Reddit user TheBruceDickenson asked
"What is an unfortunate reality about with Work From Home nobody talks about?"
The downsides are real, especially if you're not ready for them and armed with a battle plan for how to make it through the unique challenges.
Zoom happy hour isn't anywhere near as awesome as drinks after work... but let's be real, just as few people attend.
Home Doesn't Mean I'm Off
Working Jim Carrey GIFGiphy"When you work from home people assume you have the day off. 'Can you do...' "
"No, I'm working. I cannot do..."
"Just because I'm here working on the computer doesn't mean I can do your thing. Pay no attention to the fact that I'm browsing Reddit, it's part of my process."
- SuperstitiousPigeon5
"Oh my god yes. When I started WFH due to pregnancy struggles, I noticed that we would have a lot of people knocking on the door."
"I take calls so I’m not just lounging around. I would let the door go unanswered and then I would see my mother-in-law calling me and sending me messages that so-and-so will be stopping by for X thing."
"I would have to explain to her that I’m busy working and cannot leave my desk."
"Another thing that would happen would be her aunt, who was living with us at the time, would come to the living room to watch TV and videos on her phone. The fact that I had to tell her more than once that I am WORKING so she needs to watch TV in another room baffled me."
"I also had to explain that I have access to people’s medical information and how would she feel if she called her doctor’s office and the person she was having a conversation with was discussing her private information in front of others."
- Dreamvillainess22
"THIS. Even my family doesn’t get it."
“ 'Wanna meet for lunch?' Nope working."
“ 'Can you run to the store?' Nope working."
- dinahsaur523
Live At Work
Computer Working Late GIF by Cake FXGiphy" 'Work From Home' can easily become 'Live at Work.' "
- TanLimes
"When we went WFH in March of 2020, I went from 50-60 hours a week, to an easy 60-70 hours/week."
"Can confirm, it sucked."
"Getting laid off from that toxic place was definitely one of the best things that happened to me over the last couple of years."
- Steve_78_OH
"This was such a problem for me. I live in a studio apartment and so my computer’s always right there."
"I would find myself getting up at 2 am to just take care of something. And just going back to the computer over and over."
"I had to give up space that I had for a desk and doing hobbies to have space for work. My office at work is at least twice the size of the space I work from at home."
"The one day I had to just sit in on some stupid senior town hall type meetings where no one expected me to engage but I was supposed to be listening and I did laundry and dishes and stuff while working. On that day, it was great."
"Every other day I’ve worked from home has ended up being at least a couple more hours of work."
"It’s kept me up at night, I get way more stressed, I never move more than the 10 steps from bed to desk to bathroom and loop and done."
"Hate it. Hate it so much. I never want to work from home if possible - at least not until I have much more space."
- GenericUser435
"I have been working from home since we'll before covid. I have an office, when I am done my day, everything stays in there, including work phone."
"This is how I maintain my sanity."
- captain_redballs
Partner Perspectives
Happy Well Done GIF by LaffGiphy"When you and your partner both work from home, you miss that natural separation of your lives."
"Suddenly you have much less to talk about, because you're living your lives together more than previously, and then takes more active effort to maintain individuality and not regress into the singular relationship entity in all aspects of life which isn't healthy for anyone."
- opgrrefuoqu
"That's funny, we're sort of the opposite in that we talk a lot more than we ever did."
"It's so interesting and fun to hear him at his work and he likes to come through to my desk and have a wee rant about whatever he's been doing with."
"Also we get to go for lunchtime walks together and make each other cups of tea and I think it's really been very good for our relationship."
- bookschocolatebooks
Exacerbating Anxieties
Arrested Development Television GIFGiphy"My wife works from home and it seems like a very sedentary lifestyle."
"Sometimes, she doesn't even have to get dressed. I don't know, it just seems like if you're already anxious or depressed, you can accidentally become a shut-in."
- PREClOUS_R0Y
"Can confirm."
"I’ve had to work from home on and off the past month. The depression nest is real."
- i_am_a_toaster
"This is fascinating to me. I've been working from home for almost 2 years and I'm dreading ever returning."
"I wear comfy sweats every day. But at the same time I still shower regularly, eat normally, and maintain my regular life. I just don't have to get all put together and drive to an office for 8+ hours daily."
- Evidence-Visible
"It’s a very sedentary lifestyle while working, but not a tremendous difference from than when I was in an office."
