do you miss your office?

by Alison Green on September 24, 2020

We often think of working from home as a perk (you can work in sweats! with a cat in your lap!), but with so many people switching to remote work because of Covid, lots of them have discovered they don’t much like it.

Part of that is because of the circumstances, of course: we’re in the middle of a highly stressful crisis with no timeline for its end, and lots of people are trying to juggle child care along with work. But some of it is that people just aren’t liking working from home full-time as much as they thought they would.

Do you miss your office? Are you surprised by your reaction to working from home? Are you sick of working in your kitchen and overhearing all your spouse’s calls? Let’s discuss the dark side of working from home in the comments.

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  1. ElizabethJane*

    If I didn’t have a three year old also at home I think I’d like it more. Or a different house. I don’t mind the solitude and I love the flexibility but my current set up leaves much to be desired. If I’d have planned for a work from home job (and we weren’t in a pandemic) I think I’d like it more.

    1. katy*

      I totally agree – if my house were set up for all three of us to work from home full time, it would be a lot better. But when you can’t go to a cafe or anywhere else, it’s hard with everyone home on top of each other. A lot of what I used to like about my job was traveling and meetings with clients, so all of that is gone now. I don’t love the office, but some variety would sure be nice.

      1. AVP*

        This really resonates with me – I was WFM before the pandemic and don’t miss having an office at all, but I desperately miss going to coffee shops and my co-working space and the occasional client office. Turns out just getting outside was an important part of my work ritual, and now I have no reason to!

        1. Diahann Carroll*

          Yup, I too was full time WFH pre-COVID, and the inability to just go somewhere, anywhere else during the day like I used to suuuuucks. I still wouldn’t want to go back into anyone’s office anytime in the future, but man, do I miss (briefly) interacting with people other than my coworkers and family during work hours.

          1. Emdash Enthusiast*

            Same same. I’ve been WFH for more than a decade, but now with no coffeehouse meaning no change of scenery, nothing easy about a quick dip out to do errands, and a sidelined creative endeavor meaning no fun distraction, I feel like I’ve become a fusspot like I never was before.

          2. Seeking Second Childhood*

            It’s ridiculous really how much I’ve gotten to like taking the dump run on a long lunch once a week. Saturdays there are lines of cranky people and many who get too close… Wednesdays there are conversations from opposite sides of cars and dumpsters.

        2. Liz*

          I found I actually enjoy walking; where I hated it before. But just being able to get out and walk at lunch or after work really helps me a lot! i get pissy in fact when its raining or like all summer when the weather was way too hot!

        3. iliketoknit*

          My current job doesn’t lend itself to working anywhere other than home or office (security issues), but in a previous life I used to work in coffeeshops a LOT, and I missed that even before covid! It makes a lot of difference in the day.

    3. regular reader, rare commenter*

      My now-4-year-old has been back in daycare about a month now (and 6-year-old back in school) and I like WFH way better now that it’s just me solo. It really does make a difference when you aren’t constantly being pulled away from work to deal with your kids.

      1. MusicWithRocksIn*

        My kid is back in daycare too – and strangely I am doing more driving now than if I worked from the office. Daycare is near my work so I have to drive out there and back twice a day, rather than just once if I was in the office. But, sweatpants and I can do laundry while home, so there are perks.

    4. Businessfish*

      Every day it is that video from a few years ago of the professor giving a live TV interview where his 2 kids bust in and then his spouse army crawls in to extract the kids shut the door.

    5. BridgeNerdess*

      Same here. It was great when I was working from home and my kids were in daycare/camp. Now I have a kindergartener and a second grader who are 100% online and it’s no fun. For anyone involved. They don’t understand “important” and will pester me while on the phone. Meltdowns, loud noises, all normal kid stuff but it makes it really hard for me to work. I’m tech support and tutor, while managing a small remote team and responding to clients. I’m working odd hours to catch up, taking calls and meetings through Teams on my phone. I’m frustrated and short with my kids. I feel like I don’t get a break. I’m “on” from the moment the kids wake up until they go to bed, then I have to play catch up.

      Basically, it feels like I’m failing everyone. I’m dropping balls at work and I’m not the patient, helpful mom I want to be. When all this is over, I will need a serious vacation to decompress.

      1. Penthesilea*

        I so feel you on this. My kids are old enough that the virtual school thing is going pretty well, but dealing with the stresses and frustrations of work in front of an audience makes everything harder. My kids know a lot more about my work stresses than they did six months ago! The mixture of them into my workday has just doubled the frustration level because I can’t get away to vent to a coworker, even on the phone.

    6. Happy Pineapple*

      The only company I have is my cat, and even for someone introverted like myself it can get really lonely. I loved it for a little while in the beginning, I was desperately unhappy and had cabin fever for the next few months, and now I think I’ve accepted it as the new normal. I do love the flexibility, but also miss the motivation and separation of work and home life that comes with having a routine.

    7. Jane*

      A different house definitely would make things better. I live in a tiny apartment, a lifestyle choice to free up money for travel and hobbies, but not at all suitable for WFH. No study/spare room, and I’ve had to purchase a desk and install it about one meter from my bed. When all this is over, I’m going to appreciate the physical separation between work and home so much more.

    8. Kelli*

      I miss my office since I am such an extrovert. I need to see and interact with people. Yea I have my family here but the office atmosphere is different. I’ve been at my company for 11 years and essentially could work at home when I wanted and was doing one maybe two days a week from home. Being thrust into employee, teacher along with chef, mom, wife and all the other titles we hold…I’m exhausted. I also miss my commute which was my decompress time.

  2. 867-5309*

    I don’t miss going to the office everyday but do miss being there sometimes. There is more energy when collaborating with colleagues – do you know how difficult it is to white board on video?! I also miss the side chats, walking to get a coffee and so forth.

    We’re going to return just two days a week when appropriate to do so and I think that’s the right amount.

    1. Julianna*

      I agree with this—I actually love working from home, the only point of the office was the collaborative environment. But I do miss being able to collaborate with my coworkers.

      Once we do go back, I definitely want to try a wfh/office split.

      1. Hazel*

        I agree about wanting a WFH/office split, too, and I never thought I would feel that way! I used to work from home a lot, so when we first started having to work from home, I didn’t love it. At all. I was, however, grateful that I could continue working and earning an income, but then I got laid off. I got a new job, and I really like my new colleagues, and I appreciate that just about everyone turns on their camera when we have meetings. It helps me get to know who’s who. Now that I finally have a good setup at home (comfortable seating, second monitor, good lighting, etc.), I’m getting used to working at home, and I actually don’t hate it. It’s nice to avoid commuting/get more sleep when I need to. But I’m an extrovert, so I really need to be around people, and I get a lot out of being with coworkers in the office, so I’ll appreciate that when it’s possible.

        1. Betho*

          I’ve been doing a WFH/in person split since May and I really like it. WFH days would be even better if I didn’t have to help kids with school in the mornings. But I can sleep in a little and wear comfy clothes on WFH days, I try to schedule most meetings with outside people on WFH days and work on focused projects in the afternoons (when I’m not teaching my kid). When I WFH all the time in the spring I was getting bored and depressed, but a lot of this was Covid anxiety.

          On in-person days I have a really long commute but also get more exercise walking around at work, am really busy, I interact with my trainees, and have in person outdoor meetings with my main collaborators. I troubleshoot things in person or look up paper files that I don’t have access to at home. I get home late and am physically tired and tired of wearing a mask but the change of scenery is really helpful. I love the balance.

    2. Legal Beagle*

      I’m with you. I switched jobs (same employer, different team, different area of practice) 3 months into working from home and the transition has not been the easiest. While I knew most people on my team socially already and everyone is available by IM (and phone if necessary), I wish I were able to just pop into someone’s office for a question. Simple requests to my assistant seem like such a hassle or burden because they come off as demanding over email, no matter how much I try to soften the language. I find myself having to be really careful with my messages because some of my coworkers don’t know me and my sense of humour that well. The team meetings, which I find usually fun, are such a drag because there’s no energy.

      I don’t miss my commute at all but seeing humans once or twice a week (and being able to buy lunch!) would be fantastic.

    3. Amykins*

      Yeah definitely this. I quite like working from home (I get SO much time back not having to commute, saving a decent amount of money because its easy to make lunch during lunchtime and harder to pack a lunch in advance so usually I went with takeout at work, my fiance is quite delightful to be around and we don’t get sick of each other and are surrounded by our fur family all day), but my coworkers are pretty awesome people and I do miss occasionally stopping by someone’s desk to wrestle with a problem, and we had treats and parties on a pretty regular basis and it was nice to just socialize with them sometimes.

      1. Quiet Liberal*

        I love WFH, too. I am set up in our family room that, since our kids have left home, we never use. It’s a good separation of work and home. My job is nearly 100% online and I never left my office much anyway. I miss my co-workers, though we FaceTime if we need to collaborate. The commute is awesome and I love not having to worry about clothes and makeup. I thought I’d be bummed or feel less productive not getting dressed up for work, but I don’t miss it at all. I’m grateful I have an awesome employer who allows me to do this and that my job can be done this way. I think the suggestion by another commenter of taking a walk outside during lunch is an excellent idea! I never could do that at the office because it’s in a busy traffic area.

    4. RabbitRabbit*

      This. I didn’t realize how much I really missed the train commute, or being able to bounce ideas off colleagues just by wandering over to their desk, or looking out the window on occasion (I have a window here too, but it’s just that was my office window), or going to work in that building.

      Maybe it’s because I work in a hospital and got out of patient care a few years ago, and now I can work totally remotely, while so many of my colleagues have been going in daily and doing the hard, sometimes dangerous task of being there in-person.

      So maybe some of it is guilt and some of it is how I view my work identity. I’m proud of how we’ve been doing with the pandemic, and it sort of feels like being on-site is “better” than staying at home and doing the work there.

      We were going to have to do some work-from-home in my particular office right before the pandemic hit; our office was overcrowded and we were hiring more people and were out of space.

      I think I would have liked to have it as an embraced option (previously our department’s view of WFH was reluctantly allowing occasional use, now they’re saying we’re not coming back at least until 2021) and done WFH at least two days a week. Now, it’s required to stay home and our office is crowded and poorly configured; not many people can fit in our space.

    5. MusicWithRocksIn*

      I miss the fast response time from the server. What’s killing me at home is every time I save a document it takes so long and I can’t do anything else until its done, so I check my phone real quick, then get distracted. I can work much better in the office when saving something is instant and I can move right along to the next task.

      1. JustaTech*

        Me too! Oh hello every document, spreadsheet, slide deck taking 45 seconds to open and a minute to save. Absolutely enough time to get distracted by the internet or the cat or frankly anything. Or just plain lose my train of thought.

        And when I’m using technical software that’s doing a lot of computing, oy! For a while I would just go do crunches or plank while I waited for a graph to load.

        1. Annie Hanson*

          JustaTech, I am in complete agreement! I was unable to bring home my computer tower and two monitors my last day in the office, as I was using public transportation to commute (light rail and bus) and it would have not been feasible. So I solely work from my laptop. This is my first job where I have needed to work from home, and it’s been an adjustment. Especially with the equipment and technology elements.

          Additionally, most of our agency is now working from home and we have to connect to a VPN in order to have access to email, documents, servers, etc. It gets really overloaded and on some days boots us off with no warning. Last Thursday it took me 4 and a half HOURS to successfully connect! Arrgh!

          More generally, I am saving money (I cancelled my bus/train pass, I eat out less, I suspended my gym membership, I drive less because places are still closed or don’t have inside seating, and so forth), and enjoy wearing pajamas all day if the urge hits, but I really miss the teams in my division and colleagues from other divisions. It’s very isolating working from home alone (no pets, no partner, no kids).

          1. TardyTardis*

            I actually had that problem for a little while in the office–ten years ago my computer had 64K of RAM, and I am not joking. It would take five minutes to open a pdf. I think once I had a replacement, the IT department just shot it.

      2. Dave*

        YES! The VPN speed is soul crushing sometimes. I have started some large files that I reference frequently to my desktop after saving to the server which is typically a no no but I can’t wait five minutes for a file to open all the time.

      3. Teapot Librarian*

        A half hour to open a power point. (Not always, but it’s definitely happened.) Slow internet plus slow computer, and I’m ready to throw the thing against the wall several times a day.

      4. Toothless*

        I’m a software engineer and I get those 1-5 minute gaps all the time while waiting for something to build, and what really helps me is treating those as a reminder to get up from my desk and walk around for a minute or two! I’ll do stuff like tidy up a couple things, wash a dish, pet the cat, and so on.

        1. BeenThere*

          This so much. I always have a list of small tasks I can take care off and getting moving is so important right now.

          I envy your build time, pulling down the latest code daily and building takes routinely 20 minutes. It’s now the first thing I do when I get up then I jump in the shower.

      5. iliketoknit*

        Oh I feel this. Some mornings it takes 20-25 minutes just to get my computer logged in to where it needs to be, and while I sat down ready to work, it completely destroys my focus.

      6. Seeking Second Childhood*

        If you’re allowed to have copies on your local hard drive, and just aren’t willing to risk having them get out of sync, look for the utility “Beyond Compare” from Scooter Software. I have no connection to them except as a customer. Open two folders and it color codes any differences. A few settings makes it one click to copy only the new & updated files from one side to the other. Supports various operating systems too.

    6. ThatGirl*

      Yeah, I miss the socialization, the energy, the shared baked goods, going out for lunch occasionally, things like that.

      I also do miss my actual desk sometimes – I have a nice set up with two monitors, full-size keyboard, mouse, and all sorts of fun knick-knacks that reflect my personality. We decorated for Christmas last year as a group and it was a lot of fun. Working on my laptop at home isn’t quite the same. I think 2-3 days a week in the office would be ideal.

      (Technically I COULD do that now, but it’s not worth the covid risk to me and none of my other teammates are there anyway, plus some of the small perks are gone for the time being.)

      1. Berkeleyfarm*

        I miss the socialization and the ability to rapidly collaborate. I started a new job about five weeks before we all went home, and I miss the team. We have had several other people start while we are remote!

        It was a contract to hire job and they ordered me a laptop (because my job is expected to WFH anyway) and came through with the set up – not just the laptop, two power supplies, mini dock, and case that I requested, but two monitors to go with it. I’m back in the two monitor club now.

    7. Cedarthea*

      I was in the office last week and I only meant to stay for a couple of hours to do some set tasks, but once i was there it took up my whole day because I realized there were a dozen things I needed/wanted to do once I actually saw people and got started into what we were working on.

      That was fun.

      I am taking on a totally new responsiblity in October and it will require me to go to the office a couple of days a week, and I am looking forward to it more than I would be willing to admit. I am single and live in the country and my extended family are 2-4hrs away, so its nice to just be around people.

      1. Boring username*

        Yes and no.

        Going from full time commuting to an office to total wfh was a shock in March, although it’s great most of the time as I’m an introvert and feel so much calmer.

        We very briefly returned to the office part time for a couple of weeks in early September before the rules in my country changed again and I was not looking forward to returning to the offie at all, but once back I actually felt lighter emotionally and just delighted to see my colleagues. We were hoping to carry on part time but now that’s been cancelled again I’m really sad as it was the best of both worlds. I don’t think I had realised how very depressed I’ve become until we went back.

        I love my colleagues, enjoy my job and my company has been decent about letting people work from home and have managed all the furlough and distressing layoffs we’ve had as respectfully to people as situations like that can be.

        I hope we eventually return to 2 days office and 3 from home as that actually felt really nice. It was easy to plan quiet work and private meetings on wfh days and social (distanced) contact on the office days.

        My husband’s work stress has been a bit much at home, normally don’t have to deal with that, and stressed out colleagues in the office are exhausting but don’t feel like my personal problem. Working at home with someone who huffs and puffs all day long about everything omg he becomes my annoying coworker every weekday morning at 8 and I’ve had to wear headphones to drown out the sound of him doing a massive sigh and groaning “ohhh no” every time an email pings on his laptop. Still love him despite this and he probably knows that it’s me and not the fictional coworker I invented who keeps annoying him by leaving half drunk mugs of tea everywhere.

        Ultimately I’m just very grateful to have a job right now and would do it anywhere required to keep employed.

        1. Boring username*

          Sorry this comment nested when it wasn’t intended as a reply.

          And I DO NOT MISS WEARING A BRA. that’s perhaps the best thing of all.

          1. Mme Defarge*

            I was just wondering today whether the observable fact that more women wear masks out and about than men (at least where I am) is because women have been used to wearing bras and dysfunctional shoes (and tights! sanitary towels!). We have already had to absorb uncongenial wardrobe requirements into our lives.

    8. Hapless Bureaucrat*

      Oh gosh, yes. For solo work I like working from home, now that I have dual monitors set up. Great not to have to commute or worry about lunch. Wonderful for the days my vertigo is acting up. Cats. Cat interruptions are lovely.
      But for meetings and collaboration? Ugh, I want back in the office. I need people’s body language for full context in meetings, and I miss the pop-in chats. And a Skype whiteboard is not the same.
      I also think it would be harder if I were trying to onboard staff right now.
      My team has talked about doing a hybrid schedule once we’re allowed back in. (And assuming my agency has finally gotten over its weird fear about telework.)

    9. Been There*

      This is what I’m doing now, going into the office once or twice a week for brainstorming meetings and wfh the rest of the week, and I love it. It also gives me the social interaction with coworkers I had been missing and face time with my boss, which seems necessary to get her attention.

    10. RedBlueGreenYellow*

      I feel the same way. I like my comfortable home office, and the quiet generally helps me be more productive, but sometimes it would just be so nice to get a few people together in front of a white board and work through an issue, rather than having multiple, semi-productive Zoom meetings an a way-too-long email thread.

      My company is still figuring out its return to work plan for those of us who are WFH through the end of the year, but a lot of us have asked for the flexibility to come in when we need it, rather than having a fixed schedule. I can see coming into the office once or twice a week. (This situation has shown me a potential use for hot desking, which I previously thought had no redeeming qualities. If I could sign up for a desk on the days when there was collaborating to be done, and work from home the rest of the time, I’d be pretty happy.)

    11. some dude*

      I’d be down for working in person one or two days a week and then remote the rest of the time. I do miss the side conversations and it is easier to collaborate in person. It is also easier to feel like a team when you are engaging in person. But i am so much happier remote than I was having to schlep to the office every day. My commute was an hour each way, and I have a job where I’m not always busy. It is easier to manage downtime when I don’t have to be in front of my computer “looking busy.” I think I am actually more productive.

      I do miss having my own space, and being in the hustle and bustle of where my office is. I live in a suburb and commute to a city, and I miss the city, and that phyisical separation of having a different work life than normal life.

      We are lucky though, because our home has an extra room that we converted to an office, and i am able to work in our dining room in a comfortable set up with my pets, listening to music and eating my own food. I imagine many people aren’t as privileged to have the space that my family does.

    12. Insert Clever Name Here*

      Same. My cubemate and I actually schedule a call once a week to talk about the random stuff (some work related, some not) that we’d talk about if it was just turning around in our chair. I also miss hearing work-related conversation from other groups who sit near us. We support the Llama Groomers and the group near us supports Llama Feeders; some of the things that overlap between the two groups are obvious, but some aren’t and we only discovered it because of overhearing conversations. Like, we changed Percy’s conditioner to Peruvian Petunia and in hearing us talk about the price of Peruvian Petunia, the other group was able to connect that the change in conditioner had resolved Percy’s allergy, which is why he was suddenly eating so much more.

    13. Yet Another Consultant*

      I agree – I have been working from home since 2017, but this year has been different for me, too. I think working from home is completely different without the option to get together when it would be helpful for the work or even for coffee and walks with others as a break. Working from home in 2020 is much more isolating than it was in 2019, in my opinion.

    14. PennyLane*

      Completely agree. I love my team and extended teams and I miss interacting with my colleagues. Having in person meetings are just so much easier in person to collaborate and I like being able to just easily drop by someone’s desk to ask a question because it’s not the same digitally.

      At first I wasn’t loving working at home, but I’ve actually come to really enjoy it. I can work out during the day when I have energy, I can go from bed to work in 10 minutes instead of 2 hours (or 30 if I need to do hair and makeup), I don’t have to sit in gridlock morning & evening so my mood is better, I’m at a comfortable temperature all day! and there’s more, but these are some top perks.

      The ideal situation would be to have my coworkers all work at my home lol.

      However, I live alone and have no kids, so it’s easy for me to be at home.

    15. Ann Cognito*

      Just last week I said that I don’t miss the commute, but I miss having spontaneous conversations with coworkers, while having lunch, grabbing a coffee or while walking from one area to another.

      I was already WFH 2 days/week before COVID, and I really think hybrid is the way to go, and hope it becomes the new norm, but I’ve learned that a few days a week onsite is actually great!

  3. New Job So Much Better*

    I like it, but I don’t have kids or pets at home. Plus, I already had a complete office in my home from a prior job, so it’s easy to adjust.

    1. JokeyJules*

      Same here. We already had a home office setup in the spare bedroom, so the transition was pretty seamless. My partner has to leave for work for a few hours in the middle of the day so i try to get all my meetings in then. I have no idea how we would have managed with kids at home, though I thought about getting a pet, but didn’t want to put it through separation anxiety when we both go back to work all day.

      1. Batty Twerp*

        Ditto. We have a three bed house, but it’s just the two of us, so the second bedroom was already an office. When we went into lockdown we had to do some rearranging, but now we have two little offices.
        I have regular calls with my manager and coworkers, and since a couple of them were already remote, using Skype etc., is not a novelty. I’m not missing the office *at all*.

        We still keep to the same routine – our commutes were under half an hour, so we’ve not really gained all that much in the day. The biggest difference is I no longer wear shoes. I put trainers on when we grocery shop, but that’s once a week, and it feels weird!

        1. allathian*

          This is pretty much me, although luckily we have enough rooms that our 11-year-old can also do remote learning from home if necessary. Our internet connection is also fast enough that we can all be attending different video conferences at the same time without too much trouble on our end. (My employer’s VPN is another matter). That said, I’m really happy that my son is back at school. He did very well in remote learning last spring and reached all his academic goals and got good grades, but he prefers being at school. His class is great and he needs to be around other kids, they have social distancing rules in place and there’s no sharing pencils etc., they wash their hands at the start of the day and after every recess and before they go to lunch, my son’s very diligent at that for his age.

          All that said, however, cases are going up again in my area, from a handful of cases every day in a population of 5.6 million, to about 100 cases per day. Currently most new cases affect people who are between 18 and 30 years old and who are sick of the restrictions and want to travel and go to bars again. I suspect that the bars will close soon… Masks are strongly recommended on public transit and in enclosed public spaces, but they haven’t been made mandatory yet.

