Post COVID, pressure on primary breadwinners

Axe_meister

I don't know if anyone else feels the same. But since COVID and a increased ability to work from home, do you find there is more pressure to always work from home, be there for deliveries, kids, etc, whilst your partner is able to their hobbies/Small business, etc.
Whilst it has positives, it does add extra pressure, reduces visibility in the workplace, potentially decreases career prospects.

CHRISB50

Yes. 

There’s a lot of distractions as well. 

For example, when I’m in the office I don’t think about putting stuff in the dishwasher, or hanging washing. When I’m at home I do. 

I don’t think I’d want to give up working from home completely. But I’m not as enamoured with it, as I was. 

It definitely has drawbacks. 

TTony

Probably depends on your WFH setup.

I've got a dedicated room in the house - my home office.  When I'm in there, no distractions.  If I'm in there and the door is closed, no disturbances at all.  

But if you're squatting on a table in the dining room (or wherever), it probably doesn't work quite as well.

Axe_meister

I have a dedicated space, but there is an assumption that I will be working from home (I have reserved one day a week I have to be in the office), but I often find if I have to go into the office at short notice, the time has been booked by my wife (she's an artist and has to reserve her silk screening machine). We have dogs at home that need looking after.
Before WFH became the norm, it was always assumed I'd be in the office.

CHRISB50

I have a dedicated office. But still find it hard to
shut out distractions at home. 

That could just be me though. 

One thing I’ve found, since COVID, is that I find it far harder to concentrate on things. My mind wanders far more than it ever used to. 

brooom

If anything, I have more problems with the trending pressure to go back to the office. I find some roles can be really productive with the WFH setup.

Offset

Axe_meister said:

I don't know if anyone else feels the same. But since COVID and a increased ability to work from home, do you find there is more pressure to always work from home, be there for deliveries, kids, etc, whilst your partner is able to their hobbies/Small business, etc.
Whilst it has positives, it does add extra pressure, reduces visibility in the workplace, potentially decreases career prospects.

Yes, 110%.  Especially now Mrs O has retired and flits around the house like a mayfly - moving stuff around, talking to the dogs while I'm on confcalls, talking to ME while I'm on confcalls, hoovering, expecting me to do shit just because I'm at home... AGGGGH.  My work location of choice was the kitchen but I've resorted to working from my study/man cave which only has a sofa - no desk or proper chair.  There are guitars up there though :-)

I wouldn't change WFH however and I've done it for >10 years, but Covid means my company has moved to WFH only by default and whereas I used to enjoy going into the City several times a month, that stopped promptly during Covid and never restarted.  I sense a trend to move back to partial office working is in the air, but when your company has divested itself of a significant proportion of its' office space and has massively restricted expense claims I can't see that happening any time soon.

fretmeister

Doesn't affect my career at all. My boss is a dick.
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I'm self employed.

Sporky

fretmeister said:

Doesn't affect my career at all. My boss is a dick.

I think I met him once. 

menamestom

I've gone the other way, in the office pretty much every day.  Perhaps 1 day WFH every 2 weeks.

The office is 30 mins walk away, 10 minutes by car or bike so commuting is not really an issue, so I tent to just make my way in as the distractions are less.  I miss some things from WFH, keeping on top of washing etc, not missing post but I generally prefer the cleaner work/lile boundary.  When I log off, I'm done, no going back to look at emails later on and when I'm at work, I don't get involved in things I shouldn't when I'm working.  

Sporky

I have a dedicated home office. Lady BMcH generally deals with deliveries. It mostly works pretty well.

If I close the door I don't get disturbed unless it's actually an emergency. 

fretmeister

Sporky said:

I have a dedicated home office. Lady BMcH generally deals with deliveries. It mostly works pretty well.

If I close the door I don't get disturbed unless it's actually an emergency. 

I have a 17 year old at home.

According to her, almost everything is an emergency. As she wants to be a nurse I think she needs to work on her triage skills a bit.

Sporky

Charge her per attendance? 

thecolourbox

I think if you're really feeling that way (and not just quoting stereotypes that get banded about when talking about working from home), then it's absolute valid to observe and think about it and whether it's what you want.