"Oddly, it’s forced me to exercise more because I have to actually burn energy and leave my house for an hour or so."
"Working from home works for some people and not others."
"But I absolutely hate commuting. Combine that with the lifestyle choices I’ve made to stay healthier while at home, it’s made me so much happier. I can’t stress how incredible it is not to commute."
"It’s a true life-changer to get two hours of your day back."
- SPAREustheCUTTER
Sick Days
Excited I Feel Sick GIFGiphy"Working through what would have been sick days."
- whooligun
"This."
"I have COVID at the moment, first 2 days were write offs, but now I'm back to it because I can stay awake for longer than an hour at a time."
- A7exand3r
"I actually like this aspect of working from home."
"I rarely get too sick to actually work, but would still have to take time off if I thought I may be contagious. Now I can just work through those days and use my sick days as vacation on days of my choosing."
- SpaceCowboy58
Accidental Exercise
Emmy Awards Fitness GIF by EmmysGiphy"I'm missing out on a lot of 'accidental' exercise."
"I used to walk to the train station, then from the station at the far end to the office. Have a wander around at lunch."
"Now, I walk from my bed to the shower, and from the shower to my office/man cave. If I had a Fitbit, it may get as high as 50 steps by lunch."
- A_name_wot_i_made_up
"Same boat here, I used to get 10k steps minimum going into the office. Now I hit 3,500 most days."
- Lars9
"I used to take the train to Manhattan and then walk from Penn station to the office. I would get my 10,000 steps in before I even got to work. Now I am far less physically active."
- subcow
"Yeah, that’s why I got a cheap stationary bicycle in March 2020 and now I ride it whenever I’m watching TV, to make up for my former commute."
- ThePowerOfStories
Jailed
Adam Ruins Everything Jail GIF by truTVGiphy"You feel jailed."
"You work in your house, you clean the house, you cook for the family in the house and when everybody gets home from school/work you are the only one who did not get to go outside."
"Nobdy want's to come outside with you because they were outside all day."
- mageakeem
"This is my life."
"After a day inside my house looking at a computer, transitioning to being in my house to look at the TV is the last thing I want to do. I spend at least two hours just wandering around outside my house."
- reason2listen
"I’ve found that it helps to leave the house for a bit before and after work."
"Before work and the school drop off, I take a walk with the family. I don’t go back in the house until it is time for work. At the end of my workday I leave the house to do a short walk, then go back in and change clothes."
"Then I’m officially home. It sounds weird , but it works for me."
- notthatguytheother1
"I'm going to get annoyed with the place I'm working, no matter where that is."
"I'd rather it be somewhere impartial that I don't have to see when I'm not working. I don't need that negative energy towards my home, which is supposed to be my safe space."
- [user deleted]
Foregoing Fashion
Meryl Streep Sunglasses GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"I miss wearing my nice work outfits."
"The only reason I leave home is to pick up groceries, go to the gym, or go to church, so 80% of my wardrobe is going unworn."
"But I do NOT miss my 2+ hour round-trip commute, so I would never wear a pencil skirt again if it meant I had to go back to that traffic hell."
- DYITB
"Wow... I haven't seen a pencil skirt in real life for years now. I HAD seen a woman in business clothes around October."
"In Kroger, I heard the click clack of heels and it dawned on me what it was. A woman in a wonderful outfit was pushing a cart and talking on the phone like it was still 2019."
"It was like seeing a ghost."
- Columbus43219
"After the first few months of work from home pajamas freedom, I realized I needed to get dressed everyday to feel good about myself."
"So even though no one but my tiny group of friends see it, I still wear my work clothes and try to look nice."
"I think our very connected social media has us convinced you need to show off if you want to get dressed up, but people used to get fancied up to have dinner with their partner at home. And that just seems nice to me."
- Ihaveacatnamedslim
"Man, not wearing work clothes is like my number one favorite thing about working from home!"
"I've never liked business casual clothing and dress codes seemed so arbitrary to me. My work clothes were always in that category of 'Well I don't love it but it's good for work.' "
"Once I got a permanently remote gig I got rid of all those and got some nice, comfy lounge wear!"
- missluluh
Stranger Danger
I Dont Know Her Mariah Carey GIF by MOODMANGiphy"I love working from home but it can give you an everybody is just a stranger vibes. Loss of connection to the outside world is real."
- orange728
"I've been working from home during the pandemic long enough that I've seen people come and go from our team without ever having met them."