          Earlier this week I attended an in-person seminar for a professional certificate. We wore masks except when eating, although I wonder how futile that was because there wasn’t enough space to keep 6 ft away from other people while eating… Anyway, my question is for those of you who work in an office and need to be masked while there, how do you deal with wearing it for so many hours in a row? My face itched like there’s no tomorrow and I bet I kept touching it more than usual against all recommendations, and as soon as I got out into the fresh air at the end of my commute, I took the mask off even if I had no sanitizer on me.

          So, while I miss our informal, spontaneous chats at the office, especially talking to people I don’t work with regularly, I won’t even consider going back if mask wearing at the office becomes mandatory, or even strongly recommended. I would not want to endanger other people by refusing to wear a mask if it’s strongly recommended. WFH is strongly recommended for anyone who can do it, although we’re allowed to go into the office occasionally. Some of my coworkers live alone, and they’ve all said that going to the office even once or twice a week has been great for their mental health. We have a few employees whose jobs can’t be done from home, so they’ve been coming in even during the worst of the pandemic.

    2. Diahann Carroll*

      Yeah, not having kids or pets has been a plus for me right now as well. I don’t have a separate home office since I live in a studio, but at the end of my lease, I will be moving somewhere bigger (knock on wood) and will finally get one. I’ve been working remotely full time for a year and a half now from my dining room table, and this just isn’t it.

    3. KnitsOnZoomCalls*

      Yeah, I literally have a full room as my craft space, so it was easy to make it into a work office.

    4. Mina, The Company Prom Queen*

      Same here. I’ve been WFH full time already, and I have a dedicated office in my home so that hasn’t changed much for me. The only difference in my job is that I haven’t been traveling. All meetings are now via Zoom, etc. While I also enjoy going to the office from time to time, I prefer to WFH. I’m very productive, collaborative, and effective WFH, so it works for me.

      I wish some people would stop making a preference to WFH a character flaw and stop making it their mission in life to get those of us who prefer to WFH to work in an office.

    5. Silicon Valley Girl*

      Likewise! I did dress up my home office a bit more — making things more ergonomic, improving the lightint, hanging art, etc. These were just little things I’d been meaning to get around to, but when I was WFH once or twice a week, I didn’t notice them as much. Now I appreciate it.

      I like the focus I can get WFH vs. in the office. My company had huge open-plan offices & had recently switched to hot-desking, so it felt chaotic & noisy. Plus, I already work on a distributed team w/ppl around the US & sometimes in Europe, so it really doesn’t matter where I physically sit. I like getting together w/my local coworkers, but more for social things like coffee or lunch. It’s perfectly fine working with them via technology.

    6. Kuddel Daddeldu*

      Same here! I just moved my office (back into) an even bigger room and really cleaned up, removing more distractions.
      My boss asked me if I’d consider coming to the office once a week, which is fine by me. I’m more productive at home (no kid or or pets, perfect environment, no commute, easier to work around multiple time zones plus and minus seven hours from where I live) but once a week seems a good compromise.

  4. BigSigh*

    While I love the flexibility of working from home, it’s very hard to focus. It’s nice that I could break to switch the laundry over, but that’s one of ten things I could take a quick break to do, you know? I can do make tea, but if I notice someone knocked over a plant, suddenly now I’m re potting and sweeping and vacuuming….

    2. MissMaple*

      Haha, you literally just described the “5 minute” break I took to make toast…put the toast in…oh wait, nobody brought down the baby’s dirty bottles…pass the full laundry bin on the way to the bottles…put the laundry in…ugh, there’s water all over the floor by the sink…etc :)

    3. Riblets*

      Inability to focus is also a side effect of the mass trauma lots of us are experiencing right now (especially in the US). Every few hours or so I just stop working and think to myself how pointless it all is since we will be underwater or on fire (or hell, both somehow) in a decade anyway.

      2. Riblets*

        Like, I have never experienced clinical depression, but I imagine this is something like what it feels like. Except there’s no therapy or meds that will help me forgot that our president is a dangerous maniac and we are all slowly poisoning ourselves.

        1. StrikingFalcon*

          Therapy can help you cope though. Things are distressing right now but if you are struggling to focus, or feeling like everything is pointless, or otherwise feel like the distress or hopelessness is interfering with your life, that’s the space that a professional can help you with.

          1. iliketoknit*

            Honestly, that’s part of the reason I just started therapy. I’d been thinking about it for a while but this world is just so hard to deal with.

    4. Kiki*

      YES! I think I lack the discipline to not get distracted by the million things I can do around my apartment. Especially because each of those things only takes a minute, tops, but cumulatively it ends up taking up a lot of my time. Additionally, my work requires deep focus and with everything going on, I’ve just been finding it so hard to get my brain into that zone, especially since it will be several days before I get the reward of completing the task. I’m really drawn to the immediate gratification of cleaning, simple paperwork, responding to emails, etc. now more than ever. Unfortunately, none of that is really what I get paid to do :P

      1. Former NonProfit*

        Ahhhh, you just made something click for me—“the immediate gratification of cleaning.” Like, of course, I can clean something and then it’s done, it’s noticeable, I don’t have to collaborate or hop on a call to do it.

      2. kicking-k*

        Yes, all of that.
        I have returned to working in an office because the nature of my job is very difficult to do remotely. And I did find working from home distracting (and practically impossible while schooling my children). But I’m the only one in the company in my role, and almost nobody is here. I recently switched from a job that was almost all lone working to one which I hoped would have a more collegial atmosphere, and I think it will eventually, but in the meantime the office is peaceful but lonely.

    6. kbeers0su*

      Same here! What I do like about all this, though, is that I feel like my evenings and weekends are more free. Because instead of going to work and coming home to then manage all this stuff (cleaning, cooking, laundry) it’s getting done during the 9-5. So that’s an added perk.

    8. MayLou*

      I keep mentioning it and it’s not because they pay me to do so ;) but I am the same and Complice has made it possible for me to work at all. I’m acutely aware of how much time I spend not working, whereas in the office I think having my colleagues and managers there helped me focus, and time spent doing not much for workflow reasons didn’t feel like skiving. My employer is incredibly supportive and my manager, who is shortly becoming our grandboss due to promotion, has made it clear she is very happy with everyone’s work, but it stresses me out.

  5. NYC86*

    I very much missed it for the first three months, but at this point – I hope to never have to go back, at least for five days a week.

    The time I save on a commute, wasted time chatting just to chat, and sitting around waiting is just not worth it. Being able to work flexible hours (12 hour days when it’s super busy and a calmer day the next) is a huge benefit.

    Also being able to make lunch, spend time with the dog, it’s just a better quality of life and it works.

    2. Hello, I'd like to report my boss*

      Same here. It took me ages to get used to it. Now, apart from the fact that I have a crummy set up (recently improved) and my home is really tiny (hopefully moving soon), I never want to go back to being in full time.

      I’d like to be in two days a week. My bank balance is so much better.

      1. Master Bean Counter*

        Yes! The hubby is actually looking to build me my own little office in the yard now. I think he just wants the living room back at this point.

    3. Admin Always*

      I’m in agreement. I’m getting more sleep and able to really rest and disconnect when I need to take a break. There are periods of time when I’m just waiting and now I can use that time to get home tasks completed like dishes and laundry. I’m saving money not paying for daycare too.

      I missed my commute for months because it’s the only time I was ever alone but I’ve adapted to having my four year old at home without daycare and adjusting my sleep schedule to get that alone time. We play, run through our therapy homework (ASD3), cuddle, and have tantrums and meltdowns, and it all fits into my day because my boss understands that I’m a solo parent and WFH requires flexibility.

      And the bonus is work has realized we can do this and is looking at bringing us back in for two days a week (client facing things) instead of five.

    4. RiriWFH*

      I agree! I had this horrible LA commute at least every 2 weeks if not once a week that made me feel like I was wasting my time. Now that its eliminated, I’m not using my car as much. My only issue is I have my husband working from home, a kindergartner, a 8th grader, and a 10th grader all at school from home which has been a major distraction. Although when I told my self they were my “co-workers and staff”, I realized that they probably dont bother me as much as the distractions at work!

    5. KnitsOnZoomCalls*

      Yes!! I save an hour a day on no commute alone. It’s better for the environment. And the dog and cat both love having more people time (well, the dog does, the cat makes a habit of disappearing for a few hours at a time.)

      And being able to do laundry in the middle of the week is a plus (Loading the washer takes 3 minutes, and I fold after work.) And I’m eating healthier and cheaper because I have time to cook and no fast food options nearby.

      All of which is why I got a fulltime remote job that will continue after the pandemic. It’s such a lifestyle improvement.

      1. Birdie*

        I really did not realize how amazing not commuting would be. I’d never even considered the possibility but now I’m dreading having to start it up again. Luckily, we’re WFH for the foreseeable future, and I think that even after we go back, my boss would be open to remote 2-3 days a week. It would be better if I had an actual office space in my apartment and MUCH better if I could go out and do stuff after work, but I’m definitely liking WFH a lot more than I ever expected.

    6. Joanna*

      Same for me as well, I really thought I was going to hate it, but once I adjusted, I’m loving it. Just losing the commute has been a huge improvement in my work life balance. I’ve also realized that some of my anxiety about work has gone away. We don’t use video, so I can fidget and play mindless games on my phone during long meetings and I can focus so much better. And, since everyone now uses a cell instead of the office phone, no one is expected to just pick up the phone and chat. Instead, you reach out through IM or email and schedule a call. It’s made all of my phone anxiety go away. I do miss some of the social aspects of the office, but not enough to make me want to go back in.

      I also thought I would hate being stuck at home with my husband and son all day. It turns out that we are all good about focusing on work and school, and I actually enjoy when they come out of their spaces to chat. I’m enjoying getting to spend this extra time with my son. He’s growing up so fast, and won’t be around much longer.

      The cats are still needy attention hogs who walk over my keyboard, stick their butts in my face, and throw up during important meetings. So at least one thing is going as expected.

    7. GothicBee*

      I’m back in the office now, but when I was working from home, I was sleeping better, eating better, and just overall able to make my life feel more balanced despite the stress of the pandemic. Plus my productivity as far as work was higher than it is when I’m in the office despite having to let the dog in and out every two seconds. I do appreciate going somewhere every day now, but all the benefits (better sleep, saving money, etc) have gone back to what they were before the pandemic (not good, maybe even worse because we’re still in a pandemic).

      The only real downside for me was that I didn’t really have a setup for WFH so I used either the kitchen table or the couch, but even so, I really appreciated being able to just spend time actually living in my house. And honestly, I appreciated being able to sit on the couch to work. I hate traditional office furniture.

    8. Bikirl*

      I feel similarly. I miss my colleagues and my old routine, but I don’t really want to go back, either. It would be really hard to give up the personal time and privacy and better quality of life I’ve gained in this work situation.

    9. The Man, Becky Lynch*

      I ate worse when I had an entire kitchen to aimlessly roam. I’ve put on almost 30LBS during quarantine.

      I’m fascinated by the amount of folks who get better sleep! I don’t wear off my energy and had to resort to a lot of medications to put me out at night. It was a wreck on my formally contained insomnia.

      1. allathian*

        I’ve been forcing myself to get some exercise every day to at least make up for what I miss just by using public transit to get to work. The weather’s been pretty good so I’ve been walking and riding my bike pretty much every day. If it’s raining, I do 20 minutes on the stationary bike in our basement instead.
        I’ve been pretty sedentary my entire adult life but I’ve realized that while I’ll never run a marathon, I need to get some exercise because it’s really great for my mental and physical health. I also sleep better if I get some exercise after work. Leave it too late and I’ll have trouble falling asleep, though…

    10. PennyLane*

      Same. Now when I have to go to the office I feel like I’m wasting so much time just getting ready and commuting. Plus I’m working out (I’m always too tired after a full day and 2 hours of commuting, plus everything I have to do once I get home) and not cranky from traffic, so agree about quality of life.

      I think it was harder when the closures first happened because, at least for me, business was really slow and I felt like I had so little to do, plus the anxiety of not knowing if my job was secure. Once business picked back up, I’ve been enjoying working from home much more.

  6. JXB1000*

    I’m fortunate to have lots of space and a fully appointed home office. Used to work 2 days a week from home. Now 100% since March. I’m one who has a hard time pulling away. Will find I’ve worked 10-12 hours straight at my desk. Too easy to sit back down in the evenings or weekends for “one more thing”, “just take a quick look”. I heard the BEST quote recently:

    It feel more like I live at work than work from home.

    LOL. That’s me. Trying to do better.

    1. norma rae*

      I’ve been feeling that too (the living at work thing)! I used to be a lot better about not checking my work phone in the evenings, and it’s so much harder to not do that (and subsequently get sucked into something or stress out over an email) now.

    2. Diahann Carroll*

      You may need to start breaking down your office equipment and putting it away. At the end of my workday, my laptop goes back in its bag, which gets shoved into the back of my hall closet. The external monitor gets tucked away in a dark space between my couch and a display case. Once that stuff is out of sight, it’s truly out of mind for me.

      1. Liz*

        Like you said, I work from my DR table too. For me, its kind of a pain to take it off every day, and set it back up. BUT, every friday, or today, as i’m off tomorrow, i take it all down, and put it out of sight, and don’t set it back up until Sunday night, so I’m ready to go Monday am.

        I’d love more space, but not in the cards right at this moment.

        1. Diahann Carroll*

          I break my stuff down every evening because my dining room table set up is too cute to be obscured by my laptop/monitor, lol. It’s annoying though to have to put everything back together in the morning. I pray that I still have a job come the end of my lease and I can afford to move to a bigger apartment – I need a dedicated desk so that this isn’t an issue. Preferably in a separate room with a door.

          1. Chinook*

            If you can’t get a separate room, a desk with a roll top hutch or a cabinet with a pull out desk that you can close the door on. I have seen a version of this from Ikea and do not doubt that they will make a come back with all the WFH.

            1. Diahann Carroll*

              The cabinet wouldn’t work because of how much work stuff I have and the size of everything, but I’ve certainly been looking into secretary desks as a possibility if I end up in a loft space (which is my first choice for my next apartment).

    3. MissDisplaced*

      Yeah, you really have to learn to pull away and turn it off. I don’t mind working a bit later since I’m gaining 3 hours per day by being WFH, but you’ve gotta turn off at say 6 or 7 pm and just be done.

  7. Dr. Rebecca*

    YESSSS.

    I miss the office itself, and the resources, and my colleagues, and my boss, and being somewhere other than my apartment on the regular. And I really, really, REALLY miss my classroom/being there with my students.

    3. Alexander Graham Yell*

      YES. I miss my office and my friends and the ability to get out of the apartment and eating lunch with my colleagues and the jokes and having the ability to see when my teammates are stressed to see if I can take something off their plate. I miss knowing whether or not somebody is too busy to answer a quick question vs. interrupting them by accident. I miss running to get coffee or snacks or the amount of things I learn just by overhearing conversations.

      I hate working from home and I moved cities when I joined this team specifically so I wouldn’t have to work from home, and then COVID happened. I cannot wait to go back into the office and it’s a constant struggle to not just give up and go back now because I’m so lonely and miss it so much.

    5. Jane*

      Yes! Lecturer here, so teaching online this semester. No chat with the students at the front of the room before the lecture starts; no internally smiling at their youthful confidence and lack of common sense (shorts in winter!); all just serious teaching. So dull.

  8. Damn it, Hardison!*

    I would like working from home if the rest of my life was back to normal! I really only miss the in-person interactions but if I had more of those in other parts of my life I wouldn’t miss the office. I do miss my dual monitors and bigger desk. I don’t miss the commute.

    1. AvonLady Barksdale*

      Agreed. I was WFH before the lockdown, and what made it great was being able to work in other places like coffee shops and courtyards. Can’t do that anymore! I mean, I could go to the building lobby now (since it’s reopened) but still, it’s not the same and that’s what I miss.

      1. knitter*

        Yeah, I agree.

        In a past job, I could WFH or just go to the coffee shop down the street when I felt like it. I also visited various partner sites so I was on the go a lot. Being at home now is just claustrophobic…even though I’m a WFH proponent in general.

    2. Charlotte Lucas*

      I miss my dual monitors the most! We were allowed to take one home to use with our laptops, but I don’t have space in my tiny apartment.

    3. Quill*

      I would love never driving in again but I’m still only half (if that) WFH because the mail needs sorting. I do not like the loneliness of home OR the office at this point, but at least home has my plants… and way too many distractions in the realm of snacks and chores to do.

      1. Damn it, Hardison!*

        I miss my chair the most! I have had so many problems with my neck and shoulder that cause headaches since I’ve been home. I am waiting for a new chair but apparently everyone else is buying them too so I think it’s going to take almost 2 months for it to arrive.

      2. Teapot Librarian*

        The weird thing for me is that my back hurts more now that I’m back in the office, despite having a better chair!

    6. knitter*

      I agree–When my school first shut down, I had a zoom meeting with some colleagues and we talked about how much we missed all the friendly smiles and greetings as we walked down the hallways.

      And due to the lack of in person interactions, I have SOOO MANY MORE EMAILS. I’m not great about email anyway, and now I’m even worse. And add google classroom notifications…so much.

      Though I will say I’m seeing one positive–People don’t just go to their work friends or classroom neighbors for help. They do share it with the whole group. My school is huge and people have their groups. I’ve observed more equity in who is getting access to information and being invited to join things because it’s just as easy to email someone as knock on the room next door. And since everyone is struggling, even 30 year teaching veterans, there is more of the “we’re all in this together” mindset that is building community. I hope it translates once we’re back in the building.

    7. lemon*

      Yes, agree with this so much. I don’t miss working from the office, per se. I just miss being reminded of the world outside my apartment. I’d like WFH a lot more if I could go sit in a coffee shop or use my building’s co-working space. But, as it is, I live alone in a tiny studio apartment, so my days are blending together into a haze of “wake up, roll out of bed, walk four feet to my desk, and sit at desk for the next 10 hours.” It’s literally been weeks since I’ve had an in-person conversation with someone, and my mental health is really taking a toll from the isolation.

      1. Fried Eggs*

        I’d also say being in a studio apartment is the biggest challenge for me. I just started a new job. Have a company laptop, and my boss has been pushing me to get monitors for home. But then I’d have to have my kitchen table permanently be a desk now. I don’t even like working in my kitchen area. It’s dark, and the floor is cold.

        On the other hand, working from my couch is getting old fast. Today my “commute” was closing one laptop and opening another without even getting up.

        We do go into the office once a week, so that helps with the isolation. I’m in Germany, so it’s a little safer. With each team having one day in the office, we’re only exposed to 10 people, not 50, and can collaborate kind of face-to-face (with a few empty desks in between).

        Tl;dr I pulled off a miracle getting my studio apartment to somehow work as a bedroom, living room, and kitchen. Now it has to somehow be an office too????

        1. lemon*

          I feel you about it being hard to turn off work when you’re computer is right there, out in the open. I started off WFH using a laptop with a convertible desk– it folds up when not in use. That was okay for the first four months, but then I started having terrible neck pain from being hunched over a 13″ screen all day. So, I got an iMac, but that necessitated buying an entirely new desk, because it wouldn’t fit on the convertible desk. It’s a much better set-up in terms of ergonomics, but now that my computer is out in the open all the time, I feel like I should always be working (plus, I’m in an evening master’s program that is 100% remote right now, so I really do have to be on my computer all the time). I miss being able to close the laptop and fold up the desk to signal the end of my working day.

          And it really was a challenge figuring out how to fit another desk in here! I still can’t believe I managed to cram a kitchen, bedroom, living room, and *two* offices into 235 square feet.

    8. kbeers0su*

      OHMYGOSH yes. I don’t have any social outlet since our social life is nonexistent. It doesn’t affect my kids (little one is in daycare and older one goes to school in-person 2 days a week) or my husband (introvert who would happily live off the grid) but it’s SO HARD FOR ME.

      1. Jane*

        I never thought I had a great social life before this, but have been out with another person just twice in the last six months. I’m now taking the risk of going to a coffee shop maybe once a fortnight, just for the pleasure of a cup of tea and a sandwich made by someone else.

  9. AnonInTheCity*

    I miss the office cafeteria and not having to think about keeping food in the house for lunch! I don’t miss how much money I used to spend on lunch, though, so that’s a tradeoff. For me the huge, huge benefit is getting to see my son throughout the day. We have in-home childcare for him but even so I get to spend so much more time with him than I would if I was commuting into the office and dropping him off at daycare.

      1. Diahann Carroll*

        I miss mine as well. According to someone who actually ventures outside from time to time, a lot of mine didn’t make it :(

      2. NotAnotherManager!*

        I have my fingers crossed for my favorite spot next door. I do not miss the office, I do miss my soup, salad, and sandwich place and the lovely people who run it.

    2. Can't Sit Still*

      Yes, this! I miss not having to decide what I’m having for lunch and being able to decide I want pie for dessert without having to buy or make an entire pie.

      I only go to Starbucks once a week before work instead of daily, and that’s through the drive thru to keep my car battery charged.

      OTOH, I’ve found that I can make lunch and dinner during my lunch break. Since I used to be too tired to make dinner, this is a nice change.

    3. Zuzu*

      This. I am so sick of making lunch! I think it’s also because I have small kids at home and I’m preparing them snacks…often. So by the time lunch rolls around I’m just staring blankly in my fridge wishing someone would make my sandwich for me, and then I could throw the plate into a trash barrel I don’t also have to empty myself.

    4. Silicon Valley Girl*

      OK, yeah, the office cafeteria was pretty sweet! Tho’ my favorite thing was the extensive salad bar, & I feel like even when things open up again, we won’t see those around for a long time :(

  10. Admin on Duty*

    I deeply miss working in my office. As an admin, I find it harder to support my officer because their style is geared more toward ‘drive by’ information dropping, which hasn’t translated well to this virtual environment.

    Also, I’ve always been a strong supporter of the concept of keeping my work life and home life separated to help with anxiety and stress, which is now basically impossible. Although I do have a home office, it feels very isolating and lonely to be there 8-10 hours a day with nothing to keep me company but the sound of my instant messenger going off every few minutes.

    It’s a lonely experience, but I am grateful that my issues are what they are given the alternative.

    1. Libby*

      As a fellow admin, I so relate! It is very hard when the exec you support is back to back all day and you can’t just walk down the hall with them to the next meeting to ask your 10 questions. But I hated working from home for other reasons as well and we have been allowed to come back with management approval if needed for productivity so I have been back full time for a couple of months. My boss comes in a few days a week so I am so much more productive now. Not many people are working in the office though so I still feel safe.

      1. Admin on Duty*

        Hallway meetings and cafeteria meetings were about a third of the way I was able to catch people to get answers for my officer and/or myself! I never realized how much I relied on ‘random chance encounters’ to get things done until I couldn’t do that anymore.

    2. An Amazing Detective-Slash-Genius*

      I’m not an admin but I similarly miss being able to overhear my boss’s conversations from his office across the hall. While we were in the office I found it annoying, but I’ve since realized how much more productive I could be by using information I overheard. I’ve lost at least 10% of my productive ability from working remotely.

