Does anyone else hate working from home?

I retired at the end of June (as previously planned) but I worked from home from the beginning of the lockdown in mid-March until then. In a previous job, I worked from home since the office was on the opposite coast and I would go there one week out of the month.

I completely agree that there is an energy you get in the office that you don't get at home. Conference calls are not nearly as effective as everyone sitting around a table, and it's so much easier to bounce ideas off co-workers when you can pop your head into their office or walk down the hall to get a cup of coffee together. Plus, there's that whole work/home separation that evaporates when your work space is your living space, especially when it's an apartment. And there were always a few handsome young men in the office wearing tight gabardine slacks stretched across their muscular butts to brighten my day.

But I sure didn't miss my 6:00 alarm, my one hour commute (each way), especially in inclement weather, having to listen to all the annoying water cooler gossip when I was trying to concentrate, or the noxious smell of one particular co-worker's cologne every time she'd walk by my office.

For me, the positives of working from home outweighed the negatives, 60/40.

No, sorry, I love working from home. The downside is that the company gets a bit more time. The Zoom calls are annoying, too. But the time saved from not commuting more than makes up the difference.

I much prefer working from home, except for the fact that I have a studio apartment so there is nowhere to to go get away on breaks. Since this is looking like the new normal, I will certainly be looking for a better setup once my lease is up. And yes, using Zoom and other similar applications can be a huge pain in the ass, but it's worth it to be in an environment I control, with my own food and coffee, no commute, no annoying fraus around, etc.

I didn't like the new open-plan, hot-desking offices they moved us into two years ago, but I hate working from home even more. The internet connection to our server tunnels sucks, I don't have a dedicated office space (and why would I, when I never wanted to work from home), and I feel like, by bringing the office into my home, it's polluting my personal space and time.

Hate it.

I hate it too OP. I find it incredibly isolating and depressing. Granted I’m single and I live alone but I think I would hate it regardless. I was in a job that required a lot of movement throughout the day and interaction with people (which I why I chose to do it) and now we are virtual for the foreseeable future and I’m miserable. Grateful to have work but if they said we could come back to the office safely with masks on - I would be first to sign up.

Nope, Id be ok if I never I had to go back to the office again.

Fuck, no. People are exhausting. I get more work done if no one is around to bother me. They’re so distracting with their petty nonsense. I don’t give a shit what you or little Snotleigh and Bratleigh did over the weekend. Get away from me.

I didn't care for most of my coworkers and was always exhausted due to the commute and sensory overload of being in a a cube farm (young millennials laughing every 15 minutes, older co-workers coughing and talking too loudly, coworkers wanting to chat). Being in the office kept me on my toes, tho, and distracted me from the fact that my work is so incredibly boring.

I hate being on Microsoft Teams. I used to be logged off all the time aside from scheduled meetings but a fat, older coworker tried to get me in trouble for not being available. I also detest fraus who spontaneously do video chat with me.

You aren't alone OP. I miss getting out of my place and going into the office. A few of my workers have said the same.

If I had to work out of home I would go crazy. Being at work gives you a good sense of routine and you're interacting with other people which is so important at this time. No cabin fever for me!

I think why working from home seems especially awful is that for those of us quarantining, you can't go to the gym, the movies, out to eat, shopping, etc. You're just in your house ALL the time.

In my dream life, I'd be self-employed and working out of a home office and meeting up with friends for dinner, movies, etc.

[quote]I also detest fraus who spontaneously do video chat with me.

R8 doesn't [italic]answer[/italic] the phone (and woe betide anyone who shows up at her door unannounced).

OP = another old floozy who needs to surround herself with pheromone-raging men.

R13 actually no. I’m not OP but some of us actually didn’t HATE our offices or our coworkers. Sorry if you are unable to relate.

There’s nothing wrong with missing the routine of going into work and seeing people. Just like there’s nothing wrong with those of you who prefer working from home.

I’m an introvert who didn’t love my coworkers and I still miss it.

I had a very, very shitty childhood. Being able to work from home is God's way of making up for my very, very shitty childhood.

In other words, I really, really, really prefer working from home to the commute, the clothes, the cubicle, the coworkers, the small talk, the conference rooms, the sack lunches, the fluorescent lighting, etc.

I miss the free coffee and the cute guys in their tight chinos. But the absence of fraus and my boss makes WFH worth it.

Gabardine slacks R1?

The people who hate working from home are probably the same type of people who don't know what to do with themselves when they retire. Gurl please. I make my own fucking routine and I don't need to go to an office to have structure in my life.

We have a staggered schedule so there aren't too many people in the office at any one time. I go a few times a week and I like it. I need the separation from work and home life and obviously it's hard to do when you work from home. It's tough when my work day is over and I'm in the same place. It's not mandatory that we go to the office so when winter comes I will go less and not have to deal with driving in the snow.

We just started using a website that allows us to reserve space in the office. You can choose 8 am - 1, 1 to 5, or the whole day. I've started going in once a week. In fact, I was in there this morning. It was nice to see a few co-workers. One I hadn't seen since before the pandemic started because she was travelling.