What I would say is that it doesn't have to be a bad thing, and I certainly don't buy the whole "it decreases your career prospects thing". I've improved my life and career 10 fold by working at home because I can just get on with my work and not have to put up with all the smarmy corporate bullshit in an office that all the extroverts lap up so willingly. It's not decreasing people's career prospects, it's just evening them out for those of us for whom an office situation is not their best performing surroundings. 

It suits me - I get my evenings to myself much more, I can take in deliveries, I can be way more flexible, run my piano side hustle. I went into the office the other day for a PAT test and it was awful - I had to get up 90 minutes earlier, I got home 90 minutes later, had somebody with a massive hygiene issue sat next to me, and all I saw all day were smug corporate types swanning about talking in buzzwords

Being in the office is a career reducing thing for me, not least because it's only a matter of time before I tell people what I think

CHRISB50 said:

For example, when I’m in the office I don’t think about putting stuff in the dishwasher, or hanging washing. When I’m at home I do. 

Am I alone in preferring to think about those things during work time rather than during my own time?

stickyfiddle

We don't have a dedicated room but both of us WFH and have specific areas of the apartment where we work and try not to disturb each other when busy. 

That's made easier by not having kids but if anything it's easier since we did more of it post-covid than it was before because we spent some time & effort getting our place set up in a way that works for our needs & wants now, rather than making do with the setup we had before just because we had it already.  

That last bit is crucial and I suspect something a lot of the WFH-naysayers haven't done to make their own lives easier.

thecolourbox said:

 

CHRISB50 said:

For example, when I’m in the office I don’t think about putting stuff in the dishwasher, or hanging washing. When I’m at home I do. 

Am I alone in preferring to think about those things during work time rather than during my own time?

And this I'm with you 100%. If I'm going to spend time while the kettle boils or microwave heats up leftovers I'd far rather spend that also putting on the dishwasher or chucking a load of clothes in the washing machine than have to do that after work. 

fretmeister

Sporky said:

Charge her per attendance? 

She does have a part time job but her hourly rate is a little different to mine.

Iamnobody

I think it varies massively depending on what industry you are in, what company you work for and what your setup at home is. The main pressure to WFH is me!

I’ve benefitted from WFH almost exclusively for the last 4 years. The very odd occasion I go into the office I find it more distracting and much less productive, the background noise, chatting with colleagues in the wider organisation as you’ve not seen each other for months etc. 

It hasn’t affected my progress - thankfully I’ve had the same if not better career opportunities and haven’t stood still. 

I’m also thankful that ‘life’ stuff can be completed in down time and lunch breaks etc washing, tidying, accepting deliveries etc. I can do the school run and still be at my ‘desk’ for a reasonable time. I can also have the odd long lunch (time booked out I never take the piss) and go for a decent run. I don’t have core hours as such although there’s an expectation to be available and attend meetings, so in theory I can work anytime if necessary although I try and keep a fairly standard routine - who wants to be working at 6am or 10pm?!

Depending on the task I can have background music or or listen to podcasts, I can heat and ventilate as I wish - so I’m in the right environment for me that makes me comfortable and productive - not a compromised one that’s acceptable for 50 staff or whatever. 

My wife also WFH - so I don’t have the pressure from a partner who’s got more leisure time. In fact, we barley speak in the working day, we work completely separately she’s in the house I’m in the outside office. 

Any move to return to the office would be met with as much resistance from me as possible. 

Iamnobody

stickyfiddle said:

thecolourbox said:

 

CHRISB50 said:

For example, when I’m in the office I don’t think about putting stuff in the dishwasher, or hanging washing. When I’m at home I do. 

Am I alone in preferring to think about those things during work time rather than during my own time?

And this I'm with you 100%. If I'm going to spend time while the kettle boils or microwave heats up leftovers I'd far rather spend that also putting on the dishwasher or chucking a load of clothes in the washing machine than have to do that after work. 

Yep, I like to be productive in these moments. I’ll do some body weight exercises or some shadowboxing while the kettle boils - I’d look a right tit doing that in the office, but the benefit of any movement to break up the sitting time, I think is huge.

Sporky

I have a boiling water tap to resolve that conundrum. 

thecolourbox

Sporky said:

I have a boiling water tap to resolve that conundrum. 

I don't think it's a conundrum, quite the opposite I think the kettle filling/filtering/boiling time plus the 3 minutes of tea brewing etc are a benefit as that gives time to do the bits and bobs that you then don't have to do in your own time later on

Sporky

I might have been a bit flippant there.