      1. Bostonian*

        Yup. Having way less access to my boss and her boss has been a huge miss. And it’s not even that I *need* that much interaction (which makes it more difficult to do it deliberately virtually), but the chance encounters that led to really useful discussions is way down.

      2. Lily C*

        Legal assistant here. Not being able to listen in on my attorney’s calls has left me feeling very out of the loop about some of our cases. We’ve always emailed each other constantly, but I miss being able to overhear conversations and anticipate requests, and just pop my head into his office to ask a quick question.

        And I miss my friends in the office. Chatting in the kitchen, stopping by another assistant’s desk for advice, venting about an irritating counterpart at another firm, and standing in the reception area looking out at the city skyline. Email and text isn’t the same.

    3. Lurker*

      I relate this this. I absolutely HATE working from home. I don’t care what people say, there is something lost when people aren’t in the same space. It’s so much easier to get a quick answer to something, to know what’s going on. It’s very isolating; I started a new job a few months ago (remotely) and I don’t know if it’s the co-workers themselves, the stress of the circumstances, something else, or a combination of all these things, but it’s been very hard. They haven’t been friendly and haven’t made any effort to do things I’ve asked of them to make my job easier. (I was hired to clean up a huge mess and implement professional standards.) I’m grateful to have a job but am looking for something else because it’s so lonely.

      1. Anononon*

        I think it really depend on the office culture. Before work from home, my office used intercom systems on our phone where we could quickly get people without needing to fully call them. A couple months into WFM, we finally got an office IM program, and I feel like the responsiveness is almost equal to or better than in the office. For example, with my boss, who is notoriously bad about responding to emails, IMing him has been great.

        1. Lurker*

          We have an interoffice chat feature in our email. I get maybe one every few days. I think my new co-workers just suck.

        2. NotAnotherManager!*

          One of the best things about WFH is EVERYONE is now on IM. My boss scoffed at it in the office and refused to turn it on, but now she couldn’t live without it. It’s so easy to get in touch with someone, and I also use it just to say hello or touch base with people I don’t work with often. They can respond if/when they have time – so much more convenient than calls or drive-bys.

    4. Can't Sit Still*

      It’s been an adjustment, but my exec was constantly traveling before, so this isn’t much different than that, except that I always know what time zone she’s in now. I’m also still buying her lunch, just delivered to her home instead of the office. I do appreciate being able to order something to be delivered instead of having to run out and get it myself.

      She’s traveling for the first time this year next month, and the prices are so low, I keep thinking I’ve made a mistake. $325 for a 3 night stay, when it’s normally $349/night. Less than $500 for nonstop round trip cross country airfare. I certainly understand the temptation to travel.

      The downside is that I can’t troubleshoot my team’s tech issues, so they have to go through the help desk. At least it’s full employment for the help desk folks!

  11. HailRobonia*

    I do not miss my office at all. Shortly before COVID hit we had moved our office location and the new setup was horrible. Smaller cubes and no privacy. And lots of wasted space (extra unused cubicles “for growth”).

    1. The New Wanderer*

      I vastly prefer WFH. My team is distributed across the globe so I don’t work in person with anyone on a regular basis. I have a nice desk setup and bought a good office chair so the ergonomics are solid. I sit right next to a window so I can have a few plants. I control the temperature, lighting, and ambient noise. We don’t do video calls so I don’t have to spend time on choosing an outfit and looking presentable. And the single biggest stress reduction is that I have no commute!

      Conveniently, during this fall while everyone is still at mandatory telecommuting, my whole division is moving to a different building that would mean a shorter commute, a cafeteria, and cubicles (vs the windowless open office setup we had), so if/when we return next year it won’t be so bad. However, I hope to continue a pattern of mostly WFH and just go in 1 or 2 days a week for face-time with management.

    2. SpaceCactus*

      Agreed. There has never been a single second where I have missed being in the office. I am seriously considering just looking for a job that will let me wfh full time when this is over, even if it’s in another field, because it’s such a better fit for me.

      1. Jules the First*

        I am so glad I’m not the only one! Have been feeling very alone…I am so much more productive, so much more relaxed, and so much happier working 100% from home. Unfortunately the rest of the company is champing at the bit to get back in the office, so I’m feeling very much the minority of one…

        1. All the cats 4 me*

          I also love working from home, and would be happy not to go back to the office.

          My desk at work is in a cube with *constant* background noise, loud conversations, frequent interruptions (to just !chat! – I haven’t seen you ALL DAY, where have you been? Um,. Working?)

          I have a lot of ‘deep thought/high concentration’ work and I found the office to be mentally draining and soooo much harder to get things done.

          I am able to put more mindful thinking into my work now, and feel like I am growing my capabilities.

          I don’t miss all those repetitive conversations (and what are your plans for the holidays…. several times with the same people over and over, because nobody actually cares and so they don’t listen or remember the answer).

          I do not miss having to hear almost every conversation in the office and trying to block it out so I can concentrate. I don’t miss my cube being near the lunch area where a group of guys play cards (loudly) at morning and afternoon break and watch youtube with NSFW content while they HOWL with glee. At lunch they watch tv game shows with annoying music. Nope, don’t miss that at all!

      2. I can't pick a user name*

        Same. It feels like I was made for working from home. I can work out at lunch and have time for a quick shower, I can eat real food, and I get a lot more done.

        I am hoping to work from home for at least the next year.

        (no kids and one cuddly cat, so I am not juggling multiple full time jobs like parents are)

    3. NotAnotherManager!*

      I don’t miss it and have absolutely no interest in going back. Working from home is fabulous – I have a 30 second commute, a fully-functional coffee pot, and a great setup at home. (I have said repeatedly that I’m so glad we moved a few years ago because all of us working/schooling from home in our old place would be so much harder. I have no idea how people in small spaces with kids, especially the younger ones, in virtual school manage.) I have joked (kidding not kidding) with my boss that I am never coming back. I get so much more done, and it’s forced everyone onto the IM platform.

      We are going to be moving offices early next year, and our new space is the dreaded open floor plan for over half of the team. There is no privacy, and everyone’s space is smaller. I hate it, and I know a whole bunch of my senior staff will, too, particularly the ones losing offices. And the CEO has a thing about headphones, so I have no idea how this new space is going to work from a noise and distraction standpoint. I would happily stay home.

    1. DataGirl*

      I brought my chair home. Felt a little like stealing, but it’s not like I won’t take it back when I go back.

      1. Researcher*

        I wish I had done the same. Sometimes it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?
        Some snuck their chairs home before management put a stop to it out of concern that “employees may be injured while loading it into their vehicles”.

      2. Justme, the OG*

        I did too. I was using a dining chair and it was not comfortable at all. I felt so weird wheeling it out of my office and across campus to my car, though.

      3. Ann O'Nemity*

        I went back for my chair after the first couple months. At first I thought my home office chair would be fine; it wasn’t.

        1. Anne of Green Gables*

          Yes, I also went back in for mine maybe 2 months in? My supervisor knew I was taking it home; I’d been having a lot of back pain at home when using the kitchen chair. Whenever I’m back full time, I’ll take it back in.

    2. Ali G*

      Can you go get it? When it became clear no one was going back any time soon, we were allowed to go in and take anything that would help us work at home. I took my standing desk, a monitor and some other things. I bought a chair because we needed one at home anyway, but I could have taken mine if needed.

      1. Quill*

        Wish I could get some access to a printer. I could work from home so much more often (and more efficiently) if I had a printer & scanner.

        1. Mouse*

          Scanner apps for phones have really come a long way! I use one for my iPhone and it’s made things so much easier. Then you could buy a basic printer without scanning functions, which are shockingly cheap–maybe your employer would cover it?

          1. QED*

            It depends on how much you have to scan–if you have large packets of documents, the printer/scanners at most offices just allow you to put the whole packet in and it scans the whole think at once. On your phone you still have to turn pages and line up the camera, which for 50+ pages can get very annoying.

            1. JustaTech*

              The first thing I went back to the office for was to spend the better part of a day scanning 12 binders worth of stuff. That was full of dividers, paperclips and staples.

              At least there was no one else there to hear my mask-muffled cursing.

              There’s no way I could have done that without a office-sized copier/scanner.

              1. Quill*

                Oh, I hate staples, but the staple and seal is a… staple of the documents I process.

                Everyone in the office building can hear me alternately cursing at and sweet talking the printer. some day I’m going to get IT to extend the sign in time out to a full minute because it’s like 20 seconds of printer inactivity currently.

          2. Quill*

            My main problem is that I need to do a lot of print, sign, scan, email… and unfortunately I’m a contractor. Despite you know, being armpit deep in the covid management system.

            1. JustaTech*

              One good thing that’s come of us all being WFH is that we’re finally being allowed to e-sign internal documents.

              I don’t know if that’s allowed for the external documents or not.

            2. Lavender Menace*

              Could you use a program like Adobe Fill & Sign? Instead of printing it out, signing it electronically and then sending it back?

      2. QED*

        I wish I could get mine, but even if I were allowed to, I think dragging it on the subway would be way more trouble than it’s worth. Or getting in the back of a cab…I’ll just live with the slightly crappy plastic rolling chair I have at home currently.

    3. FeelingUncreativeCreative*

      100% the chair! And weirdly my office desk seems to be lower than the one I have at home, so it’s really comfortable for me (I’m short haha!)

      1. Researcher*

        How interesting! I’m a fellow short person, and I feel you!
        I tried a Herman Miller Aeron chair, size A, over the weekend and it was amazing! Now I just need to win the lottery….

        1. Roy G. Biv*

          Yes! The Aeron chair is what I have from work, and I was allowed to take it home. It’s adjusted to the “just right” setting for me. I also had to officially sign it out of the office, so they know who to hit up for a large sum of money if I don’t return it some day.

        2. Damn it, Hardison!*

          I bit the bullet and ordered a refurbished Aeron chair (I had one at a previous job). It’s taking forever but I know it’s worth the wait.

        3. NotAnotherManager!*

          My office chair is a lower-model HM chair, and I miss it so much! (That and my white board are the *only* things I miss.) I sprung for an office chair, though not a hundreds-of-dollars chair, and it’s helped but it’s nowhere near as nice as my actual office chair (which we were explicitly instructed not to remove from the office).

      2. DataGirl*

        as a fellow short person, I bought an ergonomic foot rest on Amazon for about $20 that allows me to put my chair up higher to reach the desk top properly, and not have my feet dangling in the air. It’s really helped with my posture.

    4. merp*

      This is the first thing I thought of. I don’t have a home office set-up at all and deeply miss my chair and desk when I’m at home. On top of that, remote work is very much temporary for my job – there is almost no way we will be allowed to continue even a day or two a week after all this, so I struggle with the cost of investing in something I will only need for an unknown, possibly short, amount of time. Currently working from my couch, which is a disaster for my back.

    5. Anax*

      Chaaaaiiiiirrrrrrrrrr. I wish I could go get mine, but we did ask if we could, and they said they were “working on it” weekly for four months and then dropped the issue. (Ugh.)

      I feel like sudden missing chairs would get … obvious, since we made such a fuss, but man, my back hurts. Dining chairs have no lumbar support, and my improvised solutions aren’t great.

    6. CatCat*

      Literally the only thing I miss at this point. If we could get some clarity on the future of WFH at our organization, I’d go ahead and invest in a better chair at home.

    8. The Ginger Ginger*

      OMG YES. The only purchase I’ve made so far in relation to my computer set up was a better chair. I waited WAY too long to do it.

  13. Anon4This*

    As a mom of teenagers and wife of a man not currently working, my biggest challenge is interruptions. It doesn’t seem to matter how often we talk about the fact that I’m working (and no one else is) means I am not available. Yet my mere physical presence means I’m constantly being asked to do things that they are all perfectly capable of doing for themselves. It’s exhausting. I’ve started going in to the office 2x a week even though I don’t have to just to get away.

    1. KimmyBear*

      I hide in my basement. Seriously. I turned a closet into an office. My 4 year old doesn’t come down on his own and my husband (also not working) only comes down if he really needs something from storage.

      1. Anon4This*

        I wish I had a basement or someplace I could close the door, but our house is REALLY tiny. My options are the living room or kitchen. I finally set up a desk in the living room after 6 months at the kitchen table which has helped a little- at least I’m further away from people getting food- and I plan to buy a room divider to further separate my ‘office’ from the family.

    2. Ditto*

      So much this. I have two college students and a spouse also doing remote work from our fairly open plan small house. And one is studying voice for Opera performance. Concentration is just… not a thing anymore.

    3. Observer*

      Start saying no, even after work. And when you are at work, feel free to stop them and ask “is this an emergency?” and if the answer is no, end the conversation.

      1. Anon4This*

        If only it were so easy. But then I get told I’m a bad mother for not caring for my family. *yes I realize we have way bigger problems than office space*

        1. tyrannosaurus vex*

          “True. During work hours I am a terrible mother who does not care about her family, so you’ll have to manage on your own from 9 to 5.”

    4. Dr. Rebecca*

      Ooooh, I’d be severely tempted to use a spray bottle, like for naughty kittens.

      “…hey honey?” *SPRITZZ*

    5. Amy*

      I hope this isn’t overstepping, but your comment reminded me about this letter to Captain Awkward: https://captainawkward.com/2018/08/24/1137-theres-no-room-in-the-room-of-my-own/
      Unfortunately, it was pre-COVID and the advice is to go out and it was only for an hour once a week. Do read the comments though, there might be helpful things. The commenters helpfully highlighted this one: https://www.thecut.com/article/ask-a-boss-i-work-from-home-and-my-mom-wont-stop-talking.html which talks more about boundary setting.

      1. Anon4This*

        Not overstepping and thanks, I’ll take a look. I do have a therapist and we talk about boundary setting but I also live with incredibly manipulative people who know just how to work my mom guilt, so it’s tough.

    6. Libby*

      Yes, I had a similar situation at home not so much them asking me to do things but forgetting to be quiet when I am on calls, etc. I am so much more productive at the office and it was just easier to go back full time vs a couple days a week due to monitors, chairs, files, etc.

    7. Megumin*

      I get annoyed when my 5 year old keeps interrupting me for things she can do herself…..it would probably drive me batty if she was teenaged, because they are typically capable of a lot more than a 5 year old!

    8. Elbereth Gilthoniel*

      Yes! I miss my office. I think what I miss most about it is having a door that closes, and signals to everyone that I need uninterrupted work time. I work in my bedroom, and closing the door at home seems to just signal “feel free to open the door and waltz on in whenever you want to” Sigh

    9. Sled dog mama*

      I’m with you, I have a 6 year old who just can’t seem to leave me alone and uses “but mommy I love you so much that want to be with you” to mean I want to hang on you and ask you questions and generally interrupt your work. I also have a 42 year old kid who can’t quite seem to grasp that working from home means I do have actual work to get done and I don’t just get to twiddle my thumbs. Best one yet was the day he walks up to me, hey you said it’s a quiet day, wanna go to the furniture shop 40 minutes away and look for a bench for the entrance?
      Um no I’m working.
      But you said you don’t have anything to do and you took the puppy to the vet last so why is that ok but furniture shopping isn’t?
      If I really have to answer that we’ve got bigger issues. (Also because I cleared it with my boss to take an hour to take the puppy to the vet just like if I’d been working in the office, I am not asking if I can go three counties away to look for an entry bench during work hours when we’re supposed to be working from home due to COVID!)

    10. Ampersand*

      You must have boys! My son will interrupt me in a meeting to ask/tell me something when his dad is sitting right there not doing anything. Sympathy here!

      1. Anon4This*

        Nope, two girls. Even when I was in the office they would call me to ask questions even though their dad was right there in the house. I know *not all men* but based solely on my friend group’s experience, dads are pretty useless.

  14. Lugan Locky*

    I miss having my own space where I could close the door and be alone. I also miss sitting in my car and singing loudly each morning. My commute was only about 15 minutes in the morning, but I liked having my ME TIME. I love wearing what I want, my new two hour lunch break, and fewer interruptions by coworkers.

    1. Justme, the OG*

      I also miss the me time in my short commute. I would switch over to NPR as soon as I dropped my kid off at school and I don’t really listen to it now that I’m not in my car.

    2. Rachel*

      Yes! I miss my 25 minute commute. I would often call my sister or mom just to talk while I drove, and I really liked driving home because the evening view is so pretty.

    3. TW*

      I live in a tiny apartment, and I’ve had to install a desk about three feet from my bed. It’s hard to unplug from work at the end of the day when my computer and all my work stuff is just sitting there in my line of sight. I feel less like I’m working from home and more like I’m living at work.

  15. Alig*

    I’m of course concerned about safety, but I’ve also gotten really used to working from home and I love it. I love not having a commute, I love the flexibility of my schedule, I love hanging out with my dog all day, I love wearing yoga pants and not having to worry about clothes or makeup. I can keep the temperature where I like it instead of freezing from office AC all day! I’m also more productive without all the chit chat and constant interruptions I’d get in the office. I like my coworkers, but I love being able to hunker down and focus without people sticking their head into my office every 10 minutes.

  16. Chainsaw Bear*

    I really really miss having a separate space, as well as interacting with coworkers. My apartment was a perfect size for myself and my roommate before this, and now it just feels cramped and I don’t have space for a desk anywhere outside my bedroom – which I’d rather not barricade myself in all day. I also only started my job in January, so the learning curve became quite a bit steeper once we started working remotely.

    1. F.M.*

      I miss interacting with coworkers too. We have a Slack, but it’s nothing like casual chat once in a while. The animal parts of my brain miss just SEEING people; I spent months in this apartment with no other humans around, and while my housemate is back now, I still miss just… being near people. I’m an introvert, but that doesn’t mean I want complete isolation!

      I also miss the separate space. It was good for work-life separation, and I also had a proper cubicle, with room for books, for writing spaces, for a mouse and a laptop riser and a larger keyboard… The only place I can effectively work in my apartment is on my bed, and sitting on the bed with my laptop on my lap 98% of my waking hours is a nightmare for my posture, and for my ability to focus. Plus now I can’t really do anything on paper, which is making my executive dysfunction reaction to the constant stress even work. And have you tried propping open three reference books around you on the bed while writing on your lap and fending off the dog? NOT A FAN.

      …also, I commuted by a combo of bus/train/walking (depending on the weather and time of day), so now I’m getting no exercise. And getting a lot less reading done, since most of my leisure reading was done while on the bus or train. It’s a significant downgrade in almost every way.

      I guess the only positive I can think of is that I can get to the kitchen easily for snack breaks, and spend less time commuting. But… I liked my commute for both exercise and leisure reasons. And I had a nice little kettle at my cubicle anyway. So it’s not much positive. I wish I could go back.

      1. Cat lady*

        I really miss seeing and interacting with my colleagues too! There are a few that I am close with that I text (which is not the same) and my boss but I miss all the other people was a casually friends with.

        Now most days I only see my partner and it is driving me pretty crazy! I miss having more work/life separation.
        I also miss reading on the bus or biking to work as a way to start my day. I feel like I didn’t mind/miss all these things for the first few months but new 6 months in a really see how much I like those parts of my day.

    2. The Rural Juror*

      I feel your pain. I’m actually back in the office (small company, only 3 employees physically in the office and we can be distanced from each other). I volunteered to go back as fast as humanly (and safely) possible.

      I live in a small house with a roommate. She runs a small business from home, so we agreed that she could have the two smaller bedrooms and I would take the “big” bedroom with the in-suite bathroom (it’s really not my bigger than the others). She gets an office, I get a bigger closet. Win win! Well…pre-Covid it was…

      When I went to working from home I had to bring my desktop computer to my house. The only place to set up a small table for it was in the living room (which luckily is large). That meant I had to be out in the common area for at least 5 hours a day. I had to do video meetings from there, so I would always give her a heads up. Well, even with trying to be as considerate possible, I guess I was driving her nuts. She was NOT happy about the situation and started being very passive-aggressive and disruptive to my meetings. I don’t know what she expected me to do differently…it’s not like I could go anywhere else! I had talked to her before putting the computer area up in the living room. I would have had to completely rearrange my bedroom to find wall space for it. Everything I had done to make my workstation had been discussed with her and done with the intention of trying not to be inconsdirate. Even so, she was being pretty unreasonable about the whole thing.

      So, long story short, I went back the office as soon as my boss ok’d it and I felt safe to do so. Luckily I had that option. Home life has been considerably better since then, but I still plan on moving out when our lease ends!

  17. Boopers*

    Not really, honestly. I miss seeing people in person and enjoying the unplanned connections with them throughout the day, but otherwise no. I’m an introvert and would book phone rooms to work in constantly so as not to be disturbed; now that’s the norm!

    We went public recently, and it would have been great to celebrate and share the moment in person with coworkers. A Zoom celebration was not the same.

    I will however concede that it’s been difficult remotely training a new hire when I’m more comfortable with them shadowing me as I go about my day.

    Okay, I guess I do miss the office.

    1. Wine Not Whine*

      You’ve hit my main worry: training. I loved WFH with my old job, largely because I had an ebb-and-flow of work and I didn’t have to “look busy” when I was at a slow part of the cycle.
      But now that I’m job hunting (COVID-related layoff), I know it’s going to be exhausting getting up to speed with a new company, new industry, and new role. And double all that because it all has to be done by phone and video.
      I know it’s doable – it’s just not gonna be easy!

  18. ThinMint*

    I miss the time in the car to and from work. It was a good space to decompress. I had nothing to accomplish except driving to pick up the kids. Now, when I leave my desk, I’m immediately home and see all the stuff I need to get done.

    I miss wearing my fun work clothes, but can’t bring myself to get ‘dressed up’ to go into my basement.

    1. Kate*

      I totally relate on the drive home- my drive was only 10-15 minutes but to have that time to decompress and have a few minutes after work-mode before you have to go into mom-mode was more crucial than I realized.

    2. Boopers*

      The commute is actually the part that makes me not want to go back the most, because it’s a 30 minute public bus ride in SF and I do not miss being a sardine with no personal space between myself and the guy doing crack behind me. Or the woman coughing without covering her mouth. Or the street dog who’s sweet but smells like sour garbage and now he’s rubbing against my leg. Blerg.

    3. KimmyBear*

      Yup. I had a 40 minute commute so I would listen to music, call my mom (hands free), and decompress. Now my commute is up the stairs.

      1. Kimmy Schmidt*

        Me too! Yoga pants and sweats are comfy and all, but I like clothes and shoes and fun jewelry and finding cool pieces in bright colors. I always feel like I’m a little bit of an actor putting on my costume and it gets me in the right mindset. I haven’t been able to replicate that at home, and I now have this closet full of stuff that isn’t being worn.

        1. Diahann Carroll*

          Same (except I have TWO closets packed with goodies I can no longer wear/play in). I was dressing up at the beginning of COVID lockdowns because it was a habit from before; however, with restaurants shutting down and stores being packed and me being terrified to even leave my apartment building for fear of contamination (thanks, OCD!), I no longer had a reason to get dressed because I wasn’t going outside at all during the day like I used to to pick up lunch or run quick errands.