It was nice to set my alarm, get out of bed, back by stuff and (coffee and breakfast since our cafeteria is closed), get dressed in something besides workout clothes, and get in the car for the short drive. Now that there are fewer people going to work, and several schools are closed, what used to take 55 minutes now takes about 25. I'm also a bit more productive in the office because I have more space. My home desk is small and I refuse to convert my dining room table as an annex to my office. At that point, it will be difficult to separate my home from my workspace.

My cat likes it too. When I'm home, the TV is on all day (I'm also single and live alone). Other than my 2x daily walks (weather permitting), its the only quiet time he has.

[quote] You're just in your house ALL the time.

I know, isn’t it grand? I’ve been having my groceries delivered since mid-March and almost never get out of my caftan. I feel like an heiress!

I've worked from home for years, and my spouse has been working from home due to COVID since March. We're both in the tech industry. We both love it. Obviously, we're not lonely since we're here together along with a couple of pets. Before he worked from home, I went to the gym daily and did some shopping/errands, which was enough socialization. Coworkers of ours, however, who live alone are having a rough time working from home along with having limited social contact outside of work hours.

For me it's just the change of scenery more than anything else I miss. Being in my apartment all day, everyday is a lot. Too much.

Oh R18 fuck off. I’m nowhere near old enough to be retired so I actually don’t know if I’m that “type” of person. Maybe in 30 years I would be fine working from home. Who knows.

I can admit that I miss going into my office without you analyzing it to mean something deeper about my personality. Give me a fucking break.

I love working from home. No more "have you read my email" garbage from people five minutes after they've sent it while the stand behind you at your desk.

And I don't have to use the public bathrooms where people wipe their ass and dick hands all over everything. If I'm going to have ass and dick hands all over everything, I want them attached to a guy with a nice dick that I'm already fucking, thanks.

And my lunches are much better.

[quote]When I'm home, the TV is on all day (I'm also single and live alone).

Are you watching it? I have a friend who leaves his on CNN all day, and wonders why he's depressed.

I had another friend who got evicted from his apartment because he had his turned up so loud all day, his neighbors complained. In his case, though, he wasn't necessarily home while it was on. He said he "needed" to have that sound greet him when he came home at night.

[quote] But I sure didn't miss ... my one hour commute (each way) ... For me, the positives of working from home outweighed the negatives, 60/40.

R1, seems like the commute time alone would make the ration 80/20, at least. That's two hours freed-up.

Congratulations on retiring.

I only get to WFH one week per month, and I love that one week. I'd be happy to give up the office entirely. I get more done in 2-3 hours than in 8 hrs at the office due to distractions, people trying to get information from me that they should know but are too lazy to or new to, having to answer calls for others that aren't mine, and deal with visitors that are not my appointments. It's a shared office space. In other words, I'm not doing other people's work from home. Doing my own work at home is great.

I have worked at home for years--but my old life used to involve driving into the city in the evenings for county meetings (or community meetings) and, once per week, during the daytime for commission meetings. Now, everything for the county is on zoom, and the community meetings are half-zoom, half-outside. For me personally, my work life is fine.

What bothers me most is not being able to go to the one indie cinema in town--and also lectures and things on the weekends. A great deal of my social life has dried up.

Interesting to read different views on this. I've worked from home for 9 years and I love it so much, I consider myself so lucky to be able to and now to have had so much practice doing it.

I too miss what was a lovely diversion after work: a drink at the bar with a friend, maybe dinner; going to the gym, a movie, a play. I miss cultural events very much.

I dislike it, too, and I’m very thankful for being able to work from the office.

It’s nice to have a clear cut between work and private life, and I don’t want to associate my home with work.

R17 more like this

I used to interact with hundreds of people where I worked because I taught. I'm lonely as hell teaching a few people over skype. And, like you OP, my work was my social life.

Fucking 'Rona.

[quote]The people who hate working from home are probably the same type of people who don't know what to do with themselves when they retire. Gurl please. I make my own fucking routine and I don't need to go to an office to have structure in my life.

I haven't seen a gurl please in YONKS. Thanks, gurl - you made my day.

I've worked from home for years. But until this year I'd often go out for breakfast and nearly always for lunch. Chat with people. So I never felt isolated. Now I don't do breakfast and sometimes go out for lunch but it's so dreary with the lines and the masks. When will it ever end?

I'm in a similar arrangement R3, small living and work space, but I'm making it work. When I find a new place 12 months from now, it will be larger to give me separate space for work so that I can have a mindful break away. I was at first apprehensive about working from home because of my small space, but I made it work, and frankly, when we're allowed to go back to the office, I already told my manager that I will only go in 2-3x a week as i want to be more green friendly and it's clear that I can do my job 85% from home.

As others have mentioned, we have staggered office hours. We mostly work from home, have private shared Google docs and sheets and use Dropbox. Email is our new standard. We have few Zoom meetings; the consensus is they're a waste of time.

I ride my bike from the East Village to midtown (medium-sized book publisher) to go over print mail and books, and have my own tiny office. It used to feel very 'I Am Legend' riding on nearby-abandoned streets. Now I avoid restaurant-filled avenues to avoid the crowded parklets with covidiots determined to dine and drink outdoors.