- bluetista1988
"Completely agree with you on this."
"I’ve drifted apart from certain friend groups simply because I work from home and since I do, I get to work extra long and abnormal hours including weekends. I don’t even want to get ready and step outside after finishing my workday."
"Also, I joined a new company back in June 2021 working remote full time. We have a team of over 10 people and I’ve only ever met the team lead ONCE in person to pick up my laptop."
"Even though we have daily stand-ups and weekly face-to-face meetings where we enable our webcams, I still feel disconnected and not as closely knit as a team should be."
- jwt155
No More Networking
Snl Networking GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"Every discussion needs to be intentional."
"Forget about chance meetings in the hallway. Forget about casual lunches where you build relationships. Forget about contact with anyone outside of your immediate team."
"None of that will happen without you making an effort to set up time."
"If you don't take the time to manage things, long term working from home kills networking, culture and comradery."
- hiro111
"I started a job out of college in 2018 on site, built up relationships with my team members while working and when we went hybrid it was fine."
"Started a new job this past November and feel like I only 'know' one person on my team because he’s the only one who is willing to teach or reach out to see if I’m stuck on anything."
"Even with daily meetings to start the day I don’t “know” anyone else on this team. I miss my old team and the dynamic of it so much."
- Underscore330
Must Leave Work
Joanne The Scammer Running GIF by Super DeluxeGiphy"When working in the office going back home was like a long waited nice thing to happen. I liked being back home and relax etc."
"Right now when I'm done with my work from home day job I feel like I need to leave this space because I've been sitting here all day since morning."
"I have a separate office room but still sometimes I have to leave the place for a walk, grocery etc even though the weather is bad and/or I don't need to buy anything."
"It's difficult to stay home even though I may need to do something else inside like cleaning or repairing stuff."
"I'm done working. I need to leave work."
- pawkorydzek
A Method To The Madness
Not How It Works Season 25 GIF by The BachelorGiphy"Working with people who aren’t used to working from home."
"At my old job, 50% were remote so there was just a way of doing things, even pre pandemic. Group chat (slack or teams), cc everybody on an email, rarely pick up the phone for a 1:1."
"Current job, they still behave like an office environment with one-off conversations and not keeping everybody up to speed. It’s disorienting and way more subject to Bullsh*t politics."
- pivazena
Ignoring The Chorus
Schitts Creek No GIF by CBCGiphy"My employer keeps having meetings where they try to convince us how everyone hates working from home and then just ignores the chorus of people saying that isn't true. We're good here at home, thanks."
- monosyllabicmonolith
Time Zone Trouble
Debi Mazar Aftershow GIF by TV LandGiphy"I work in a time zone that isn't the same as our company headquarters."
"If I was an in office employee, when I leave, done, no more meetings. But nothing is stopping PST folks from making a 6-7pm EST zoom meeting that I feel obligated to go to."
- NCmimsy
Separate The Stress
"When you work from home, your home and safe space also becomes your office. It’s hard to detach yourself from work stress when you just worked all day at the dining room table now you’re trying to enjoy your dinner at the same spot."
"That’s what I hated most about working from home. And this is an even bigger issue if you have a high stress job or one you dislike."
- whoknows947
The Only Negative
Surprised In Trouble GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"I started working from home in March 2020 and I love it."
"I don't have to drive an hour and a half each way anymore. I don't have to wear uncomfortable clothes. I have more time to clean the house and keep up with it during the day."
"The only negative, if you can even call it that, is that I end up working extra most days. Instead of shutting down at 4:57 to beat traffic leaving the parking garage, I'll often work until 5:15 or 5:30 or even 6 to get something done."
- Codyh630
Factions
Pirates Fleet GIF by Sea of ThievesGiphy"What I've seen around my workplace is that for those of us who, by their industry, cannot work from home, those that can are highly resented by those who can't have that luxury (and it IS a luxury)."
"When the sometimers come back into the office for whatever reason, they're shunned by those that go in every day, almost hostile towards them."
"Those that WFH a majority of time are treated like they're a part of the cleaning crew. They're in the workplace poking around a little, not talking much and then they're gone."
"There is a clear separation now between the (dare I call them) factions."
- Lincoln_Park_Pirate
If you've been working from home for a while, share some things others may not realize about it.