          I also discovered that doing my in home exercising midway through my work day instead of after hours energized me, powering me through the last few hours of work. So I began changing from pajamas to work out clothes in the morning, and now that’s all I seem to wear *sigh.* I do occasionally put on makeup, though, when someone schedules a meeting with me and asks me to turn on my camera in advance (my company isn’t really big on video – we only use the audio portion of Teams). Still, I miss getting dolled up every morning and having somewhere to go during the day.

    5. Caramel & Cheddar*

      There was definitely a day where I put on the sparkly dress I wore to our holiday party last year. I have absolutely nowhere to wear it, so any random day was as good as any! :D

    6. Megumin*

      I’m surprised that I miss my work clothes, too! I’ve always been pretty averse to wearing anything much more than jeans and t-shirt but I don’t even want to pull out my “nice” t-shirts while I’m working from home, because I have 2 small children around, and EVERYTHING gets messed up. So I’m basically just wearing the same grungy leggings and tees on repeat. Even though my work dress code is really casual, I miss being able to put on the nice jeans and t-shirts….

  19. Kate*

    I was full-time in the office pre-pandemic and as an introvert I thought I would love working at home, but I really miss the interaction with my coworkers (just being able to pop in with a quick question, or taking a break to just chat for a few minutes). I’m definitely struggling with that, and miss getting dressed up and going out a bit (as a mom with small kids, that was my only time to put on makeup and heels and athleisure wear has been nice but I’m starting to miss my old wardrobe too!)

    1. FeelingUncreativeCreative*

      Hi fellow introvert! I thought the same. First 2 weeks of lockdown, I was like YES, CANCEL ALL THE PLANS. And now I really miss the balance of being social and having the casual chats, and the downtime I really need.

    2. A Cataloger*

      I agree, as another introvert, I thought it would be awesome and for a large part it is, I can now indulge my desire to stay in. But I find I am missing the balance of casual chats and seeing other people occasionally with my desire for isolation. Sometimes I wonder how much of it is that I live alone (with 2 cats who are great, but they don’t really talk back in a sensible manner, it’s all about food or cuddles with them). It’s been a little better a few women from one of my knitting group formed a pod and meet for dinner and knitting once a week.

    3. Data Nerd*

      Oh thank goodness, I thought that was just me! I’d be perfectly happy with one or two days a week in the office and the rest WFH, but the total day-in-day-out of being inside my house all the time was really draining. Although I kept up a lot better with the laundry.

    4. Kat*

      As an introvert and also shy person, I felt like work provided a very low-effort way to socialize and build relationships. Work comes with people you have something in common with, built-in conversation topics, and natural conversation-enders (gotta get back for a meeting!). I don’t actually miss it, but I had gotten pretty good at it and my friendly relationships with my co-workers was beneficial to my career. It takes a lot more energy and risk to try to maintain those relationships remotely so I worry that it will hurt me professionally not having easy space for those interactions.

    5. Bostonian*

      I hear you on the wardrobe part. I just switched over my closet to fall clothes, and I was putting away into storage so many summer clothes that I love but I didn’t wear this year because I wasn’t going into the office. :-(

    6. Grace Poole*

      As an introvert who lives alone, being at home used to be my way to decompress from having to be out and about and on all day at work. Spending a quiet day/weekend at home was refreshing. Now every day is a quiet day at home.

    7. JustaTech*

      Yeah, I’m surprised how much I miss having lunch with coworkers, or even just chatting around the coffee machine.

      That said, the bosses having lunch parties where we’re supposed to come in and eat in the (very large, generously spaced) lunchroom stresses me out more than anything right now. I guess it’s where I’m putting all my 2020 anxiety. I did it once and I refused the next invite and have already planned my escape from today’s “happy hour” (I have to go in to scan more stuff, wee). If I’m not taking the risk to eat with my friends, why the heck would I take that risk with my coworkers?

    8. Anxious Cat Servant*

      Saaaaaame. I’ve been a student forever, including finishing my masters with mostly online classes and I thought I’d be the perfect candidate for WFH. Even our house is perfect – a bit too large for just DH and I with plenty of space for me to setup a home office.

      Turns out I like the idea but I CANNOT focus. Even with all the tricks, no kids, no valid reasons to be distracted I’d still end my workday realizing I only actually worked for a small portion of it and still had lots to do.

      Fortunately our office was able to reopen to those of us who want to be back since we each have our own private office and plenty of room to social distance. I’m back and productive again and with a new realization that I will not be doing any WFH again if at all avoidable.

  20. AurynGold*

    I would attribute 100% of my desire to return to in-office work as a desire to return to normal life. It would be one way for me to get some social interaction… not to mention Vitamin D!

    But if I had a genie in a bottle, I’d wish for:
    1. Everyone’s dependent care needs are met
    2. Everyone has enough social and emotional support
    3. I get to wear my coffee-stained college sweatshirt while working.

    2. Faberge Otter*

      I would second this. I’ve noticed that what so many people are complaining about are how I felt every working day of my life pre-pandemic: frightened, lonely, stuck somewhere they don’t want to be. It was physical torture dragging myself out of the house every day. I was nearly at a breaking point at the beginning of March, and the pandemic was not even on my radar as I cried all the way home from work every day.

      I am happier working from home than I have been at any point in the previous six years, and I never want to stop. But I know it’s trashing some people’s mental health, so I really hope what we can all take away from this year is: Everyone has different needs. Some people die a little inside when they’re stuck in the house; some people die inside when they’re forced to leave. Since we’ve now all experienced what it’s like to be unhappy/happy doing what we don’t like/do like, I hope we can all gain some empathy and patience for others and be more generous about finding solutions to people’s dream ways-to-work.

      1. Junior Dev*

        I can relate to this somewhat. I have severe anxiety and I finally (after years of trying meds that were ineffective and being shamed by doctors for wanting/needing controlled substance medications) met with a psychiatrist who suggested my current medication, and that I take it every day instead of “as needed”, and so I had a little under a month of good mental health before the pandemic hit.

        And honestly…as hard as it is navigating the mental health ramifications of the pandemic, it’s a huge weight off my shoulders that I don’t have to navigate the hell that is being a person with social anxiety in an open office. Before I was trying to figure out what combination of retreating to the bathroom or nursing room to meditate or have a panic attack, staying home to work on some days vs coming in, forcing myself to go to happy hours knowing I’d need a day or two to recover vs. missing out and becoming more distant from my team…

        I sorely miss in-person social interactions, hard as they were, but having them be something I need to actively seek out now rather than something that’s forced on me by my job (and that uses up all my social spoons I’d prefer to use with friends or family) has been sort of a silver lining.

        I think my ideal situation once the virus goes away is to have one or two days I go in to work and do the rest working from home; I was kind of doing that before anyway but my boss wasn’t happy about it.

  21. tazdevil*

    I miss the mundane chit chat, coming into the office on Monday morning and saying “good morning” and wishing everyone a great weekend when I leave on Friday evening.

    2. beanie gee*

      YES! Since I now only chat with my coworkers when we are actually in a meeting, we don’t get the more informal interactions. MS Teams just isn’t the same.

      1. allathian*

        This is the reason I love our Friday “coffee break”, 30 minutes of completely voluntary non-work chat.

    3. pancakes*

      If there was good camaraderie in your office I bet other people miss it too — maybe an optional Monday morning and/or Friday evening zoom chat / coffee break / happy hour would be well-attended? I’m thinking 30 minutes where people could pop in and chat with whoever else is on.

  22. Web Crawler*

    I was working from home 90% of the time before COVID, so I thought that 100% would be easy. It’s not. I deeply miss having the option to be around coworkers.

    1. MissGirl*

      That’s how I am. I miss interactions, lunches, getting out. I never want to go back to full time but I would like to go back to one or two days.

      1. allathian*

        Yeah, me too. But only once the pandemic is behind us to the extent that we no longer have to wear masks in public. I can deal with it for a 45-minute commute, but not for a whole working day.

  23. a username*

    Would love to hear others’ takes on the loss of a commute. It’s really the only thing I missed – I’m a bike commuter and I took for granted how much getting my blood pumping in the morning helped get me going. I also realized how valuable the physical delineation of the day was in helping me check out from my work and enjoy my evening without thinking about it. I think I’ve found a way that works for me (I walk or jog with my dog right after clocking out on days I’m still remote), but in general would love to hear the discussion – are you reassessing the way you commute? How has losing your commute improved or negatively impacted your work / life separation?

    1. Anna*

      I’ve talked to a few people who have kept their pre-Covid schedules, including “commuting” by walking or biking for the same amount of time their commute used to take, at the times they used to travel to and from the office. Seems like a nice way to schedule the day, if you can swing it.

    2. Jellyfish*

      I don’t miss the driving and parking, but I did physically walk around far more before we went remote. It was about half a mile from the parking lot to my office alone, and I usually walked at lunch too. My neighborhood isn’t great for walking, and I haven’t found a way to make up for that loss.

      1. Colette*

        When we first started WFH, I realized how much walking I did to go to the bathroom or kitchen; that kind of activity went way down.

        1. Ama*

          Yes! My desk is on the complete opposite end of the floor from the bathroom and the copier, and I really didn’t realize how much walking I was getting in on a normal work day (much less going to fetch lunch every day, the 15 minute walk from the subway to the office, etc.). I’ve had to take up running to make up for how much less I move around in a work day.

    3. londonedit*

      I’m still keeping to my normal running schedule, but what I have lost is my 15-minute walk to the station every morning and evening, and walking around at lunchtime. I’m just not walking as much as I did! I try to get myself out for a walk, but I find it hard to motivate myself as I’m not going anywhere, just ambling round the park! Now that it looks like WFH might go on for at least another six months here, I really do need to make an effort to fit more walking into my life (difficult as we’re heading into winter – lunchtime will soon be my only option if I don’t want to wander around in the dark!)

      1. Quill*

        A couple summers ago I took what I jokingly called the “pokemon go excercise program” and I really need to get back to it.

        There is no way to get me exercising without a reward because my brain does not produce enough “this is a good idea” juice to do that on its own.

        1. londonedit*

          Running does that for me, but walking doesn’t unless it’s a walk in a lovely park on a glorious sunny day. Which is not the weather we’re currently experiencing!

    4. Matilda Jefferies*

      I used to do most of my reading on the commute, and I haven’t quite been able to carve out the time to do it at home. (Kids, yanno.) I miss reading.

    5. Matt*

      I had this discussion with someone — as a bike commuter, I think I’m the rare person who misses their commute. 100% agree, even a 15-minute ride into the office did more to energize me for the day than any cup of coffee.

      As a non-morning person, I’ve found it hard to motivate myself to start my WFH days with some kind of exercise. I have been able to run or bike more after work (or sometimes during) which is great, but I’m really dreading the Upper Midwest winter that’s looming on the horizon… that might be the catalyst that gets me to go back to the gym.

      1. Faberge Otter*

        I love biking, so I also have to put in here: where I live, it is literally impossible to bike anywhere meaningful. Freeways, no bike trail, no sidewalks, half the time no shoulder even. So no commute actually means more time to be on a bike, since biking requires driving somewhere to do it.

      2. SarahKay*

        I have the same problem as you. I walked to work, 1.5 miles each way, and making myself fit that sort of walking in now is not easy. Especially as I, too, am not a morning person.
        In addition, I haven’t actually gained any time by cutting out the commute. Previously I’d eat lunch at the (heavily subsidised) work canteen and just have toast or something similarly light and easy in the evening. Now my walking time is spent making a main meal and washing up after.

        1. JustaTech*

          I keep asking myself where my morning commute time went. I get up at the same time, take the same shower, wear the same clothes, eat pretty much the same breakfast and yet even without my drive I’m still logging in 5-10 minutes later.
          My only guess is that making and drinking my coffee before I start my “work day” (I used to drink coffee at work instead of at home) is making me spend a little more time with the newspaper in the morning.

      3. allathian*

        Do you feel safe going to the gym? I wouldn’t… I also wouldn’t feel comfortable exercising with a mask on. That said, I’m really happy we have both a stationary bike and a treadmill in our basement gym…

        We’re not rich by any means, but my husband and I decided early on in our marriage to invest in a big house, so we have the space. We’ll be paying off our mortgage until we retire. Especially in these pandemic times, I think we definitely made the right choice. Some of my friends who live in tiny apartments so they could afford to go out to restaurants weekly and concerts monthly, and to travel to the other side of the world twice a year, are currently rather miserable…

    6. Faberge Otter*

      I’m getting about 90 more minutes of sleep per day without having to commute, and consequently feel more awake and alert. It’s also saving me money on gas, oil changes, and I can’t even calculate how much longer my truck is going to last now that I’m only driving it a couple of times a month. I’m also spending more of the day standing and walking. It’s been all good news for me (and my cat, whose mental health is 100% better not being left alone all day every day).

      The big problem was going from “work screen” to “home/play screen” and in the first weeks, I was having tremendous trouble sleeping until I started making myself take at least an hour after work and half an hour before bed (minimally) to cook, take a bath, read, just anything other than looking at a screen. And without a commute, I suddenly have two hours free for hobbies and have rediscovered my love of making miniatures, carving lino stamps, working with clay, and I’ve also started carnivorous gardening! I dread the inevitable return to commuting like a monster waiting to devour all my mental health.

      1. allathian*

        I’m a morning person by nature, and I love being able to start working by 6.30 or 7. I get up around 5.30 as I normally would. There are some distractions at home, especially in the morning before my son leaves for school or in the afternoon when he gets back home. Unless there’s an afternoon meeting scheduled, I’ve usually stopped working by 3.30 or 4. I love it!

    7. Nicki Name*

      I used to bike to transit, and I really miss that! I’ve replaced it with a walk in the morning and evening. I was worried about not being able to stick with the routine since I didn’t absolutely have to go somewhere, but somehow I’ve kept at it for six months. We’ll see how it goes during winter, though.

      I’m still able to get on the bike about once a week for errands, at least.

      1. Waiting to be Future Endeavored*

        I love WFH. It’s been a dream of mine for awhile. My setup is not ideal because I’m in my bedroom and there are children and a sitter here. But in a couple weeks, the younger kid will start back at daycare and it’ll be just me, my husband (who already was WFH 4 days a week before this), and a first grader. She does interrupt me sometimes, but it’s still better than when I was in a cube with poor HVAC overhearing other people’s non-work conversations, including awkward spousal phone calls.
        I was able to get my work desktop and work chair. The home desk serves its purpose.
        I don’t miss the rush out the door in the morning. And I’ve gotten better at stopping at the end of the day. And making use of my exempt status where some days are longer and some are shorter.
        I don’t miss traveling between locations for meetings because it turns out we can do all of this remotely!
        I miss the built in physical activity — walking from the train, biking, or even walking between meeting locations.
        I miss seeing work friends at the rec center for lunchtime classes.
        I miss seeing work friends for lunch.
        I live in leggings and shirts, often no bra and no shoes. I try to walk in the morning and build in workout time during the day.
        I message with work friends and some people are on Slack. Teams is also being used more.
        I meet up with people outside wearing masks for socialization.
        We also have a lot more family time in the evening, so in general everything feels less rushed. We even went down to one car.
        Once it’s only 3 of us, I hope to use the laptop more and sit at the table or the couch when I want a change of scenery. Or maybe even outside.

    8. F.M.*

      I miss my commute too! I had a lot of flexibility on how to do it–bus, train, walking, some combination of the above, and in each direction–so I could take a leisurely ride while reading a book on my phone, or get some exercise, and then change my mind and do it the other way on the way home too. It was a great line between Home and Work, and also, as it turns out, 95% of my exercise. And about 80% of my leisure reading time.

      I’ve been trying to find a way to get that back into my life, but it turns out I’m really resistant to exercise just for the sake of exercise; I love walking places if I need to be there, not so much just walking for the sake of walking. Especially if I don’t like the weather. It’s doing a number on my health.

      1. Nicki Name*

        Yeah, it took a couple months for me to start reading regularly again because I did a lot of my reading on the transit part of my commute. I’ve gotten back in the habit by making it part of my no-screen time for the hour or so before bedtime.

    9. Jackalope*

      I miss my bike commute as well! I’ve tried to keep riding every day, but it’s still down somewhat. I would commute every day by bike rain or shine, but that’s a bit harder when I don’t *have* to get on my bike.

    10. lemon*

      Also missing my commute. I usually do a mix of walking and public transportation, and it was great to just have time in the morning to zone out and listen to music or read on my way to work. Plus, I was getting a lot more exercise. I was trying to go on more walks and bike rides over the summer to make up for this but got kind of bored constantly walking/biking around the same areas. I found that I had to stick close to home for bathroom breaks, lol, since a lot of public restrooms aren’t available right now. And also, what made walking around work fun was the fact I worked downtown– I liked seeing the hustle and bustle of the city. My neighborhood is pretty quiet and residential, so definitely not as fun.

    11. Ginny*

      I don’t miss spending > 1 hour in the car most days, but I did bike commute sometimes, and I miss having exercise built into my routine.

      The physical delineation thing is huge for me! It’s usually a mistake when I work in my bedroom, and try to at least go to other parts of the house to work. It also helps me to have a separate work computer that I shut when I am done with the workday, so I don’t get lured into tasks during off hours.

      I’ll be starting a new job in a new city this winter, and this experience has reinforced that I want a mid-length commute that gives some separation but doesn’t eat up all my free time.G

    12. kathjnc*

      Agreed. My bike commute was about an hour round trip and somehow that time seems to have evaporated from my day rather than being available for some other activity. Motivation is also hard – previously it was just how I got to work and home, not something I had to actively choose to do each day. I’ve been much more sedentary since working from home, and I’ve noticed the difference to my mood and energy level. (I also, a little bit, miss the evil glee of shadenfreude mixed with ecological self-righteousness I would get from passing cars at rush hour – I know, I know, I’m a terrible person ;) ) Definitely something I need to create a new routine for, as it’s going to be awhile before I get that commute back!

    13. Mademoiselle Sugar Lump*

      I miss the radio shows I listened to on the way to work. Nothing’s stopping me from listening to them now, though I don’t have to get up as early and they’re not on later.

      1. pancakes*

        Have you checked the station’s website? I’d be surprised if the shows aren’t available for streaming later via podcast or some other format.

    14. Anxious Cat Servant*

      Back in grad school a move for DH’s job put me almost an hour away from school so switching to online classes when possible was fantastic – I saved so much time and money plus it gave me more flexibility.

      I thought it would be the same now with work, though my commute is far shorter. And I think that shorter part is the problem – if I had a 45min or more commute then I’d probably be thrilled to have that time back. However a 15min commute is, it turns out, just right to get me in work mode. If I ever had a job that required me to work remotely or from home then I’d have to find some way to add some sort of ‘commute’ into my mornings.

      I am jealous that you were able to bike to work. That’s not a safe option here (I don’t feel like battling overcompensating pickup trucks for road space) so I have to commute via car and get my cardio in elsewhere.

    15. Trekker*

      Missing my bike commute is the hardest part for me too, and top of it the summer club rides I’d have been doing were cancelled too! I end up just working later or sitting around unmotivated. I’m working on getting into a rhythm of drifting for the winter, I’ve signed up for a training plan so I’m hoping I can commit to carving out that time for myself at least 3 days a week.

    16. Kristobel*

      I don’t miss the drive – it was usually 30 minutes to go 7-ish miles (you can guess one of three cities I live in), which was stressful. But it was nice to have that time to clearly separate home life from work life. Like leaving the house in the morning, listening to NPR, getting my brain working and then on the way home, listening to music and just decompressing. I really miss the clear break between work and home, and having time completely to myself. I used to work from home one day a week, and it was such a treat because I didn’t have to drive and I got the house to myself. Now it’s just home all the time.

  24. Mel_05*

    I adore working from home. The only thing I’m not a fan of is that my home computer set up is not nearly as nice as my work computer set up. And we weren’t allowed to bring those home. They’re not laptops, so that would have been complicated anyway.

    I do sometimes miss more casual conversations with the people in my office suite, but we still chat some on slack, so it’s not as if I don’t chat with them at all.

    1. Faberge Otter*

      Our company sent extra monitors home with us, but the laptops are so tiny, I pretty much can’t use that screen. I’m making do all right on it, though. I am the teensiest bit tired of my work space clogging up my dining area–not a lot of extra room in a 900 sq ft apartment–but if 98% of every work day was irritating to me in the office, I’ll gladly exchange that for a 2% annoying thing in WFH.

    2. Mayati*

      Same here. My work is solitary by nature and requires a lot of focus, so pop-in conversations just didn’t happen that often in the office. It’s actually much nicer to chat on Teams, because that way we’re not bothering the person in the next cube over, and if we’re busy, we don’t have to answer “so how was the weekend?” until we have a free second. I miss physically being around people sometimes, but in normal times I could just go to a coffee shop.

    3. AnonEMoose*

      This is pretty much where I land. My husband’s job is considered essential, so he’s still going to work. Which doesn’t make me super happy, but they are screening people, requiring masks, and encouraging as much distancing as possible.

      So during the day, it’s just me and the cats at home. I invested in an additional monitor and a docking station for my laptop, so I have dual monitors. Still futzing with my setup, but it works well enough.

      I bought a small stepping machine, so I try to get 10 minutes on that around lunchtime, and another 10-15 minutes after I log out, so I’m getting at least a little exercise.

      I do miss the casual chats with my coworkers, and I miss bringing in baked goods from time to time. And I do miss the occasional lunch with a couple of coworkers from other departments that I consider friends.

      But…fewer interruptions is nice, and I’m spending a lot less money on lunch, and I’m not running to the bakery…or Caribou…or the convenience store. So it’s helping my bank balance and I’m actually mostly eating healthier.

      1. Mel_05*

        Yes, my husband also has to go into work. And we don’t have kids, so I can work undistracted.

        We already had a dedicated office area, but my work requires a lot of processing power and my home computer struggles to keep up.

        Also saving tons of money not grabbing snacks or swinging by Target on my break!

  25. West*

    My commute was over an hour each way, and I work 8:30-5:30. I would only be home for 12 hours a day, most of that time was sleeping. I love working from home and can’t imagine going back to the old way.

    1. Faberge Otter*

      Yes, yes, yes. My commute wasn’t usually that severe, but if you started the clock when I walked out the door, I was working 8:30 to 6 most days and obviously the aggravating time on the road wasn’t paid. My life was a grind of waking up, going to work, coming home, and squeezing a few hours of relaxation before showering and collapsing into bed to do it again. I’ve actually rediscovered hobbies, reading, and sleeping the full 8.5 hours my body wants. I never, ever, ever want to go back.

    2. Clever username goes here*

      For me it’s the sleep, too – getting up at 7 as opposed to 5:15 makes a HUGE difference. Right now I’m WFH twice a week, I am thinking of stretching it to 3 if work allows. Plus, the two hours I don’t spend commuting are often spent working, so I’m getting way more done.

