How effectively Can you WFH

[mitch84]

I’m wfh, with my laptop perched on the arm of the sofa, the dog at my feet and a husband who has had to close his business wandering around. Not ideal but I’n currently our only income so we’re managing

[mrsmickey]

My husband and I both Normally work full time, we sometimes wfh anyway but are presently finding work very hectic and very stressful. Meanwhile, we have a six year old reluctant learner, who is frustrated And upset with how much time we are working At the moment and won’t do any of his school work.

We each give ourselves dedicated desk time each day, usually about four hours each, and then alternate childcare; whilst looking after our little monster we’re checking emails and when he gets a tv break the laptop is back out, plus we spend our early mornings, evenings and weekends working to try to keep up With things (no idea why I’m on the DIBB right now!)

It’s stressful every day and I’m tired; but we have a good income and our health which is the important thing at the moment

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by duchy

I disagree , my feeling is if equipped properly it’s just geography but often without the distractions of a busy office.
Proper desk, chair, equipment etc is essential
A laptop of the sofa or at the kitchen table isn’t good enough.
It may be manageable short term but not for the long haul.

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I agree with you - a proper desk, chair, equipment, etc would be ideal and would definitely help.

However, I think I - and the hundreds of others who usually work at my place of work - will be waiting a long time before that happens. Plus they’d have to find somewhere in my house to put a desk. It’s part of the reason why going into an office environment - which has all the space, proper desks, supportive chairs, large display screens, wipe boards, and other equipment that my home doesn’t have - helps significantly.

Anyway, until then, we’ll have to manage - whether that’s in the short term or ends up being for the long haul. Clearly if I was planning to work from home permanently then, yes, we’d take the time to set something up a bit more suitable. But one day I was in work and the next day I was at home trying to work out how to get Jabber to work without having a 3 second delay.

[MaMasher]

I’m wfh for the first time ever. I’m a Homelessness Officer with the local authority and there are 7 in our team. We are classed as front line key workers and 5 officers are having a rota day each covering our reception/assessment hostel and myself and another officer are at home full time. I’m having to stay home for the 12 weeks and there was no preparation. I’m working from a laptop after being used to double screens and at first it was by sitting on the sofa! I had to buy a small table and chair and it’s set up in the bedroom. My husband has to shield and isn’t able to work from home, luckily still on full salary, my daughter is furloughed. I hate that my working day is now happening from my home. I want to keep them separate.

To be honest whilst I get through a power of work I’m not keen and wouldn’t do this through choice. I definitely sit much longer, in fact a lot of days I lose track of time and then find I’ve not moved for over 4 hours. We have conference calls and we do hear the kids in the background, none of my colleagues have put their children into the schools. It is pretty relaxed but I feel totally out of the loop and miss everyone and the normal banter. I also feel awkward speaking to applicants about their homeless assessment, discussing personal issues, speaking to social or support workers etc as I’m aware my husband and daughter can hear a lot of what is being discussed. The way I’ve had to set up the table and laptop means I can’t fully close the bedroom door. I have to send my letters to the officers on duty and rely on them to print and mail them. We have group chats and keep up to date on them. I find myself with sore shoulders , neck and sometimes headaches by the end of the day.

I have been trying to stick to regular hours 9-5pm and I leave my phone at lunchtime and go through to the living room. I have to admit there has been a lot of days I’ve sat and worked in my PJ’s, but lately I have been making an effort to wash my hair and dress most days. I’ve not worn makeup for 6 weeks though! I can work alternative hours if I want, the officers with children work various hours to fit schooling and caring into their day. We really need to have face to face contact in this job and I’m looking forward to when the offices reopen and I can reclaim the bedroom to a bedroom only.

Our local authority is starting to push home and flexible working and if it came to it, I would possibly work a day here and there at home, but I much prefer being office based and due to the nature of our work our manager tends to agree.

[TheHughesCrew]

My husband is WFH and is managing to be almost as productive as he is usually. He works in insurance. He's taken over the dining room table, so we're eating off our laps. We've brought our teenage sons desks downstairs too, as they struggle to motivate themselves to do their schoolwork in their bedrooms. Watching YouTube all day is so much more fun ! We have an open plan lounge/ kitchen/ dining room so we have the space, but I think they would be better off with proper chairs. It's not perfect by any means, but they're managing. We're lucky enough to have fibre broadband.

I'm a nurse, so can't WFH...

[JAF]

Out of interest if you are having to work from home are you able to claim any tax allowances for this. My brother had a permanent job working from home and was able to claim for certain items and wondered under the current situation if this still is applicable?

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by duchy

Sounds odd , for external issues OR are pretty quick at the moment all things considered , despite the fact they have fewer engineers due to illness or isolation they are also doing minimal visits to homes for obvious reasons which has freed up more.
If it lingers on PM me and I’ll take a look if you like.

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Very kind of you, thank you

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by duchy

I disagree , my feeling is if equipped properly it’s just geography but often without the distractions of a busy office.
Proper desk, chair, equipment etc is essential
A laptop of the sofa or at the kitchen table isn’t good enough.
It may be manageable short term but not for the long haul.

See more...

yeah that was my point for a short time then using the dining room table is fine, but long term you need to commit to an 'office' space not everyone has the space or budget to set up properly.. We have a 4 bed house and i use the box room, so without building an extension we couldnt accommodate another "office"

there is also GDPR with what may be visible on screens/printers etc etc

[justacey]

Originally Posted by JAF

Out of interest if you are having to work from home are you able to claim any tax allowances for this. My brother had a permanent job working from home and was able to claim for certain items and wondered under the current situation if this still is applicable?

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My friend told me about this, so you've promoted me to look into it.

blog.moneysavingexpert/2...-claim-p6-wk-/

[Mexy02]

Originally Posted by justacey

My friend told me about this, so you've promoted me to look into it.

blog.moneysavingexpert/2...-claim-p6-wk-/

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Our employer is giving us £10 per month allowance but we may claim this. Not going to cover the costs though but we all appreciate how much it has cost the business so far to get us all home in a safe environment even though it’s far from ideal . We have to be grateful that our families are safe and they are grateful that we are still at over 90% production so the odd dog barking or child talking isn’t anything major for them . I’d be ashamed to work for any company that thought otherwise if I’m honest .