I think I love it. I can focus better at home, I like having my cats with me all day, and you can’t beat the commute.

I don’t mind the office now that there is less traffic on the commute. I work in a tiny office and like my coworkers so it’s given me a bit of normalcy. WFH was fine in the beginning but I was definitely getting cabin fever.

Unofficially I've been working from home for about 7 years. I have an office but only went in once every week or two pre-Covid. I was a just a squatter in the office as no one else in my team/department works in my city. My manager is 100% WFH in another state so he accepted it when I just started working from home and not going into the office. As a squatter, I always felt like an unwanted stepchild anyway. Small talk with people but since my work didn't overlap with theirs, that was the sum of it. Seven years of small talk. And I hated that the office manager and assistants would always remark how long they last saw me. Who the fuck cares? What do you work on? Do you know what I work on? But of course, they had to go into the office.

I'm officially becoming WFH since the office is hiring and they want my space. Fine by me. I'm giving up the office. WFH's pros far outweigh the cons, especially if you're kinda lazy. I don't just mean for work, but the commute, the getting dressed up, etc. The con is I do feel like I've regressed in terms of social and professional behavior. And yes, since I'm single, there are many days when I have no in person contact at all and that's particularly acute in Covid times. I'm open to going back to the office but it would be for a job where I interact with actual co-workers. People who are working on the same project(s) and not just superficial interactions with people who only have one thing in common with me--corporate drones in a sea of thousands.

I do miss weekday lunches. Since I always worked from home, I made sure to lunch with friends of community contacts 2 or 3 days per week.

Now I'm down to once every two weeks (more or less) and always at the same one or two restaurants that had enough outdoor seating to be spacious.

I barely worked AT the office. Then I retired. If they'd told I would have to work AT HOME....Sally, bar the door.

R26, I watch the local 6 am news and the first two hours of the Today Show. After that, it's reruns of shows I'm not paying attention to (Roseanne, Friends, Law & Order, etc.). I try to limit my news-watching to avoid getting depressed and hyper-focused on the bad news.

I learned my lesson on and after 9/11. I was downtown when it happened and didn't get home until almost 5 pm despite leaving the office around Noon. I watched the news all day and all night for about a week. It was sensory overload so I no longer watch that much news.

I also really enjoy working from home. I save so much cash not having to buy gas, dry cleaning, daily lunches, Starbucks, fundraisers for coworkers' kids, Friday Jean Day, etc. I have a Zoom happy hour every Friday with the people I really like from work, and even meet in person to hang out. I don't feel isolated, even though I live alone. The only unfortunate part is not "moving" as much. It's amazing to realize how much more I walked when I was in the office.

The only thing I miss is a couple HOT AF dudes wearing tight chinos wrapped around their fine asses. That is all I miss.

R2 has a very good point. I teach at a university, and this morning was the first day I've been there since the lockdown in March. I left during rush hour, and although there were no traffic jams, I had to contend with the stress of constant speeding, tailgating, and asshole moves from the other drivers. I do not miss the commute one bit.

I'm teaching all on-line courses through Zoom, and it sucks. Nothing beats in-person instruction. It's not all good for the students. I take pride in getting to know my students, and you cannot do that as well on-line.

I'm also not as productive as I would be, if I went to work -- my office, the university, and the hustle and bustle of a campus. I also miss the interaction with other faculty.

In the time before COVID, I only worked from home out of necessity (such as having to be at home waiting for an engineer, or because my dog was sick) and I never liked it, although I appreciated having a job that gave me that flexibility.

Having now done it for over 6 months, I'm used to it. It's not my preference - it makes several aspects of my job harder, but there are undeniable benefits as well. I am spending less money, I am not wasting time commuting, I have a better control over my diet as I am not tempted to nip out for unhealthy snacks during the day, I can sleep longer.

The biggest issue for me is the work/life separation, I am usually pretty good at switching off from work and I think being in a work environment and then physically leaving it, for me is a good way of switching off. Working from home means that work things are on my mind a lot more as I don't have that physical, and therefore mental separation. This is even though I have an entire room to myself to work from home in, which I tend not to use the rest of the time - which is a luxury that I am well aware not everyone has.

There's definitely a big social interaction element that I'm missing, and I am generally not a particularly social person, but video calls are always a lot more difficult and take up a lot more energy than face to face interactions, for me.

I work in sales and landed a great contract for the rest of the year. That being said, I do miss the routine. Coming in, getting a coffee and talking to people about what they did last night, etc. There are some employees that annoy me, but I just ignore them.

I hate WFH and miss the energy and interaction of the office. Only thing I don’t miss are the awful bathrooms.

If I could work from home I would, 100%.

I miss fucking the cute male interns in my office. Those boys have tight holes. Mmmm

[quote] I also really enjoy working from home. I save so much cash not having to buy gas, dry cleaning, daily lunches, Starbucks, fundraisers for coworkers' kids, Friday Jean Day, etc.

I was hoping to save more $$$ on lunches, but it didn't happen.