  26. Jolene*

    I miss going in to the office. I miss seeing my colleagues. I miss being forced to take a shower and put on a bit of makeup each morning. I miss my company gym and cafeteria. Given the circumstances, it doesn’t feel so much like we’re “working at home” right now but instead we’re “living at work.”

    I think my ideal in the After Times would be to WAH 2 days per week and go to the office 3 days per week.

  27. chocolate lover*

    I hate working from home with a passion. I didn’t want to do it before pandemic, and the last 6 months have absolutely confirmed everything I feared it would. I’m essentially trapped at home by myself while my husband goes to work, and I’m stuck with his obnoxious pet. I don’t own a car, so I’m dependent on public transportation, which I’m still reluctant to take that often because I’m in a high risk population. So now I’m wallowing in my anxiety and depression, and eating my way through the house.

    I’m physically uncomfortable. I’ve bought various pieces of furniture and accessories like a standing desk converter to have a designated place to work and make it semi comfortable without completely disrupting my feeling of home and sanctuary, which hasn’t been all that successful.

    I’m sick of staring at the computer screen for zoom meetings. I even miss my lengthy work commute on public transportation.

    The day I was told I’d be working at home at least through December, I crawled on the couch and cried. I’m pretty sure I’ll be working from home in the spring, too, but they haven’t officially confirmed that.

    1. SpicySpice*

      Ugh, I’m so sorry. I don’t have any useful advice but I hope you get through it. We’re all rooting for you!

    2. Archie Goodwin*

      I’m with you. My team was working from home for three months – I hated it. I can’t get used to it; I’m not comfortable with it. Never have been. I don’t know why; maybe my home setup isn’t conducive to it, maybe my old work habits are too ingrained, I’m not sure.

      We got the all-clear to come back to the office on at least a modified schedule at the end of June. I’m here every day, which I can get away with largely because almost no one else is and I’m alone in the office. Which is great; I have some peace, but enough other people in other offices to interact with once in a while. I can keep my lunch routine, and my commute. It’s not perfect, but it’s allowed me to have some semblance of normalcy.

      I like having work-from-home as an option, so I don’t have to take vacation time when there’s bad weather, but otherwise I like my office arrangement.

      1. Shan*

        This is me exactly. We were never technically banned from coming in, but it was heavily discouraged. And I was miserable! When our province began gradually reopening at the end of May, I started going in once a week and loved it. After about a month I upped it to two days, and then at the beginning of September I switched to three days. My mental health is SO much better. Having a distinct routine, being able to chat with my barista while getting my morning coffee, interacting with the handful of colleagues who also come in – it gave me a sense of normalcy that was missing when I was WFH 100%. I also find that my anxiety around everything has really gone down. I’m still careful, obviously, and mask/sanitize/social distance, but going to the grocery store no longer feels like shipping off to war.

        With winter coming, I appreciate that I’ll have the option to stay home when it’s -40 or the snow’s so thick you need to tunnel through it, but I like it to just be that – an option.

    3. Jackalope*

      I hear you. I do have things I like about working from home, but I miss my co-workers, and I don’t have a great at-home setup. Plus you alluded to one thing that’s hard: the uncertainty. We have NO IDEA when we will be going back into the office, and that’s been the case since we left.

      I also find that… I struggle with depression, but getting into the office gives me the chance to be my professional self, who is perkier than my at-home self. It’s not like acting a part; I honestly just feel different at work, like I can set aside personal worries and focus on work. I don’t get that right now. I’m stressed and frightened about politics right now, and normally I would be able to forget about that for 8 hours a day. Which right now… I can’t.

  28. FeelingUncreativeCreative*

    Yes! I didn’t think I would, but I definitely miss the office.

    I miss the casual interactions, when I email or request a meeting with people now, it feels like I’m escalating an issue, when before it would have been an informal chat.

    I’ve also noticed how much of my work does NOT involve a laptop or screen. Going from an office environment where I’m in meetings, hosting workshops and working with other people in my team, to sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day has been a huge adjustment for me.

    I’m also finding it really hard to concentrate and I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence. I work in a creative role, and I’m really, really not feeling inspired or creative at the moment!

    I think my ideal would be a couple of days a week in the office, and the rest from home, I appreciate some bits of the flexibility and perks, but definitely miss the interactions and office environment.

    Phew, it feels good to get that off my chest! I look forward to reading other comments, I’m sure I’m not alone!

  29. old curmudgeon*

    I don’t miss the setting – a tiny space in a huge grey cube-farm with major HVAC problems is in no way preferable to my sunny home office with cats lounging on the cat-tree next to my desk. The kitchen table where I started out was not great, but since acquiring a desk and converting an unused spare bedroom into an office, the space at home is vastly much better than my office. I also don’t have anyone else at home while I work, which I know is a major difference from many folks; my kids are adults in their own homes, and my spouse is considered “essential” so goes into his office daily, and as a result, the only sounds I hear are classical music and an occasional feline squabble.

    But I really miss being able to run ideas/questions past my coworkers in a quick convo between other tasks. I miss seeing faces, sharing laughter, brainstorming together, all those things that are easy in person but really challenging at a distance. My employer doesn’t use any of those teams or zooms or slacks that others have mentioned; we can use skype for meetings, but that’s about it. And that is not an ideal medium for spontaneous conversation.

    1. Matilda Jefferies*

      Yes! I’ve been working on a 13-inch laptop since March, after having 2 x 17″ monitors at work. My husband upgraded his computer recently and we attached his old 19″ to my laptop, so now I have my dual monitors again. It’s like working on a movie screen!

    2. SpicySpice*

      I actually broke down and bought a cheapo $25 monitor online so I could have dual monitors at home. It really does make a difference! One screen is obnoxious when you get used to two.

      1. Quill*

        I lucked out at the beginning of all of this: my brother and I both raided my dad’s stash of lightly used electronics for previous computer setups and went home with an old monitor apiece, and in my case a USB keyboard – desperately needed given how teeny the ones on laptops are.

        2. allathian*

          I hear you, I really dislike my laptop keyboard and I can barely remember my PIN for logging in if I don’t have the keypad. My PIN muscle memory is tied to that keypad, I don’t actively remember the numbers themselves…

    4. Bostonian*

      Me toooo. My home desk isn’t big enough to fit 2 monitors and have room for everything else. My home office isn’t big enough to fit a bigger desk. I at least have 1 large monitor, though, so I don’t have to work off the laptop alone!

  31. Spaceball One*

    While I like a lot of things about working at home — it is generally quieter, with fewer distractions and interruptions, it has allowed one kiddo to do full-time-online school and another to do a hybrid — I am also finding some difficulties with it. It’s TOO quiet, which turns into feeling very isolated. Sometimes there are hours of silence while my son is doing online school in the office across the house. My teammates are a few clicks away in Teams, but it’s not quite the same. I also find that I work through what used to be my commute! So I am actually working longer hours. (We are super busy, and without the built-in buffer of a commute, I just… don’t stop working.) And because we are so busy, I get tunnel-vision and I don’t do laundry or load dishes or whatever other quick chores would benefit from me being home. I should do those things. But my work ethic says, it’s work time, so work!

    Overall I still like working from home. But I am also burning out on some aspects of it.

  32. Anonym*

    Not in the slightest! I’m so much more productive at home (granted, no kids or other care duties, just my partner). The office I left was totally open + hotdesking. It SUCKED. I do occasionally miss running into people and having spontaneous, informal conversations, but on the whole this is so much better for my sanity, stress level and work output. I thought I needed the peer pressure/paranoia (ADHD/inattentive) but turns out I don’t.

    1. Formica Dinette*

      Same! I think I’ll enjoy working from home even more when the pandemic is over and I can go to the local café to work for a few hours here and there.

  33. Charlotte Lucas*

    For the most part, I like working from home, but I miss certain people. I think I’d be fine going in once or twice a week once this is over. I love to bake & I really miss bringing in treats for the office. Also, the fitness room & all the restaurants & food vendors near the office. I hope they survive the pandemic.

    I’m a bookish introvert with no kids, so I know I’m doing better than a lot of people.

    1. Charlotte Lucas*

      We’ve been told not to expect a return to the office until summer of 2021. But we can go into the building as needed. I haven’t been there since March.

    2. JimmyJab*

      I hear you on everything here, but especially the baking and bringing in treats – now I have to bake less or eat more! I also miss being downtown in a city and having access to all kinds of conveniences like a grocery store, drug store, Home Goods, and other fun stuff.

  34. SpicySpice*

    I’m one who hated working from home until I was forced to, and now I love it. I’m lobbying my manager to let me stay this way full-time. However, one thing I dislike is that I am working a lot more. Before, I had a really excellent boundary between home and work. When I walked in my door, my brain switched to “home” mode.

    Now I never get to fully do that switch. It’s just so easy to pop into my laptop and get a little more done, and then a little more, etc. My husband isn’t thrilled and neither am I, to be honest. And my boss must have subconsciously noted it because she used to be good about not bugging me after hours, but now she has no problem at hitting me up at 6 pm because she knows I will be there. I know that’s on me for not enforcing boundaries, but who wants to say no to the boss during a pandemic? I don’t want to be the non-team player when the next round of layoffs happens.

  35. Matilda Jefferies*

    I really miss spontaneous conversations. Those little things that are just a quick one-off thought, or a little joke – too minor to make a phone call or even necessarily an IM, but they’re a key part of my satisfaction at work.

    I started a new job this time last year, and went from an environment where everyone worked separately and mostly silently, to one where there were little jokes and chats going on through out the day. I almost cried when I realized it was happening – I hadn’t realized how much I was missing it before! I was in my happy place at the new job for six months, and now we’ve been WFH for six months with no return date in sight. As much as I like to think of myself as a hermit, it turns out I do miss working with other people around!

    Also, lipstick! I really miss red lipstick, a lot. The colours I like are really Too Much for online calls with video, which is like 80% of my days most of the time. And of course there’s no point in wearing it out of the house under a mask, so no lipstick for me.

    1. Dr. Rebecca*

      I adored my boss and liked my colleagues very much, and I miss that too–I miss being down the hall from some of the brightest and funniest people I’ve ever known.

      Also, I wear the red for zoom meetings and encourage being “Too Much” at all times. *grin*

      1. Matilda Jefferies*

        I wear the red for zoom meetings and encourage being “Too Much” at all times.

        This is *excellent* advice. Thank you for the reminder!

    2. Damn it, Hardison!*

      I had interviews on Zoom yesterday and this morning and it made me realize I miss getting dressed up and putting on makeup. I may start doing it a couple of days a week just for myself.

    3. drpuma*

      A week or two into quarantine it suddenly felt Very Important that all the other people on my video meetings know I have eyelashes. Ever since then I’ve been wearing mascara more consistently than I have in years.

  36. Ptarmigan*

    When I was looking for a job I also needed to move, so I rented an apartment next door the office. My commute is (was) a 10-minute stroll on a sidewalk along a lake. I don’t even have to cross a street! And after a couple of years, I was finally upgraded from a cubicle to a window office. I love my office, love the separation between home and work life, and enjoyed my little walk to and from every day. I’m so grateful we’re allowed to work from home (and my company has even guaranteed this through next June), but I miss working in the office a lot.

  37. Southern Academic*

    So I don’t have a designated office per se (the wonders of being a grad student!) but I really miss the kind of serendipitous, ran-into-you-outside-the-mailroom chat with colleagues and faculty. That kind of conversation is valuable, I think, for establishing rapport and thinking creativity in a way that planned Zooms cannot be.

    (That said, I just opted to teach all-online again in the spring. I miss seeing people in person — but until we’re much further along the road to being out of the pandemic, the strictures on and burdens of in person interactions outweigh whatever benefits there are.)

    1. Blackcat*

      Yeah. I used to just chat to random colleagues about their problems (science), and I really miss that! I still talk to my research group all the time, but I miss the far outside my wheelhouse stuff. Sometimes the input from people with a wildly different background is really helpful! And sometimes there’s a underlying math problem that you just need to discuss with others. I miss talking to other folks about my work, and I miss them coming to me with their random stuff, both in research and teaching.

  38. Fiona*

    There are a lot of things I enjoy about remote working (mostly the flexibility and lack of commute), but here are the things I miss:
    – The *feeling* of everyone around me working. My office is not particularly noisy, but there’s sort of a low, general hum of quiet conversation, phone calls, typing. Some find it distracting; I find it energizing and focusing. Like a very subtle, positive peer pressure.
    – The ability to just swing by someone’s desk to quickly work out an issue. I work in a creative field where solving problems can mean adjusting things incrementally on a screen, testing it out, helping each other with technical quirks. So much easier and faster in person.
    – Seeing some of my colleagues by chance, in the hall, exchanging pleasantries. It makes me feel part of a larger community. Now I only see colleagues outside my team if we’re on a large company video conference.
    – Having an end to my day. Deciding that I’m done, packing up my stuff, getting on the train, and leaving work behind. The line is VERY blurry in my current home setup.

    In a perfect world, my return to work will be 3 days in the office, 2 days at home, with the ability to flex it as I see fit. Time will tell!

    1. SomebodyElse*

      I’ve suggested it before, but ambiant noise apps are my favorite. Ironically my office used to be so quiet I would use them there, but since working from home they’ve been a lifesaver. I like ambiant-mixer because you can alter existing ones and add the sounds you want to hear or take out the annoying ones.

    2. FeelingUncreativeCreative*

      I feel exactly the same. I work in a creative job too, and working out a problem with someone is so much easier when you can just sit beside each other and get it done. Screen sharing on Teams is such a rubbish substitute!

      I think 3 days office, 2 at home would be a great balance too. I’m with you!

    3. Grace Poole*

      Definitely agree on the 2nd-to-last point–I never realized how many of my favorite work acquaintances were not people I work directly with until we realized that we *never* see each other anymore. There’s no chatting in the break room or passing in the hallway.

    4. cleo*

      I really miss the positive peer pressure part of being in an environment where everyone else is working too.

  39. Do I even go there?*

    I miss my colleagues, and the chance to talk to colleagues in different teams. I don’t work with them closely, but we sit nearby in the office so I miss that interaction.

    I also really miss my work computer, I work off my laptop at home which is fine and a better spec, but my work computer has two screens and easy access to all the systems. Home working is mostly a workaround for those, although it has got better. Aspects of my job also require physical access to records, that’s not feasible from home so occasional trips into the office in recent weeks have been invaluable!

  40. Alissa*

    I am currently at my kitchen table listening to my husband talk on the phone….and yes, I really miss my office! I am fortunate enough to have a short commute to a very pleasant office with coworkers that I truly enjoy. My company has been extremely responsible regarding COVID and I will likely be working from home until next summer. I have been intentional about emailing one coworker per week that I usually socialize with in the office but don’t actually work with just to say “hi”. This has been a great way to stay connected.

  41. Faberge Otter*

    I have actually been begging my company to let me work from home for about four years now (I’ve been there 6). Everything I do is online. I hate the commute. I hate the lost hours of sleep arranging my schedule around a commute; I hate driving; I hate crazy drivers; I hate winter and trying to decide whether to risk Level 1 snow emergencies or call in sick (all our department’s vacation has to be scheduled in advance, so sick time is the only “emergency” off). I hate my office chair and my desk, which, no matter what efforts are made, aggravate my scoliosis to the point I have 3 crippling muscle spasms per year. I hate the noise of our bullpen setup–which was about to be redesigned to be even more open and even worse. I hate skipping lunch in order to leave at a reasonable hour because we’re not paid for lunch and I’m not staying in the building if I’m not paid to be there.

    I was homeschooled and my dad worked from home the whole time I was growing up. I know how to manage myself, so driving into work has always felt so pointless when everything I do is on a server anyway. Out of all the disasters this year, I consider WFH my lifesaver and potentially will get our Scrooge management to soften up about WFH during bad weather and minor illness in the future. I haven’t had a single health issue or muscle spasm since they sent us home in March; this is the happiest I’ve been in 6 years O:) They are going to have to drag me into that building kicking and screaming.

  42. TooTiredToThink*

    I realized I am lucky in this regard – I don’t have kids or a spouse. Or roommates so I don’t have competition for space or peace. I am LOVING working from home full time. I work in the dreaded open office environment when I’m in the office. This has been the best 6 months of my working life (not my personal life, of course).

  43. jmkoni*

    I’ve been working from home for three years and I love it. I’m still talking to people all the time, so my social needs are still met. Granted, this is still different than pre-COVID wfh because, then, I could go out and still see other people in person. I do miss that. I also got a cheap treadmill off Amazon to put under my desk so I can walk while I’m working to make up for the fact that we aren’t walking to restaurants anymore. If you have a standing desk, I highly recommend this option!

  44. PeteAndRepeat*

    My whole company was fully remote before COVID, but I miss my pre-COVID remote working life soooo much. I used to regularly work at coffee shops or the library for a change of scenery and just to be around other people. It’s hard to be so stuck at home with no change. And now I’m sharing space with my spouse and young child, which makes it a totally different WFH experience than I had before.

  45. londonedit*

    To some extent, yes. I live in London because I love London, and I (ordinarily) work in the middle of the city, with all the culture and shops and food options right on my doorstep. I really miss that. I also like the people I work with, and I miss seeing them face-to-face. But at the moment the risks of going on the Tube and mixing with other people far outweigh the benefits of getting to spend time in town, and my personal philosophy is not to make any unessential journeys. I can work perfectly well from home, and I’m fortunate to have a setup that’s quiet (no housemates or children) and where there’s enough space for me to separate work and home life. I also have to say that the savings on travel costs have been an enormous help! So while I do miss the office, and I miss my life in London, that life isn’t really there at the moment for me to enjoy in the same way as I did before, and I think it’s best to stay working from home given the fact that I’m able to.

  46. AliceBD*

    I like it when I thought I wouldn’t but only because I moved right before the pandemic and I now have dedicated office space. It would have been very difficult to find office space in my previous place and it would not have been right next to a big sunny window, actually the sunniest window in my home. I also don’t have a spouse or kids to distract me or interrupt me while I’m working. If I didn’t have the ability to physically “leave the office” at the end of the day this would be MUCH more difficult.

    I’d be fine to be permanently WFH and only come in for meetings when being in person is safe again.

  47. It’s not a vacation*

    I work from home the majority of the time, but my partner physically has to be at work every day. I’m really struggling with the expectation that I’ll take on 90% of the housework and meal prep because “I’m here anyway”. I love that I can throw a load of laundry in between zoom meetings, but we’re developing a really big product for a US government customer and I need to get it done! I’ll be absorbed in my work and my partner will come home and immediately complain that there are dishes in the sink and the dog clearly hasn’t been walked enough, how long u til dinner is ready and why is my work stuff spread out all over the table?
    It’s frustrating, and I feel like if I was in the office all day the expectations would be more equal, but right now he just doesn’t see why I can’t get things done around the house and also do my work.

    1. The Rural Juror*

      I’m so resentful of people who act that way. Both my parents worked full-time as I was growing up, but my dad retired pretty early and started a small part-time business he was able to do from home after retirement. He would be home all day and then get so annoyed at my mom if she didn’t rush home to cook dinner after work. She could hardly go to the gym after work or run a few errands, which all was perfectly fine before he had retired (because he would do the same thing). I was still in high school at the time, so I witnessed the retirement transition first-hand.

      After a little while she put her foot down and told him she was tired of being at work all day, in a high-stress job running a government office, and then come home and be expected to baby him. I respected my mother for standing up for herself, but I lost a bit of respect for my father when I saw him be unreasonable towards her. It was mainly because he was more bored than he had been when working full time, and really seemed to have a hard time with the transition. Of course, none of that was her fault! She didn’t force him to retire.

      So, I would encourage you to speak up and try to find equity in responsibilities, or as close to it as possible. It’s not fair to you, and it’s probably not sustainable in the long term. Of course, the pandemic isn’t fair to anyone! But you don’t wan to get burnt out on work AND home life! Good luck!

  48. Oreobabe*

    I’m a therapist at a community mental health agency on a very cohesive team, and I miss the office and my team *every day.* I miss having lunch together, being able to walk down the hall to say hello or debrief about a difficult session, and I miss having my work space separate from my living space. At the same time, I’m in no hurry to go back until it’s safe.

  49. Alex*

    Overall I do love working from home, but I have to admit there are some drawbacks.

    It’s harder to troubleshoot stuff with people. I used to go to my coworker’s desks when they were having a problem, see what they were talking about, and walk them through it. That is much harder to do effectively since we’ve been remote.

    I also have many fewer spontaneous discussions about stuff with my coworkers. Sometimes those discussions were productive. I didn’t think I would miss those discussions, but I find that I do.

    But….I still don’t want to go back.

  50. who knows today*

    I used to bike to work everyday and it was my main workout. I know I COULD get up in the morning and bike for 30 minutes and then do it again after work but with nowhere to go…. I just can’t can’t summon the motivation anymore.

    1. Calanthea*

      Ah, same. I really miss just *having* to get on the bike, now it feel like a Proper Event/Workout rather than just part of my day.

    2. F.M.*

      I keep telling myself that I really COULD go walk on my own, the way I used to walk to/from work, if I wanted to.

      But it turns out it’s a lot harder to convince myself of that when a walk is completely optional and I’m on the computer already and the dog would be sad if I left (or whiny and slow if I took him along), compared to “That meeting starts in half an hour, I’d better leave now!”

    3. SovereignSF*

      Same. Can’t muster the motivation to bike because I have nowhere to go! And I have gained 5 pounds. :(

  51. HGS*

    I NEVER want to go back to the office! I love being home. I got a dog, I can knit to help myself focus in meetings without distracting other people, I have time for my hobbies since I don’t waste time commuting, this summer I could pop into my yard and eat black raspberries straight off the bush in between meetings to decompress… it’s the BEST. And in a weird twist- I’ve made several close and wonderful friends at work, so even on bad days at least I got to see them, stop by their desks for a chat, etc, but now that I don’t have that benefit, it’s forced me to realize the job itself is making me miserable, and the joy of seeing friends at work was masking that. So now I’m job hunting and really looking forward to escaping my very stressful and toxic job.

      1. HGS*

        I should say I’ve left off all the bad stuff- like yesterday, when my one year old turned off the power strip my internet router is plugged into in the middle of a meeting and then got into the dog food while I was getting the internet back on and scrambling to rejoin my meeting lol

  52. Caramel & Cheddar*

    I love working from home. There are small, insignificant things I miss (e.g. being able to blow off steam with a trusted colleague after a frustrating experience without first having to arrange a call) but otherwise I’m surprised by how much I love it, because I was sure before this that I’d be awful at it. Turns out I’m not! I don’t have the same kinds of interruptions a lot of other people have by virtue of not having children or a spouse, so that helps.

    1. HKS*

      This is the same way I feel! I miss the photocopier and the printer and the mailroom. I do miss casual chats with a couple people but overall I like working from home much better than I expected.