We'll see you (and your jammy pants) in the comments!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
But, there are a lot of distractions at home that you won't find in the workspace. Like, that giant TV begging you to stream The Office instead of doing work. Yes, it's ironic.
And, since we can't go to our favorite coffee shop, here are some items that create an ideal working environment at home.
Monarch Specialties Hollow-Core Corner Desk
The first thing you need to make your home feel like a home office is a desk. Every good home-based professional will tell you that working in the same place where you rest can get really tiring, really fast. So, this corner desk is perfect.
It's not only minimalistic and beautiful, but it adds extra storage space.
SMUGDESK Office Swivel Chair with Armrests
With a great desk, you need a great chair. If you're going to be sitting in the same chair during work hours, you might as well invest in a chair that is comfortable. Also, swivel chairs are really fun. Since it's your house you can even swivel to the kitchen and get a snack anytime.
Trust me, you need a good chair.
GLCON Power Strip Tower Wireless Charger
An average workday lasts 8 hours. So, you're going to need to charge your cell phone, computer, tablet, etc. We might depend on our electronics way too much.
Unless you somehow have 7 plugs next to your desk, this power strip tower might be a good idea.
TIJN Blue Light Blocking Glasses
Everyone should be using blue light blocking glasses. We spend so much time looking at screens that our eyes start to overwork and get tired. No matter if you're working full time for a tech company or are the owner of a small business. Computers are a central tool for our jobs.
Plus, these glasses look really cool. Like you're smart and look good, but you aren't really trying.
Laptop Bed Table Tray
One of the best perks about working from home is not getting up from bed until you're hungry. Your bed can be your workspace, and social media and Slack is the only connection you have to the outside world. That sounds ideal in my book.
Anyway, this laptop tray will make sure you're comfortable under your covers wearing your coziest pj's while you're killing it at work. Living the best life. Actually, if I can do this everyday I might start looking at the best work at home jobs.
Succulent Plants
This desk plant will help you remember the happiness of being outside.
Remember that feeling when you walked through the park, birds in the trees, sunlight on your face, one hand in your pocket, etc.
This is not that, but it's as close as you can get while staying indoors because we're quarantined.
Simple Desktop Weekly Planner Pad
When working from home, things can fall through the cracks. It's easy to lose track of your priorities when you're not in the office. So, this weekly planner pad will help you stay on top of everything.
Plus, it has been proven that writing things down can help reduce stress, so that's a bonus.
HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-One Wireless Printer
I know you're using your office printer for everything from printing documents, to printing pictures. Turns out printers are not that expensive. And, it saves you that trip to Staples.
This one is a wireless printer (give me wireless everything), that is small enough to fit in any home office and looks professional and sleek.
Adjustable Desk Organizer
Messy desk messy mind. Or something like that. Having an organized desk will help you focus on the work instead of where you last saw those post-its.
This desk organizer is perfect. It allows you to move and adjust every part so you can personalize it in a way that makes sense to you. So, whether you have a thousand color pens or two pencils, you deserve an organized space.
Bright Colors Style Motivational Classroom Posters
After long days at work, you're going to need colorful posters to keep you motivated. These do just that, without being too corny. I think we've seen enough "Keep Calm" posters for the rest of our lives.
Which one is your favorite?
Lumbar Support Pillow
With the perfect chair, you need the perfect lumbar support pillow. This is the perfect pillow to prevent back pains. You might think you're young and fit, and don't need it. But you do. You're spending hours on a chair, the least you can do is make sure your back is straight and relaxed.
Funny Mug
No matter where you're working, coffee is life. And, you can't really use these passive-aggressive mugs in the office around your boss, but you can definitely use it when you're at home alone and have a meeting through Google Hangouts.
Tihoo Keyboard Vacuum Cleaner
When's the last time you cleaned your keyboard? Actually, don't tell me. I know y'all are gross.
This tiny vacuum cleaner will make it really easy to clean the keyboard and keep your computer germ free. Especially with the virus outbreak.
COWIN E7 Active Noise Cancelling Headphones
There are distractions everywhere. Even at home. These noise-canceling headphones will ensure you focus on work and not on your neighbors' fight.
Plus, they're cheaper than many other brands but work just as well.
AmazonBasics USB-Powered PC Computer Speakers
But, if noise-canceling isn't your thing, these speakers will blast your favorite music. I mean, who doesn't blast Metallica while filling out spreadsheets?
You can plug in these speakers to the USB-port and pretend to work while watching YouTube videos.