

The moment I posted the comment, I was like, "Crap, forgot about kids." Yeah. Our solution was to install a lock. Are you in a situation where you can do the same thing? The lock happened to be to our basement, which isn't exactly a nice place to work in. But it was effective. A lockable side room might make all the difference.

Our house doesn't have any extra rooms for an office. My office is the corner of the living room. There is nothing to lock.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#68

Post by lordnacho »

probably_wrong wrote: post #21

> My concern with such a chart is that not everyone has a home office that looks as good as a traditional workplace. In addition, interruptions happen at home too and chatting with coworkers is not a problem per se. I wish every person arguing for or against home office would open their comment detailing what their home setup looks like. As someone living in an apartment with no backyard and a small desk placed in th…

I think one of the main things you need in a WFH setup is a choice about where you sit. Even just being able to sit at the other end of the same table can somehow change my mood. Perhaps it's something about the sunlight or just being in a different place that is refreshing. I can definitely see how people who are crammed into one particular place might find it miserable.

As it happens I have a whole load of choices about where to sit, and I often change it up.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#69

Post by stank345 »

fartcannon wrote: post #40
stank345 wrote: post #19

Getting back to working from the office last week has done wonders for my mental health. I went from being locked up for a year WFH with my wife and kids in a small row home working out of my goddamn basement to actually being able to concentrate in a beautiful, still-mostly-dead office with a view. There's an exercise room on my floor that no one uses so it's basically my private gym. I can chat a bit with the few c…

My experience with offices is literally the exact opposite. They're like high school full of corporate nonsense, cheerleading and other childish behaviours. My work from home life, with my beautiful wife and child at arms reach, is a miracle.

Yeah, my office isn't really like that. It's quite quiet (more so than I would like if I'm being honest). The culture is engineering-biased and not bro-y. It's also a B Corp, so for profit but with a mission. I think that helps create a positive work environment since coworkers self-select as people who want to have a positive social/civic/environmental impact and generally are thoughtful and respectful people.

Honestly, for me I think I just need to move my body through space and talk to people to be happy. I'm probably more gregarious than your average developer, but definitely still an introvert and talking to people all day would be exhausting. Still, I need some social interaction. I feel like WFH was in some sense easier (could sleep in later, for example) but I just felt like I was withering away. I was craving some sort of variety, some stimulation, seeing different things and people. Being surprised by things! I missed all of that. Video calls are a poor facsimile of human interaction and the whole pandemic period felt dehumanizing.

Re: When working from home is toxic

#70

Post by ghaff »

yoz-y wrote: post #60
treespace8 wrote: post #32

I just don't understand these articles. The office isn't going anywhere. Don't worry, if you want to work in an office that option is not going away. Working in the same physical space as management will aways have an edge on remote workers. That's why it won't be going anywhere. I can only speak for myself, but I feel that for many of us this is a once in a lifetime chance to establish working for home as a complete…

Some people may genuinely fear that is going away since there is a lot of talk about hot-desking at the very least. Not having to pay for offices also has its advantages. Finally it adds to signal, without pro-office articles one would think that everybody hates working from the office.

That's really the main thing. To the degree that coming into offices half-time becomes normed, it's reasonable to expect that companies will shift towards more flexible desk arrangements as leases come up or space otherwise gets tight. I've even seen this pre-pandemic when people weren't using their cubes a lot.
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