  53. Jennifer*

    Honestly, I’m starting to feel a bit lonely. My husband works outside the home all day and I’m just here alone with the dog. I’m an introvert so it takes me a while to get there, but I’m there. I like the convenience of no traffic and no rushing in so I won’t be late. But I wouldn’t mind one or two days in the office at this point, or at least in a co-working space with other people around.

  54. AvonLady Barksdale*

    I’m job-hunting and specifically looking for jobs that want me in the office two or three days a week post-pandemic. I like the office most of the time, for human interaction and quick collaboration, but I also like being on my own, which I have been for over a year. I also find a lot of pleasure in getting dressed for the day and even commuting (not a long one!), and I miss that.

  55. EveryDayIsARugbyDay*

    I’m a Special Education teacher with 3 kids at home. My “work from home” experiment was absolute chaos. The district changed the plan every 20 minutes it felt like and my elementary school students struggle without devices and internet at home.
    I’m scared to death to be back in the classroom but its so much better for my students. We did a hybrid 50% of students at a time schedule for the first quarter and will go to 100% in person M-Th starting the middle of October.

    1. Teacher Lady*

      I’m also a special education teacher, and I could not agree more. Remote learning isn’t working well for any of our elementary students, and especially not for my students. (I will say, having started at a new school within the same school district this fall, that I think given the failure of leadership at the state and district level, being at a school with strong in-building leadership helps enormously. I am very grateful for where I ended up.)

      I am also really worried about the safety of returning to school (we are fully remote at least through early November), but for my students, it can’t come soon enough.

    2. Flower necklace*

      Also a teacher but ESOL, not SPED. I am in an ideal work from home situation: I live alone with my cat, have quiet neighbors, good wifi access, etc., but I absolutely hate it. I miss interacting with my students. I miss casually chatting with my coworkers during planning or at lunch. I miss moving around at work. And staring at a screen all day is straining my eyes.

      I hate how the pandemic is affecting my students: how they’re struggling to learn how to use technology and often don’t know who to ask for help. At the same time, I’m scared about going back. I know that there is a real danger in going back too soon – not just to the students, but to their families, to the school staff, and to the greater community. But I still miss being in the classroom so much.

  56. Cool and the Gang*

    I miss it so much! It’s actually not quite as bad because I have a kid at home this whole time, and while difficult (he is 7), it is someone around and many things going on (like crazy, but I like crazy). And there are definite benefits I could see if he WEREN’T here because yes, it’s stressful trying to put a day together for him.

    I miss people. I miss coaching in person. I’ve realized since we’ve been out that I don’t really have any FRIENDS at work. Like I used to talk about personal stuff with many people, but that’s because we ran into each other and shared then, we don’t connect now. Our meetings are SO dry. I miss the cross talk and even heated discussions.

    I am a single parent, so if I am by myself all day, I’m pretty much by myself all night too. And I don’t well being alone. I’m not a homebody at all.
    I have some personal struggles too that makes it difficult for me to be at home all day. So, yes, it’s cool I can throw in a load of laundry, but I’d rather be at the office.

  57. SomebodyElse*

    I miss my office. I largely didn’t work directly with anyone there, but it was nice to have a little separation between work and home. And to interact with coworkers who report out of that office.

    I also miss my plants and will owe someone dinner or something else for being willing to take care of them for all this time (luckily I bought the big container of plant food before all this happened).

    I miss traveling to see my team. I have a new employee who I haven’t met in person yet and who hasn’t met their team in person.

    I miss wearing nice clothes and cute shoes. (This is the longest period in my adult life that I haven’t worn heels!)

    As it stands right now we have a 10 week phase in once the green light is given. I’m in the last wave, so at this point even if they started on Monday I won’t see the office until after the first of the year due to planned vacation during the holidays.

    1. Lily Rowan*

      Yes! I miss the people (especially those I don’t work closely with) and the dressing up (although my feet are happy about it).

      I also hate making my own lunch and hate having to make an effort to get any exercise at all.

      And I’m anticipating hating paying for heating my apartment all day long this winter.

        1. SomebodyElse*

          This is one thing that I have found that is nice about work from home. I downloaded the TEAMs app to my ipad so on nice days for meetings that I’m more of a spectator for I can flip back and forth between my ipad and laptop and take the meeting from the porch.

          I’m too lazy to disconnect my laptop from my monitors and computers so I’d be stuck in my workspace without the ipad.

  58. Roscoe*

    Yes, 100%. I live alone, and while I like my space, its pretty isolating. I like leaving my house for the day and having to get up and do something besides move from the bed, to the couch, to my kitchen table. I miss human interaction.

    I recently, by choice, went back into the office. There were only 2 a couple of people, each had their own space, and it was nice to feel like it was somewhat normal again.

  59. Casey*

    Now that I have a decent setup, I don’t mind taking classes virtually, but I definitely miss my lab. It had worktables and a couple of us would set up in there for the day, with a rotating cast of classmates coming in and out…. it could be distracting but also broke up the monotony and let me spontaneously collaborate with people I don’t necessarily reach out to proactively. Also I miss seeing professors I had in the past around the building.

  60. Bookworm*

    I don’t miss stuff like having to dress up, having a commute (I liked this commute though, because I walked to and from work and that was nice), managing office niceties and politics, etc.

    But I don’t enjoy the meetings piled on meetings. I am not excited about “Zoom retreats” nor do I care for attempts to build “office cohesion” by having virtual events. Never liked those things before and having them via Zoom makes me want to scream now. There’s no “escape” from work in a sense because I can’t physically leave it behind.

    Overall, though, while I am super grateful to still have a job and have a workplace that is taking this very seriously and am glad this is opening discussions about better WFH policies/more flexibility, etc. I will forever resent and hate the WHY so many of us had to upend our lives.

  61. Deliliah*

    In an ideal world, I’d go to my office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and work from home Monday and Friday. I miss having a proper desk set-up and I miss my page-a-day calendar I left behind. I miss the ice-cold water dispenser in the kitchen. I miss the free snacks.

    I do really love being able to take a lunch nap though.

  62. Erin*

    I miss going into the office so much. I miss the commute, since I got a lot of reading done on the subway to and from work, I miss wearing nice clothes, I miss seeing my colleagues in person every day, and I miss the actual separation between work and home. I’ve also learned that my manager is not great at sharing all of the information I need to do tasks, and that probably wouldn’t be as big of an issue if we were talking in person. Also nothing in the world is even close to normal right now, so the benefits of getting to sleep late and wear comfy clothes are kind of moot.

    1. londonedit*

      I miss wearing nice clothes too. I have a friend who’s still been wearing her nice things all through lockdown – she’s more client-facing than I am, but she could wear casual stuff if she wanted to, it’s just that she doesn’t want to. She rightly points out that it’s no more difficult to throw on a nice but comfy dress than it is to put on jeans and a sweatshirt, but for some reason I feel like I’d feel silly, or like I was somehow ‘wasting’ my nice things, if I just wore them around the house where no one can see me!

      1. UKDancer*

        I am the same as your friend. I like feeling I look nice so I have been wearing my pretty work dresses through the summer while working remotely. I know I don’t have to but I feel better and more professional when I am wearing work wear and have put my lipstick on.

        I know nobody can see me (except for my head and shoulders on zoom calls) but it makes me feel good about myself. I guess in lockdown there were so many things I couldn’t control but I could at least control making sure I looked good and my nails were varnished.

      2. SomebodyElse*

        I was like this in the early spring. I stopped wearing my nice sweaters because it felt odd to wear them over a t-shirt and not a blouse. I have amended my opinion of this and will start wearing them as it gets cooler out this fall.

        For some reason I felt better on the days that I would randomly wear one than the days that I wore a sweatshirt or weekend sweater.

    2. JustaTech*

      I don’t wear particularly nice clothes to work (lab work can get unexpectedly messy), but I do have “work clothes” and “weekend clothes” and even while WFH I’ve been sticking with that schedule.
      I learned that from my dad, when he was first self-employed. If he didn’t get at least half way dressed up for work (button up shirt but skip the tie and suit jacket) he just couldn’t get into the right mindset.

      My husband and I both apply the “if I’m working I’m wearing shoes not slippers”, but we’ll see if that holds when the weather turns cold.

  63. D3*

    The office part, no, don’t miss that. But I do classes and trainings and I do really miss doing that in person. Online is just not the same.

  64. Katniss Evergreen*

    It’s a toss-up… my regular commute is long so I don’t miss that, but I do miss the thinking time I got in the car. I also like the people I work with, our office atmosphere, and the environment because it’s really interesting (I’m in public health operations in the U.S., at a gov’t org that does research on this…). We had also gotten improved furniture in my workspace only a week before lockdown started, replacing the desk and chair that had probably been there since 2000, so I miss the nice space!

  65. Justme, the OG*

    I do love being able to work form home. I have a kid who’s not quite ready to be alone all day, and virtual schooling does not always go smoothly.

    But. I miss my office. I miss the physical space, and the separation of work from home. My office is a lot quieter, right now I have one neighbor getting their house painted and the other has something going on in her back yard.

    1. Tricksieses*

      “Virtual schooling does not always go smoothly” has GOT to be the understatement of the year!! I literally LOLed.

      1. Justme, the OG*

        I realize it’s the understatement of 2020. But even in previous years (I’m an online grad student) things went wrong. Her teachers are great and the virtual classroom is really good. But a few minutes ago she had wifi issues.

  66. Alton Brown's Evil Twin*

    My office is in a great location in a historic downtown area. Within a 3-block radius, there are a half-dozen coffeeshops, 4 brewpubs, 2 bakeries, and probably 30 restaurants. And my 20-minute commute is just the thing to clear my head before and after work.

    I don’t miss the office itself. I miss all the stuff around the office.

  67. many bells down*

    Yes, because I only got the job a year ago, after a decade of being a SAHM. I was just getting out of the house again and wearing nice clothes and talking to adults. Zoom is exhausting.

    It is nice to be at home with my husband all day, though. Especially since both our kids moved out just before the lockdown so it’s just us.

  68. cubone*

    I hope I never have to go back, tbh. I don’t have a great home office space so if it is a more permanent thing, I’d seriously consider moving for a bigger apartment. I also do a lot of trainings and while the pandemic makes it clear trainers have to expand their online skills too, there’s nothing to me quite like an in person workshop or training session.
    Otherwise I think not having to stress about commutes, packing a lunch, flexibility if I need it (a nap over lunch, laundry) has improved my quality of life, which in turn improves my productivity as an employee.

    Also would love if anyone else has this experience, but I’m kind of realized how unbelievably exhausting and distracting my office was! I don’t know if it’s a focus thing, or a social/introvert thing – I thought I handled noise and social distractions well in the office (mostly thanks to good headphones) but the PRIVACY and lack of constant social interactions gives me back an incredible amount of energy.

  69. Hello, I'd like to report my boss*

    This is very timely, as I’m stuck with a bad back and the first twinges of RSI in my thumb from using a trackpad for 6 months! Also ‘scholar’s elbow’ probably caused by me resting my elbow hard on my working surface.
    I don’t miss paying £350 for a monthly train ticket or my colleagues’ smelly food, but I miss having a proper ergonomic set up.
    Took it for granted for years, now I’m using an ironing board as a desk and didn’t have a proper chair for four months.
    My body hates me!

  70. waytothedawn*

    I worked from home before the pandemic, but our team would meet in person at a coffee shop once a week for a few hours. I really, really, miss that in person time together! It was a nice way for me to get out of the house and socialize a bit, and it was much easier to discuss some work issues in person. I have realized since I started this job that having some sort of in person connection is pretty important to me.

  71. Christina*

    I don’t miss my office at all (except my desk chair), but I do miss talking with my coworkers and it’s getting frustrating feeling like I’m out of the loop on things – and I’m not usually the super social person at work!

    About 2/3 of our staff are still at our in-person locations (we’re an essential service) while our business office is closed, and I think some of the in-person staff feel like those of us who are working at home are just sitting around doing nothing or aren’t struggling – when part of it is that those of us staying home are protecting our staff and the vulnerable people we serve.

    It’s also challenging because we don’t have a particularly good/consistent chat tool that we use (we use Slack a bit, but not consistently or across teams), and we didn’t have a department/team meeting for 4 months, so I’m miss things I would normally overhear in passing about projects or just in regular chitchat. I think those at the top think things filter down to staff, but they don’t really or it’s like playing a game of telephone, and I’d rather hear directly from those in charge about what’s going on.

    I’ve tried getting our team to schedule a weekly optional zoom lunch (just whoever wants to join on any given week) and that seems to have been a bust, and it’s really demoralizing.

    1. Christina*

      Also, I bought a really nice new work wordrobe when I started this job and I barely got a year our of it and now things likely won’t fit when I ever get to wear them again.

      I also miss on the days I’d work in the city, going out with friends to get a drink at a fun restaurant or going to see a movie or just generally appreciating this awesome city I live in.

      1. SomebodyElse*

        Don’t get me started on the work clothes. I was losing weight before the shutdown (intentionally), I’ve gotten to the point now where I think I’ve stabilized. I haven’t tried on any of my work pants for over 6 months and things weren’t fitting then, I’m going to have to buy a whole new set of work pants when this is over. Luckily my blouses are forgiving and of the ‘flowey’ cut so I’ll be good there.

  72. Will*

    As an extremely introverted person (I’m the kind of person who rejoices when plans are cancelled…), I’m most surprised by how much I genuinely miss my co-workers and boss. We still meet often over the phone and the occasional video meeting/HH, but it’s not quite the same. I also miss being able to walk a couple of steps to bounce ideas off of someone. We can chat through Skype/Teams, but having that face-to-face interaction and reassurance that I’m heading down the right path is hard to replace through text.

  73. TotesMaGoats*

    I miss my office and my colleagues so much. Mostly I miss just not being at home all the time. My husband is a homebody and is able to work away from home, so come the weekend he just wants to chill in the house. I want to be out of the house as much as humanly possible. I kind of lost it last weekend and he finally understood that the weekend is the only time I really get away from the house and he needs to make sure that happens for my well-being.

  74. Jzilbeck*

    Nope, nope, and nope. Quarantine was a dream come true for not wanting to physically be in my office(s). My commute wasn’t bad, but it’s not missed….more time has been given back to me for sleeping since I was so sleep deprived pre-quarantine. And strangely enough I feel like I’ve gotten way more done at home because I’m not traveling to different offices for useless meetings and I’m actually able to sit and do my work. I missed my equipment but about a month ago I was able to go back and retrieve all of it so that’s no longer an issue. I miss happy hour with coworkers…but prior to quarantine that seemed like that was the only time I had available to interact with them. One of them organized an in-person happy hour a few weeks ago, which was super nice. We were outside so it was all done safely.

    One thing I do miss though is hugging people. Basically I’ve only hugged my husband and my dog for the last 6 months. thankfully neither one seems to mind but I do wish I could hug more of my friends and family. ;)

    1. Jzilbeck*

      All that said….when things go back to “normal” I’m hoping for at least 3 days/wk I’m allowed to work from home. Our director is very much against work from home setup for non-sensical reasons, but obviously Covid forced his hand. And my organization I feel has singlehandedly written the argument for allowing this setup to permanently continue. So hopefully he will acquiesce and give us our wish.

  75. Wfh forever*

    I never want to work in an office again. However, I do miss my kids going to school while I work from home. Everything in this pandemic has been hard but missing out on a 3 hour round trip Bay Area commute is not one of them!

  76. Fiona the Baby Hippo*

    I already was full-time WFH for over a year when things shut down. First as a remote worker and then as a freelancer. Friends and colleagues would say to me, ‘well this isn’t much of a change for you!” But it’s surprised me how much it has been! I’ve realized how much I relied on going to coffee shops for a change of scenery a few times a week. I would also do things like go to the library or coffee shop for a specific project – no leaving until XYZ task is done!, and that could keep me focused. My days also used to be more broken up – I volunteered at our local library once a week, I might go meet a friend for lunch, etc.

    I can try to maintain some of those routines- I volunteer remotely, and try to call my sister throughout the day when I need a quick break- but I think the actual moving around + change of scenery was what invigorated me. I also live in Tennessee and it’s just been too unpleasant to go outside for breaks until recently. I’m hoping I can make myself talk more walks now that the weather is better for more of a ‘break up’ to my day.

  77. miss edmund*

    I miss the office SO much. I’ve been WFH since mid-March (floor desk until August, now I finally have a good setup). We’re likely remote through spring. I miss my coworkers, I miss work trips, I miss our overpowered air conditioning… We have 2-3 people in the house WFH every day, plus a dog and a cat. We all have phone/zoom-heavy roles too. We’re in a good rhythm now, but as much as I love my housemates I miss having the 4-6pm period every workday where I was home alone!
    My office was in a complex with a couple different cute cafes/restaurants, and my commute was only 10mins, so it was a pretty sweet setup. We often had food and snacks, plus the requisite bad coffee. But genuinely I mostly just miss my coworkers! I only really interact with my team now, when I used to get to see everyone. It was such a great office environment :(

  78. Ros*

    I miss the exercise of walking to work and back, and of being in the area as it’s a beautiful area of the city I work in which is very vibrant and interesting – but I’ve found I don’t miss the company all that much, I can work at my own pace and find it much easier to concentrate. I think it’s laid bare for me that I was quite under-valued at work and not very included in other groups, so I’ve forged my own way at home (and actually been accepted for a new job).

  79. AnotherAlison*

    No, I don’t miss the office. I’m sitting in the office right now. We’ve been back for about a month.

    I didn’t like WFH that much. I think I could, but my work wanted to keep things the same as much as possible, so I didn’t have a lot of flexibility during the day and we were supposed to be dressed for work on video calls. I also had too many family members in and out throughout that day, and my house was crowded with my post-college son back home. I like being back in the office, but like many others, I think 1-2 days at home might be the best arrangement. Some people in my office are still doing things like that because of family/kid arrangements that are still not back to normal. That’s a bit of a problem because some people don’t think that’s fair. (I mean, no one wants to WFH with a 6 y.o. hanging over their shoulder, but if we can get by with some people doing it, can’t we get by with everyone doing a little WFH?)

    1. AnotherAlison*

      The other weird thing about being back in the office is that we’re still doing most meetings online. Some people are still remote, and then only the largest conference rooms are big enough for social distancing with 5+ people. So, some days, I am dressed up to sit in my office by myself all day.

      For my projects, though, I think it is a net positive. Even if only half of them are back full-time, they all sit near each other and coordination is a lot easier. There are only 3 people in the seating area that were there pre-pandemic and the rest are new or transferred to our group, so it’s nice to see them in person.

  80. JSPA*

    Office overall? No. Office quality internet and amenities? Yes. Bike / walk commute, necessary regardless of weather and motivation? Sort of. Hobby cooperative space and facilities? Yes.

  81. RowsOfCorn*

    I’ve come to really enjoy it. No kids, pets, or other housemates and relative quiet helps with that, and I haven’t had any problems getting work done at the level I would have at the office. No commute has also greatly helped my anxiety (my first winter in my new state gave me a panic attack because of all the ice on the roads). I feel like I have more time in the day to get things done, both during work hours and outside of it.

  82. Dust Bunny*

    We’re back in the office 2-3 days a week (we all have our own workspaces, and we’re not all going back on the same days) and it’s great. Apart from the fact that I need to go back to keep generating more work that I can do at home, I need the change of scenery. I think I’d actually need it less if I lived alone but I’m holed up with my parents and, even though they leave me alone during the work day, we’ve all had just about enough of each other.

      1. AnotherAlison*

        The shift back to the office was a big negative for my exercise routine and sleep. With WFH, I could get up later, workout, and shower 5 minutes before starting work. I could occasionally squeeze in a lunch workout (not much because that seemed to be when other people started pinging me online). Now I have to get up around 5 am or earlier, and at the same time we returned to work, I ended up with phone calls 4 nights per week, which sucks up all my evening time, too.

        1. Dust Bunny*

          I tried sleeping in but I have cats, so now I get up at the same time, go for walk, shower, eat breakfast, and start work at about the same time I’d have started, anyway, if I were commuting. I think it made transitioning back to the office easier because my timetable was less disrupted.

          1. AnotherAlison*

            Smart, but I just wanted a few months of my life to not get up at 5 am, ha! I have been doing it since high school, and I’m so tired of get up early, rush, rush, rush. . .

    2. Dust Bunny*

      I did miss my two giant monitors at work. I have an add-on monitor at home–we use Surfaces–but it’s not the same, and I *loathe* touch-pads.

      1. IStealPens*

        Whoever invented and or designed Touch Pads (bot Mac AND PC) are the devil. Luckily I thought to grab my mouse on my way out that last day.

  83. Meredith*

    I found I didn’t like it. Like Allison said, the factors that contributed to that conclusion (I started working from home in March, when the world was on fire and Bill Ackman quite literally said ‘Hell was coming’) I found I got distracted. I had no formal set up – was working in my den with a card table as a desk, was trying to work and watch a 7 month old…you get the idea. I’m back in the office now – have been since June, and what a relief. I chose to come back. We never had a lot of people working here to begin with (8 total), and the nature of our office layout is actually pretty conducive to social distancing. No one twisted my arm about coming back in – totally my choice. I feel like I have my routine back, which has done WONDERS for my mental health. I might give it another go, in more normal circumstances, but for now, so not for me.

  84. CTT*

    I desperately miss it. I don’t have a great WFH setup (one bedroom apartment, across the street from a car repair garage that does a lot of very loud business from 8 to 5), and I miss the people. Not just that I genuinely like most of my coworkers, but I miss the benefits I got from being able to see others in person and have more in-depth discussions of issues than one can get over the phone or email (and getting people to respond! In the Before Times, a few people I worked with were horrible about responding to emails, but always welcomed me coming by to discuss in person).

  85. 80HD*

    I have ADHD. In some ways working from home has been great, because I am always on high alert around the office and forcing myself to focus for 10 hours a day and to sit rigidly upright in a chair, in work clothes, is draining. I am always focus or at least trying to act like I am, so there are perks to working from home.

    But I’ve found that my self discipline is slipping. I was in an amazing routine of getting into the office by 8, working until about 5:15, going to the gym at my apartment, and then showering, having dinner, and working about an hour or so afterward. But now that’s in the toilet…I watch tv until midnight and don’t get down to business until 9 or 10 and I wear my gross sweatpants all day. I’ve found that I need *some* external accountability to show up and do quality work. I even converted my dining space into my work space and try to keep work there, and to sit upright for so many hour a day, but it just isn’t the same.

  86. SunnySideUp*

    I miss the camaraderie of the few close work friends I had at OldJob. Honestly, that’s ALL I miss.

    At the end of March, I started a new, fully remote job. I absolutely LOVE WFH. I’m fine being on my own (except friends/see above) with my dog for company. I love my house and I’m basically a homebody anyways.

  87. Chrissimas*

    I already worked at home 2 days a week and that was the maximum I wanted. I miss my coworkers, my standing desk, my extra monitor, chair, and even sometimes (rarely) the commute. I live entirely alone and I rarely need to talk to my coworkers (email is sufficient) and I’m just lonely. I’m kind of 60/40 extrovert/introvert and I miss connecting with people. I also miss the opportunities for networking, problem solving, and the little tidbits of information you get just by running into people in the hall.

    After 6 months of going it alone I went to live with my mom (w/ boss’s permission and a ton of precautions for the travel) for a couple months so the loneliness has eased but I still miss a lot of the coworker interactions.

    Whew! Sorry to be a downer! Apparently I really needed to get that off my chest :)

    1. Jen*

      Same, it’s been pretty lonely. I also live alone but was seeing family and a few friends here and there to help. I’m excited to re-enter the world a little bit!

  88. Jen*

    I MISS IT SO MUCH! Over 6 months out has been too much. Finally going back on Monday after being delayed due to my own covid diagnosis. Doing one week in and one week at home, so hoping to kind of have the best of both worlds.
    I’ll get to wear regular clothes and socialize a bit, not to mention to conveniences that the office brings, like a printer and face to face communication. Then the following week I can wear my PJs and work out on my lunch break while ignoring everyone I don’t want to talk to!

  89. Coco*

    I miss the double chocolate chip muffins in the cafeteria. And having a in general cafeteria that I can walk to and not think about making my own lunch.

    I miss knowing less about my spouse’s work persona. i am tired of hearing him and his colleagues complain about THE SAME THINGS. If in our personal life he were to say ‘ I don’t want to interrupt you but I need to’ I’d be tempted to smack him. With teams/ zoom you can’t judge body language and the eye contact you have in in person mtgs. So it’s more difficult to interject when a conversation goes off the rails.

    Sigh. Rant over

    When this all ends though, I’ll prob complain about the commute and wax poetic about working in leggings all the time

    1. Coco*

      Also, I miss not being able to celebrate milestones with colleagues/ friends. A couple of them recently had their first children. Would liked to have had a small party (cake and a card type of thing) for them

    2. JustaTech*

      I know my husband misses his cafeteria – he misses it so much we bought vegan sausage patties like they had at the cafeteria for breakfast, and we’re not vegans!
      I miss his cafeteria because I would meet him there for dinner one night a week: one night I didn’t have to cook or do dishes!
      (I do appreciate that he’s finally helping me eat all the dinner leftovers for lunch.)

  90. very very happy*

    NO!! Working from home is wonderful. Without my daily commute and without needing to worry about re-doing hair and makeup afterwards, I can basically work out whenever I have a free hour. I can cook my own hot lunches. I’ve lost a bunch of weight this year because I finally have the time. I do miss being able to go to coffee shops to work for a change of scenery, but I do not miss my office one single bit. I work in an industry that embraced WFH right away and I hope I never have to work in an office full-time ever again.

  91. voluptuousfire*

    I don’t miss the commute to the office, thats for sure! I do miss my colleagues and the little conversations with people throughout the day. We also had catered breakfasts every morning, which is probably what I miss the most. The caterers were fanastic people, a husband and wife team. They ended up closing their business in June due to the pandemic, which really stinks.

    1. voluptuousfire*

      I also worked in Manhattan so there was always the option of being in the city to go for dinner after work or an event or just being in Manhattan on a night with good weather.

  92. Cafe au Lait*

    My cats are jerks. The “trying to sit on my keyboard” behavior was cute the first few months. I need my hands free. My cats disagree.

    It doesn’t help that I told my husband I want a divorce. The behaviors that bothered me before COVID I’m not able ignore anymore. It was easy to ignore my frustration when I could mentally and physically leave my space. Now that I can’t get out of the house for long periods of time, I’m realizing these behaviors aren’t going away by asking in a different tone of voice, or using different words. COVID WFH orders is a glimpse into my future when we’re retired. I don’t want to live my retirement years like we are right now.

    We’re doing marriage counseling (my insistence) because I don’t want to divorce him, I just want to divorce our marriage the way it is right now.

    1. IStealPens*

      I’m sorry youre going through a rough time…I wish I had more words of wisdom.

      Cat snuggles are always helpful though…maybe not when youre trying to work tho. Trust me – I know. Mine is on my lap at the moment and I have to pee…

    2. UKDancer*

      I think you’re not the only one who has found lockdown as a couple led to the end of the relationship.

      Two of my friends have split with their partners due to the pressures of being together under lockdown exacerbating the problems the relationships already had.

      I am so glad I split with my ex in November because I would have found lockdown with him intolerable.

    4. Christina*

      I broke up with my long-term live-in partner right before this all blew up and (stupidly, in hindsight) told him not to worry about moving out until things settled down and he could go back to work (he’s high risk and was driving uber, so stopped when things got really scary in mid-March). Of course I thought “things settling down” would be a few weeks, maybe a month or two, not going on 6 months and likely into next year. I had to tell him recently that he needs to make a plan, but I still think it’s taking too long – but how do you kick someone out during a pandemic?

  93. Lena Clare*

    I much prefer working from home than being in an open plan office, but man am I more tired.
    Phone/video calls are so much harder than face to face visits.
    I don’t miss driving. At. All. At some point I’ll have to get back to that though.
    I hate having to transform my back bedroom to an office. It’s very cramped as it is.
    I’m cooking for my lunch! Pretty soon I’ll be the size of my own house. I never cooked my lunch when I was working in an office. I just used to grab a sandwich, so I’m sure I’m consuming more calories and moving less… recipe for weight gain basically.

    And I miss being able to vent to my colleagues. Today was a tough day and I’m so exhausted, and no one to talk to about it.

  94. El Diz*

    I miss my giant screens and having a real keyboard. I also miss the energy of feeling like we’re all involved in a collective project. I feel like if I just stopped working for several hours or even days, no one would notice.

    1. Chrissimas*

      Yes to the energy! I no longer feel like I’m part of a team and I just feel like I’m failing all the time but no one notices.

  95. UKDancer*

    I am currently working from home all the time. Previously I worked from home 1 day per week.

    I don’t miss the commute into London and enjoy having 2.5 hours of my life back. Also now I’m not buying latte from Starbucks and making my own lunch I am saving a fortune and I’ve lost half a stone in weight.

    I miss the interactions with my colleagues and the time around people. Sometimes I feel a bit lonely working remotely. To be honest I miss more the things I used to do while in London for work, e.g. going to the theatre or the tango clubs (all now shut).

    I think now my ideal would be 2-3 days in the office per week and the others from home. In making our office Covid secure though they could only accommodate about 25% of the staff so you’re looking at 1 day in the office per week for those who want it. At present I’m more worried about the risk of catching Covid on the train so I am reluctant to go back just yet. Luckily my company is happy for people to continue working from home.

    I try and take things one day at a time and not worry about when we might be back or what might happen. That way I worry too much.

  96. Riblets*

    I don’t THINK I miss the office, and I usually worked from home 2-3 days a week in the before times anyway. I do miss people, places, and things (nouns!) in general, and some of that spills over into office nostalgia. So no, but also yes?

  97. StressedButOkay*

    I love working from home! There have been some challenges, like trying to get my home office/desk set up just right and pulling away from work when I need to, but overall, it’s been great. I miss seeing my colleagues face to face but I don’t miss the 45+ minute commute one way or getting up at 6:30.

    My SO works from home now as well and we try to have lunch together every day.

    It’s not perfect but I can’t imagine going back 100% when this is all over. 2 days in the office, at most, if needed.

  98. IStealPens*

    THANK GOD SOMEONE SAID IT….

    OMG I don’t know how some people do this every day. I used to love the occasional snow day, or cable guy visit day, but this I can’t handle. I roll out of bed 5 minutes before I log in, and I don’t think I shower every day – how sad – I can’t even remember! I now have a dedicated work space, but I would rather sit at my dining room table, for what reason I don’t know. I was never as productive at working at home before, but now I am logged in later than usual because for one thing, I feel like everyone knows when you aren’t on all day and nights, but also because it takes me three times as long to do anything. And the day DRAAAAGS…

    But the worst? I left the house the other day to go to Target quickly, and it dawned on me that I couldn’t remember the last time I even left the house! It has been hot and rainy, so walking or running has pretty much been out of the question. Luckily I have a Peloton but still – the weight is creeping up.

    I have tried all the helpful hints for working at home, yadda yadda – they don’t work for me.

    And another thing – I spent the last 15 years building up a NICE wardrobe. I am at the point where I am ready to start putting on my Ann Taylor suit just to go to Wal-Mart. I need to wear normal clothes again. And yes – I see the women on LinkedIn who dress up for working at home. Yeah – I am not about to spend money on dry cleaning for nothing. Plus, i am far more spill prone and accident prone to wear those clothes around the house.

    I know businesses are claiming they are doing away with offices, but I think more people are done with working from home. AND there will be all this empty office space which will just lead to mad incentives to get their buildings occupied. And I am here for that.

    thanks so much for the ability to rant….I really needed it.

    1. anonykins*

      I’m not going to lie – I didn’t wear deodorant for about four months straight. It started out as an experiment to see what would happen if I gave it up since it’s just me and my husband (and pets). Maybe it would be like when you stop washing your hair for a while and it’s gross at first but eventually your body adjust. Spoiler: I did not stop sweating eventually. And toward the end, even my adoring spouse was like “um, hon, I don’t really want to cuddle at night…”

      2. So they all rolled over and one fell out*

        My spouse set a limit pretty early on that I had to shower at least every other day. On the other hand, I forget to put on deodorant more days than not and she hasn’t commented on it.

      3. londonedit*

        At the beginning of lockdown I decided to see how long I could go without shaving my legs before I got really annoyed. Turns out it was about 10 days.

  99. snarkarina*

    I’m one of those that was laid off and then started a new job all during this nightmare, and onboarding was so weird! I still haven’t seen any of my new coworkers or even my workspace in person!

    It’s also getting tiresome. I’m lucky enough to have a desk in my bedroom (as I’m also a part-time student) so that has become my workspace while my roommate has taken over the dining area, but being in my room 40 hours a week is getting tiresome.

    My dogs are happy though.

    1. Something Something Whomp Whomp*

      You’re not alone on this one. I’m in mostly the same situation, and onboarding has been…different. My colleagues are great and supportive people, but this is challenging in ways that I didn’t entirely expect and are difficult to talk about.

  100. soshedances*

    I’m back in the office full time now, but I was working from home part time during the beginning of the pandemic- and I have to say, I didn’t like it. My job does have a lot of paperwork/file work that I can do from home, but the rest is very hands on, and I work WAY better in the office. It’s too quiet at home, and I don’t have the sense of urgency to get things done that I do when I’m actively at work and constantly putting out fires.

    This wasn’t surprising to me though- I’ve always been a hands on worker. I can handle desk and computer work to an extent, but I really need it to be interspersed with other things for me to keep my concentration and productivity high. And I didn’t realize how much I missed constant people interaction until I didn’t have it (my job is in a nonprofit community service type organization). Happy to be back at work now!

  101. Cruciatus*

    I work in an academic library so we have to go in, but on a rotating basis. The most I have to be in is 2 days a week. I actually like going in because I feel more productive (and have my usual tools to do things!).

    There’s not a lot for me to do when I’m actually at home and I find that affects me–an object at rest stays at rest type thing. I find it harder to get off my butt to take a lunch walk–which was NEVER a problem when I was at work fully. I was out there whether it was raining, snowing, sleeting, freezing, super hot, humid, etc. It’s now just so much more of an effort (and it doesn’t help to have food at my disposal all day as well. Before, I had my lunch and that was it. Maybe a bag of chips once in a while from the vending machine).

    It’s hard because on the one hand I’m lucky that my department/university is taking our safety seriously, but apparently my routine was in a precarious state for it to completely collapse, even after months of this being the new normal.

    1. J.E.*

      I work in an academic library as well. I’m on the technical services side so I don’t do public facing work and was able to do quite a bit from home, just not anything with a physical collection, but so much is digital now that I’ve had enough to keep busy. I’ve really enjoyed being in my home environment and find that it’s actually more difficult to stop working since I’m generally more comfortable and well rested. I love not having to get up as early to commute and I can turn on the tv for background noise while I do some of the more tedious tasks that don’t require as much concentration. My wish is to have flexibility going forward, like 2 to 3 days in the office and the others at home.

      1. Faith*

        Same situation here. Honestly, the only thing I don’t like about wfh is that my spouse is also wfh, and they are struggling with it, even with a dedicated office space, etc.–spouse used to get their extrovert/socialization at work, and now relies on me for it. If we didn’t have needy cats and a second floor to our house so I could have some physical space to myself, I might have lost it with them by now.

        Hopefully, when things get more back to normal, spouse will be able to go back to work and I will get to have half time WFH, half in the office.

  102. GoldenHandcuffs*

    Yes, I miss it which surprised me. But I work in a really cool and amazing building with a ton of amenities (including a subsidized cafe and a river adjacent walking path). I miss seeing my co-workers that I would just run into throughout the day. I miss my two screens and not having to listen to my husband on the phone. I miss my kids having their own life away from me (3 and 6.5). I also don’t have a home office and am sitting at the dining room table which is not great. The flexibility is awesome though and I don’t miss commuting even a teeny, tiny bit. I like being able to do small chores throughout the day and an errand if I need to. But overall, I do miss going into work. It’s just not the same at home.

  103. Spooncake*

    I actually love working from home- I have a long commute on public transport that’s both expensive and unreliable, and I have chronic pain conditions so it’s better to be home during a flare-up. But… I wish I hadn’t made this transition as a first-time manager. I’ve had a really steep learning curve when it comes to figuring out the right level of contact and monitoring for my direct reports, and I still worry about that now.

    Also, I miss having two monitors. I want to work remotely part time even when this is over due to the aforementioned health problems, so I should probably get around to recreating that set-up at home since I’m lucky enough to have the space.

  104. Tuckerman*

    At first when I was watching my toddler and working full time, I was a wreck. Since I was distracted all the time, I made up for it by answering emails at all hours, the moment I received them. That was not sustainable. Since then, we were able to structure our work week so my husband works around my schedule (he’s self-employed). And I love being home now. Trying to manage background noise is my biggest challenge (toddler & dog).

    The timing is good for me, too. I was recently diagnosed with cancer, which should be completely treatable but requires lots of appointments & surgery. It’s nice to be able to just inform my managers and not have to constantly answer questions about why I’m leaving work, is everything OK, etc. Working from home is making this much easier on me.

    2. allathian*

      Good luck with your cancer treatments. I’m glad you and your husband could reschedule his work so that you can work in relative peace. Of course, being able to leave for appointments without questions being asked is a huge thing.

  105. anonykins*

    The only thing I miss about the office is the on-site gym (I work at a university and it was literally in the building next door). But, I hear with COVID restrictions it’s super hard to get a workout time anyway :(

    1. A Poster Has No Name*

      Oh, the ice machine. I forgot about the ice machine. My office had free coffee, but it kind of sucks, so I don’t really miss that.

  107. A Poster Has No Name*

    Yes, I miss my office. I didn’t until recently, really, but I’ve started to in the last couple weeks. I mean, I don’t miss having to get up earlier and put on a bra and real pants and makeup, but I miss other stuff.

    I miss my commute (20 minutes on back roads, great for alone time and podcasts). I miss seeing something other than the walls of my house ( got way too excited when the neighbors across the street got new porch windows & siding, just because it was something new to look at). I miss being able to just pop over to someone’s cube. I miss the useful info you pick up by hearing passing conversations. I miss whiteboarding with other people in the room.

    I miss having someone make me breakfast or lunch from time to time in the office cafeteria (though I mostly brought from home, the variety was nice). I miss not having to pay for unlimited internet. I miss the built-in extra steps one gets walking around a big campus. I miss my more ergonomic desk setup with space for me to put things like notebooks and other supplies. I miss a better temperature-contolled environment than my home office (it’s an addition, so it gets hot when it’s hot out and cold when it’s cold because there’s only one vent in the room).

    It’s all small things, though. I’m immensely privileged to have my own home office space and a SAHD who does most of the kid-wrangling and cooks for me while I’m working and an office that is basically forbidding us to come back until there’s a vaccine, so I can deal with missing the office a bit for the time being. I used to think I wouldn’t really want to be full time WFH, and this has solidified that. I’ll probably WFH a bit more than I did before (maybe 1-2x a week), but I will go back to the office when it’s safe.

    1. Kodamasa*

      “I miss my commute (20 minutes on back roads, great for alone time and podcasts). I miss seeing something other than the walls of my house ( got way too excited when the neighbors across the street got new porch windows & siding, just because it was something new to look at).”

      Oh boy, the week I had TWO neighbors moving in at the same time was about as much excitement as I could ask for :D Oh, and don’t forget that week the mail lady took vacation and we had substitute mailpeople. Pure excitement!

  108. Dame Judi Brunch*

    I love being at home. I’ve got some digestive issues and it’s been significantly better to deal with at home. It’s quiet here, I’m more productive.
    My only issue is we cannot print to paper at home, for security reasons. It would be nice to print some notes out here and there. Sometimes you just like to handle paper. But overall it’s been great!

    1. NewHerePleaseBeNice*

      Oh, good point on the printing! I am allowed to print stuff, but I can’t easily claim back the cost of ink and paper.

      1. Dame Judi Brunch*

        They’re giving us new setups that are supposed to allow for printing, but I have no idea how this is going to work. I’ll find out soon! Good thing I’ve adapted well to paperless.

  109. Not So Super-visor*

    I’m temporarily back in the office while we train new employees who will then launch remote. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the energy of working with other people until this point.

  110. Cendol*

    Oh gosh, absolutely. I don’t miss the (one hour) commute at all*, or what sitting at a cubicle for 8 hours a day did to my back, but I do miss my coworkers! I’ve had dreams about the after-work meetups we used to have (shoulder to shoulder in crowded bars!). I regret skipping last year’s holiday party–if I’d known it might be one of our last in-person gatherings, I would have gone. In theory, we’ll be back in the office in 2021, but…who knows.

    *minus the nice mornings I walked to work (slightly over an hour, on foot, which tells you something about our transit system, lol). Those walks were lovely, and I miss them.

    1. allathian*

      Ouch! Is it safe to ride a bike where you are? You’d get to the office in half the time it takes to go by public transit…

  111. NewHerePleaseBeNice*

    Nope!

    I used to work maybe two days from home per week before; I think when this is all over I’ll probably only go into the office one or two days a week. My commute, by bus, was long (often left the house at 7am and got home at 6pm or later to work 8.30 – 4.30) and expensive. My office is open plan and LOUD, meaning that as a trainer I was forced to spend forever looking for meeting rooms, which were like gold dust, to get peace and quiet to deliver webinars etc. The internet connection was pretty poor in the rooms that were actually quiet enough, and overall it’s easier for me to do my job effectively and efficiently from my house than from the office.

  112. Kodamasa*

    To me, there are only two drawbacks. 1- my internet is awful so everything takes longer to open, save, and edit. 2- I’m living with the constant dread of that unknown time I’ll have to go back to the office.

    To me, I’m a hermit by nature and don’t really care about the in-person social interactions; chat and zoom are more that enough to fill that bar. I didn’t realize until working from home that the act of going into the office was giving me as much anxiety as it did. Without that constant dread, I have felt infinitely better. But, of course, anxiety gotta anxious, so now I dread having to go back!

    1. Princess Scrivener*

      Agreed! I’m introverted (and ASD) and I write all day, so I’m much more productive at home. And happier. And healthier. I didn’t realize how much small talk and stress from driving 1.5 hours every day were wearing me down. My sleep is longer and better quality, I’ve picked up consistently good workout and nutrition habits, I’ve lost 20 pounds, and I’m producing way more / better work for my Team. I’m probably regressing in my social skills honestly, but I’m so, so, so content in my hidey-hole home office space.

  113. Anonymous Pygmy Possum*

    I’m seeing a lot of folks who have no kids/spouse/roommates say they love working from home but for me its absolutely impossible to focus at home by myself without any background noise/other people nearby. Plus, I have so much more anxiety asking questions over IM/email than just popping my head in to someone’s office! I think part of that might also be because I moved a pretty significant distance away from friends and family for this job last year and the social stuff I was doing pre-COVID is impossible to do not in person, so when I was WFH all the time I had absolutely no social interaction and I felt trapped in my 1-bedroom apartment. I probably wouldn’t do much better with roommates but it is so lonely and suffocating to be in that situation. Because of this I was actually one of the first folks to go back into the office mostly full-time while my peers who live with people/have support networks nearby are coming in much less often, if at all.

  114. Brett*

    Ergonomics are a big deal. My work office is much better lit, has far better furniture, a technical layout designed by an expert.
    My company provide some funding to set up my home office better, but not enough to buy four figure office chairs, complicated monitor set ups, much less new windows and better lighting.

    The other thing is that it is much harder to know what is going on elsewhere in the company. I don’t interact with people at lunch any more. I don’t see random public meetings outside my business unit that I happen to see in the main hall, only the ones for which I get direct streaming event invites. No more poster sessions. No more lightning talks.

  115. These Old Wings*

    I personally don’t feel like I can focus as well at home. Of course, having a 6 year old here trying to help with remote learning doesn’t help. But I also feel like I get distracted more easily by household tasks and feel like I should fold laundry, or start dinner or wash dishes or whatever. I also hate working at the dining room table.

  116. A Hermit before it was Cool*

    I don’t miss the office in the slightest! Of course I was all in on the WFH bandwagon before all of this began. I think the various opinions all depend on your own personality type, your working set up, whether or not you have more distractions at home with you (child, pet, spouse, partner, etc.) and the type of work you do.

    Here’s my top 3 of why I LOVE WFH so much and will be fighting to keep it:
    1) The Commute: what should in reality only take 20 mins tops can easily turn into a 2 hour ordeal if even one accident takes place during the morning commute. Same goes for the evening commute home. The removal of the stress of dealing with the commute, worrying about the commute, etc. is AMAZING.

    2) The stress of being available to work over time but also worrying about the commute (see #1). Because I want to help out and be a team player, but I also don’t want to basically live in my car because by the time I make it home I sleep for 5 hours and have to do it all over again. WFH lets me say “sure I can stay” and be productive without the constant background worry.

    3)Finally being able to adhere to a sleep schedule that doesn’t have me fighting my natural circadian rhythm. I haven’t slept this well since I made my own class schedules back in college. This in turn allows me to keep to an exercise routine without being so exhausted.

  117. Learning As I Go*

    I’m a manager in a manufacturing plant, so while most of my actual work can be done remotely, there’s an expectation that I’m present in the plant fairly often as well. When COVID-19 first hit, I was pretty fearful and worked from home as much as I thought I could get by with. Eventually, duty and guilt won out over safety (sadly), so I returned to the office almost full-time by early May. I actually felt much better!! Not only did it ease my guilt of staying safe at home while my team had to show up and risk exposure, but returning to a normal routine – getting up, getting dressed, driving to work, and interacting with others – really improved my state of mind. As I’ve worked fulltime in the office for several months (even through COVID outbreaks at the plant), I’ve managed to stay healthy, which has done a lot of ease my fears. It’s hard for me to fathom now that there are people who haven’t set food outside of their homes since late March. Not judging, just saying…my sanity wouldn’t have survived it.

    We decided to adopt a second dog a few weeks ago, and she’s deep into the “puppy” phase, so working from home would be insanely distracting now. Let’s hope we’re not forced into it due to a second wave!

    1. pancakes*

      “there are people who haven’t set foo[t] outside of their homes since late March” — there are? I’m in NYC and don’t know anyone who’s that extreme, and we can get anything and everything delivered here. I stay in a LOT but still need to go out for routine doctor appointments and sanity walks.

  118. Reality Check*

    My only complaint was not having a home office space in my apartment & having to work at my dining room table, but that was more than offset by being IN CONTROL OF THE THERMOSTAT.

    2. Jackalope*

      That was one of my favorite parts about this last summer. Normally the office is FREEZING in the summer (my perspective, anyway; it’s not as bad as it could be). Working in temps that matched outdoors was lovely.

  119. Student Affairs Sally*

    I’m current on a 50/50 WFH arrangement (one week in the office, one week at home) because my colleague and I share an office that isn’t big enough for social distancing. I MUCH prefer the weeks where I’m in the office, although there are benefits to being at home (sleeping a bit later, sweatpants/leggings, more time with my kitties). It’s just a lot harder for me to focus at home. I don’t *try* to be lazy when I’m home, but I’m much more likely to fall down the AAM rabbit hole or spend hours reading articles about my field without actually doing any work. I still complete all my deliverables, but I’m not looking for extra projects or doing non-essential things. And I REALLY miss the camaraderie and being able to have conversations with my colleagues and the students I work with. We still have chat and frequent video meetings, but it’s not the same. Tomorrow I’m actually driving in to the office just so I can walk with some colleagues to a local market for afternoon caffeine – a Friday tradition that I don’t want to miss out on just because I’m WFH this week.

  120. kaittydidd*

    I miss the structure of being in the office. I’m struggling to keep track of priorities and stay focused without it, honestly. I think part of it is ADHD (I really do have this diagnosis), and a smaller part is the general world situation and some bad habits. I also miss the social element of working in the same space. Having to make a call or fire up Skype makes talking to coworkers A Thing, and we don’t have the kind of passing in the hallways chit chat that we would in person.

  121. indigo64*

    One thing I wasn’t expecting from WFH- back pain! My office has always had a flexible WFH policy so I’d work from home occasionally for doctor’s appointments, when I had a cold, etc. It was never more than a day or two. After two weeks of working from home, I started getting terrible back pain, numbness in my arms, etc. I realized it was because my desk and chair were at the wrong level! We finally invested in new office furniture, but I am missing my expensive standing desk!

  122. C in the Hood*

    At first, I didn’t like working from home too much, mainly because of what I was used to. But now when I go into the office a half day a week, I find I’m used to working from home now. The office isn’t the same as it was; there are SO MANY rules (some are good, some are a bit over-the top).
    I miss the faster internet, seeing my favorite coworker everyday, knowing what everyone in the department is working on, being right there for my manager (I’m an admin).
    I don’t miss the open office (though no one is in our shared room altogether anymore), how COLD it is, not being able to check personal email/FB during down-time, being stuck in the office when there is so much to do at home.

  123. TR*

    I’ve worked from home for 4 years, so I’m used to it. Well, partly from home, I guess. I did paperwork from home and then showed up in court for court appearances. Now court is on the phone, so I’m working entirely from home. I like being able to do hearings in my pajamas, but I don’t think it’s as effective for my clients.

    The biggest problem with working from home is that it’s destroyed my relationship with my roommate. She’s working from home now, too, and she’s so annoying. She has her own bedroom but she insists on taking conference calls in the living room. And she’s always home. She went back to the office 2 days a week recently, and I relish her days in the office. And she’s moving out next week, thank goodness. I’m not getting any more roommates until people are fully back to the office. And maybe not even then.

    1. General von Klinkerhoffen*

      Ugh, I feel you.

      I have WFH for several years. We have a whole separate office in our house with a proper two-screen setup and good ergonomic chair etc etc.

      But now spouse is also WFH (six months down, at least six months to go, and he is making noises about going permanently remote). And for logistical reasons he has stolen my office – I am not looking for advice on this, I am sad but there isn’t another option at present.

      So I have to fit two-screen work around his inflexible schedule, and otherwise work on a single tiny laptop screen at the dining table. I am emotionally and physically devastated by the change.

      WFH worked brilliantly for me when I was WFH on my own. Until and unless I can have a proper setup again, WFH will *suck*.

  124. Let’s skip 2020*

    I moved across Canada right before COVID hit for a new job in my hometown. I didn’t feel comfortable hunting for a new place to live due to the virus so I have been working from home since March… at my parents house! Working and living in the same exact room is exhausting.

    I get my new place a week from today though, yay!

  125. Female-type Person*

    I disliked it very much at first, but once I established a routine, it was fine, and now I never want to go back. I had a dedicated hobby space that is a near-perfect set up for a home office, and I just go into my room and close the door and I’m “at work” during business hours. My daily work was all phone and email, and the in person and of-site training I did simply has pivoted to doing to by Zoom, although I will admit some things translate better than others. The nature of my work makes me somewhat “on call” and while waiting for someone to need me, I can do hobby things. Making actual, tangible things has really given me a way to manage my anxiety about world events. Recently, I bought a tempered glass chair mat, and that is so much better than worrying about ruining my carpet with my desk chair.

  126. maaaaaawp*

    I like being able to dress down, look after my cats, and cook lunch in my kitchen rather than reheating something.

    I also hated my commute endlessly – I work(ed) in a major city and live very close to it, but the way the bus and train are set up means my commute was usually over an hour each way. I’ve driven to the office a couple times during off hours and it is a twelve minute drive. But usually there is more traffic than that, and parking passes are prohibitively expensive (to encourage transit use, which is helpfully subsidized.)

    Seeing how much my life has improved now that I don’t have to spend 2+ hours a day fighting with my city’s transit system has made me so mad at the decades of urban policy failures that have made it such a slog just to keep a job. So many cities have like two square miles containing all the jobs and very few homes, surrounded by rings of suburbs where everybody lives. It’s stupid! It does not have to be this way! And yet.

    All this said – I miss the office! I’m not cut out for working from home. I hate staring at a laptop all day. I’m a social creature, I miss coffee klatches and birthday parties, I miss doing physical work with my hands too.

    My goal post-pandemic is to find a job where I’m in the office 4-5 days a week, in a less expensive city where I can afford to live within walking distance of work.

  127. Kat*

    I only miss being able to have in person conversations to resolve small issues or questions. Those things just take longer now. I don’t miss the social interactions at all, but I was never a very social person to begin with. I’ve been going into the office twice a week and working from home the rest of the time since late March and working alone was really a relief. If the job market improves I’ll definitely be looking for a WFH or hybrid opportunity for my next job. Now that more people are in the office I find myself deeply annoyed with the noise and interruptions to my work and I’m not sure I am convincingly lying when people say “isn’t it so great to see other people in the office?”. Also my kids are teens so they don’t need constant supervision all day (just the occasional dragging out of bed in the morning) and its actually been a lovely opportunity to connect with them while having lunch together or chatting about their classes while they do homework and I work. I guess I just like my family more than my coworkers and I wonder if I’d feel differently if my kids were back in school and spouse back at work.

  128. KR*

    I miss my desk, my printer/scanner, and my 2 monitors. I have a desk at home but it’s too small for my whole set up and I don’t want to rearrange it since I switch between my office and my house frequently. And I miss my number pad on my keyboard.

  129. ENFP in Texas*

    I had a option to work from home for the past several years, but never took advantage of it, because I knew it wasn’t the best fit for me. I like the separation of work and home. I am usually more focused and productive in the office, and like the “shut down and go home” mindset.

    When COVID hit and we were all forced to work from home, I made the best of it and tried to set boundaries for myself. I have been reasonably successful.

    What has been wonderful about it in my case is the fact that it is just my dogs and me, and this year has been a bad one as far as their health. One of my dogs went through cancer treatment in August, the other is developing dementia, so being able to be home and having the flexibility of being able to go to vet appointments has been a blessing.

    The flip side of that is because it’s just my dogs and me, I have to make a conscious effort to interact with other human beings and to get out of the house.

    1. KR*

      I do love being able to be with my dogs all the time. I could bring them to the office with me before but it was a pain to bring the dog bed with me for my old boy and the parking lot pavement is too hot in the day time for potty breaks. But to be able to sit at home while my 14 year old good boy naps next to me and my younger girl hangs out outside (she’s silly, she’ll sit out there for hours and loves the heat and wants to be outside)… priceless.

  130. Shramps*

    I miss my coworkers, I miss dressing up, I miss my view, but I don’t miss how dirty our office building is.

    I like the privacy of my own home bathroom, doing little chores around the house, cooking lunch and my treadmill.

    I think when we go back (part time in November) I will have a hard time adjusting. I am just so depressed about everything. My heart hurts.

  131. Calanthea*

    I’m in my early thirties. Pre-lockdown, I was negotiating a payrise/title change based on my recent work and plans for the next year (ie, I’d be getting it in this September paycheck if I met those targets). I also had my eye on a couple of career moves in the next 2-5 years and was choosing projects accordingly.

    Lockdown was really hard at first, as 60% of my work became impossible/impractical. I took on a lot more administrative/processing work instead and initially felt very overwhelmed by it all. Gradually my attitude has changed from a “Growth/Improvement” focus to “get enough done and then switch off.” So I’m a lot happier in my life, but work has gone from being something I care about and want to do well, to something I have to do and want to get over with using as little time and energy as possible. I think a lot of that is because I cared about the people who my work was helping, and now I don’t see them it just doesn’t seem real. There’s also an element of “The world is burning, why do we need to groom llamas?”

    I’d find it really hard to go back to the office with my current attitude of “work sucks,” but I also don’t think I could progress in my career if I keep working from home. And whilst at the moment I don’t really care about career progression, I am not quite comfortable letting go of the plans I had for myself at 40.

    I’d be interested if anyone is feeling similarly now, or has felt similarly at other points in time, and how you dealt with it.

    1. Clever username goes here*

      Instead of letting go of those plans, can you do anything from home to keep working towards them? For example, I’m finishing a certificate in project management via a local university’s professional development department. I used to go on campus for classes but now it’s all virtual. Same certificate either way. :)

      1. Calanthea*

        Congratulations on your course! PM certification is really useful, so many job adverts ask for the certificate (rather than experience, lol).
        Your point would absolutely stand if I still wanted to follow those plans. The thing is, I just… don’t? Being “good” at work seems kind of pointless and unrewarding. I’d rather have a beautiful garden with lots of flowers and a home filled with interesting books that I’ve read and would pick up again, and the sports club I help run be super successful and all the stuff that I now spend more time and effort thinking about because I care more about it than whether I need to set up a new programme to deliver the Teapot Innovation Strategy 2030. Heck, I don’t care if teapots in 2030 are EXACTLY THE SAME as teapots now because I just don’t think it really matters.

  132. TiffIf*

    I do miss my office–I like a distinct separation between work and home–the only place I can work in my home is my craft table in my bedroom so I’m in my bedroom 18-20 hours a day which sometimes is very wearing.

    I had gotten kind of used to it after two and a half months and then summer hit, and I REALLY missed the office: the office has real air conditioning, my apartment has a swamp cooler–which if you are not familiar with them is only good for about 5 to 10 degrees of cooling so when the temperature hits 101 isn’t much help!

    I do also miss actually seeing my coworkers in person and even just going to a conference room for a meeting added variety to my day that I did not know I needed.

    Prior to all of this I would work one day from home a week which I liked and think I would still like, but I do actually want to return to the office at least part time.

  133. SomehowIManage*

    I don’t miss the office. However, I find myself doodling faces a lot while on conference calls. Previously, my doodles had been weighted more towards flowers and animals, and now it’s mostly human faces. I take that to mean that I miss people.

  134. swfgoesketo*

    I am actually surprised by how well I am doing. I was really worried at first (I have had trouble with it before), but it’s turned out great! The primary disadvantage is that I am way more sedentary. I always make a point to stand up and walk now and then. At work, I would go to the bathroom, the vending machines, a conference room, or even for a quick cruise around the office. Plus, there was walking to and from the parking lot (and I could take the stairs if I was really restless). All in all, I am missing out on over a thousand steps a day by not needing to move around the office during the course of a day.

    There are a few distractions (my condo walks out to a park, and there are almost always kids out there screaming, and many of the other people in the building are hard of hearing, so there’s occasionally very loud talking right outside my door), but for the most part, I have adapted.

  135. Megumin*

    I moved into a new house a couple months ago, and it greatly improved my WFH set up. When the pandemic hit, we were living in a rather small house with no office spaces, so I was sitting on the couch with my laptop – which was pretty awful. I got terrible tech neck and wrist issues. Now I have my own office space and a desk and a real desk chair.

    I’m still looking forward to going back into the office though. I have been home by myself with my two small children since March and it’s been challenging. My oldest daughter just started kindergarten virtually, and that adds a whole other challenge.

    When we return, my division will have a brand new building on campus. Our cubes are going to be significantly smaller, but it’s going to have way more windows and natural light! I’m looking forward to that, and also just casual chats with various people – I feel really disconnected from the other groups in my division, which is not a good thing in IT, especially because IT has a pretty bad history of being siloed and we’ve been working hard to break down those walls the past few years.

  136. 2legit*

    Absolutely not.

    There is no benefit at all for me to going back to the office.

    Everything can be done electronically. I don’t miss having to hear office gossip or being pressured to partake in forced fun, either.

    The colleagues I like and appreciate… we have stayed in touch remotely.

    The positive benefits for the environment… can’t be overstated… and for those who can’t drive and don’t have access to a good public transit system, WFH has been a huge blessing for us, one that we have been waiting a long time for.

  137. Tired of Covid*

    I worked at home exclusively for years before the pandemic. I absolutely love it and you couldn’t pay me now to go into the office. I have a separate room for my office and it is a comfortable setup, and I no longer have a long commute. I also live alone. Can’t say I would love it so much if my circumstances were different. I also have a minimal need to interact with coworkers, either for the job or personally. My workplace was pretty dysfunctional, so it’s a relief not having to see most of those people. I like quiet when working without having to wear headphones, and where I live is so peaceful. It’s the best, especially now, with so many workplaces not taking covid seriously.

  138. PseudoMona*

    I do not like working at home. I miss having a real desk and desk chair. I miss having two monitors for my computer. I miss having a clear separation between my work life space and my personal life space. I miss being able to pop into my manager’s office to ask a quick question.

    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      I’m sorry that your situation is so bad. It sounds like a nightmare. Your company had no emergency plan, it seems. I was always annoyed by ours. We practiced worst case scenario stuff twice a year. It was always a pain. 6 AM call, “you will be working from branch office today” “You will be working from home today.” Ugh, whatever!
      But when then crisis came, we had everything we needed, where we needed it.

  139. Not Tom, Just Petty*

    Nope.
    I’m one of the lucky ones. My company gave me the equipment I need. I have a separate space, with windows! for an office. SO bought a super comfortable office chair. A friend had (at the time) “pawned off on me” a giant work computer desk (inherited from a late relative) that she didn’t have room for, but I did. And my old one broke in my latest move, so I said I’d take it and thanks. Almost two years later, I set it up in my new home office and sent her a big thank you.
    So yeah, don’t care if I never go back.

  140. CJ*

    Surprisingly, kinda yes. I absolutely miss the weekly “have to shave” excuse from teaching in front of students, and as everyone’s finding out, Zoom is not a replacement for being in the same room for discussion content. (Humans are social monkeys. Who knew.)

    But what I _really_ miss are the copy room collisions or sharing _that_ look with the admin assistant at some student’s antics in the lobby or the down-the-hallway banter or the poke-your-head in doorway questions. (Especially since my schools both are apparently allergic to both Slack and Teams.) Meetings? Nah – it’s letting us see just how many meetings could be emails. But it’s the unplanned contact that’s the surprising absence.

  141. MediumEd*

    I do not have a comfortable working space at home. I suppose I could rearrange my dining room, buy a larger desk and extra monitors, a comfortable desk char and standing desk attachment, a printer/scanner…but that would be a huge expense that my college will not foot the bill for (any of it). I am a college professor and am teaching my classes online this semester. I have started going to my office 3x a week because I miss the space I have and all the amenities, it really makes it easier to teach and handle the rest of my responsibilities. I am also more focused in my online classes. At home I am very distracted as well. I’m doing laundry between meetings, finding excuses to do things around the house, etc. At my office, I have a door that closes, and dedicated time to work, so when I am at home, I am at home. Work stays at work. Not seeing my laptop, assignments that need grading, etc in my home space also reduces a lot of stress.

    1. Ettakit*

      I also work for a college and they let me take home my monitors, printer (desktop one), and desk chair. I bought a fairly inexpensive desk off amazon. Having a set up has helped as much as it can at this point. It’s definitely not ideal for all kinds of reasons, but having those few extras was really helpful. May be worth asking about.

  142. ShySqueaker*

    I was one of the “it’s convenient to blame covid so let’s cut this team” casualties in April/May, so I ahve two perspectives:

    1. I was doing great with my old team, because we made time for zoom, we were in sync and a well oiled machine that could talk serious or joke to get through. I missed seeing them in office, but we had grand plans for hosting a potluck when we got back in to work. Now we’ve all gone our separate ways – I miss them very, very much. Two I still keep in touch with, three don’t respond to emails (I can’t blame them, our layoff was handled badly and despite being a very productive team, were given a middle finger with the boot).

    2. As a new employee onboarding remotely is _awful_. Joining a team that’s been together for ages (I moved to government work, tenure here is 10 years and up) is really difficult when they haven’t fully embraced video conferencing or chat mechanisms like Teams. I’ve been in this position 3 months now on a 20 person team, and I have about 4 people I feel like I am getting to know – the rest are still total strangers. What’s worse is I don’t think I could put a face to a name! That makes me feel like a bad coworker.

    As for working from home? This emplyer has given us a small stipend on gettign a desk/chair and provided us with times to pick up extra monitors. I’m enjoying the lack of commute – but I miss, again, getting to know the people. It’s hard not to feel a bit isolated. On the positive side, work si also embracing lunch hour games and silliness – from around the house scavenger hunts (first one to get a shoe box gets $5 starbucks card, for example) to “get to know your coworker bingo”.

    1. Something Something Whomp Whomp*

      We kinda sound like onboarding twins! My team is really all over the place when it comes to how they use tools like Teams, and some may not have work computers with cameras, so there are some people I’ve never seen.

      When you haven’t worked with people in the office, it’s really hard to know how much of their remote work communication style is about their adjustment to not being in-person versus their actual personalities. There are people who put little effort into not being strangers, but I don’t know if it’s about them being unwelcoming or just not at ease with getting to know people under these circumstances. It’s crazy-making.

      1. ShySqueaker*

        I’m both glad I’m not the only one and sad you’re facing the same struggle I am!

        I’m not sure if this is just going to prolong the “newbie” status or the feeling of being a stranger or if it’ll ease with time. I raise a coffee to my onboarding twin – we’ll get through this! Awkwardly, without facial recognition of our coworkers, but someday! :)

  143. Veryanon*

    I never thought I would miss it. Pre-pandemic, my job gave me flexibility to work at home sometimes (waiting for a service person, had a doctor’s appointment, etc.) and I always enjoyed those work from home days. But now that I am here all. the. time, it’s not ideal. One of the things I miss the most, which I didn’t expect, was seeing random colleagues while getting tea/going to the restroom/grabbing lunch in our cafeteria. I also miss having people just drop by my cube for chats about whatever. The site where I work is my company’s second-largest site in the U.S., with almost 1,000 people, so we had a strong culture of site-oriented social activities which were both fun and educational (just as an example, we had started a Toastmasters chapter at the site about 6 months before the pandemic hit). We as a company promote good citizenship and being socially conscious (we offer employees up to 6 paid days off a year for volunteering), so we had connections to a number of local charities where we’d do volunteer work or raise money for them. A lot of these activities have fallen by the wayside, unfortunately, as most of us are still working remotely and will be doing so well into 2021.

  144. Aspiring Chicken Lady*

    One of our biggest office towers in my city has just been purchased by a company who is likely to convert it to part residential/part office. My son and I were doing a thought experiment about whether it would be good to live and work in the same building … but not “at home”.

    If I wasn’t forced to live in a high rise, which would be a bit of a hellscape for me, I think it would be awesome. My son was totally into it.

    The workaround for me would be that I’d have to have a good dog park and a dog that I’d be forced to walk regularly so that I’d go outside.

  145. Catthulu*

    I miss water cooler chat (and I think that scuttlebutt sometimes helped me at work too); but I do not miss commuting or the need to stick around for 8+ hours whether or not it made sense. I love being in more control of my day. The biggest issue is my home office set up-my partner and I live in a tiny 1 bedroom shoe box and work sitting a few feet apart from one another in what is basically our living room. It’s not a great set up ergonomically and it makes it hard to shut off my workbrain when it’s literally in my line of sight for most of the day. If we had even one other bedroom to allow us to create a real delineation between work and everything else, that would be great.

  146. Theo*

    Literally as I was reading this post my 18-month-old walked in, stared at me, and went “Woof. Woof.” SO YEAH, I MISS MY OFFICE. On the plus side, she can’t negotiate the handle yet, so if I get the door to latch entirely, I have a nice cozy space that’s much more pleasant than my work office. But I miss my commute (spent it reading or walking) and my coworkers (especially the person I have shared a large office with for like, six years) and being able to rely on a raise.

    I do love not paying for the commuter rail tho, and homemade meals every day.

  147. Kimmy Schmidt*

    I miss our office walking group. We’d take twice-daily walks with a small group of coworkers to get a quick break and stretch our legs. It was so nice to get that informal chatting time and the exercise.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      Yes! I got a lot more steps in at the office. The kitchen was upstairs and down a long hall, and when it wasn’t raining, some of us would have walking meetings, we’d also sometimes go for walks during lunches… now my fridge is about 6 steps away.

  148. Student Affairs Sally*

    As an addendum to my previous comment – I think one of the reasons I prefer being in the office is, oddly, because I’m a huge introvert. My introversion (and social anxiety) causes me to not be super driven to make a lot of social connections, so I’ve primarily relied on my colleagues, my husband, and my outside romantic relationships (we’re polyamorous) for social interaction. COVID basically killed any dating prospects, and WFH killed my interaction with colleagues, so for many months I was really only interacting with my husband. Although my need for social interaction is pretty minimal compared to more extroverted people, it’s not nonexistent, so this was really, really hard on my mental health. Now that I’m in the office part of the time, I get more of my social needs met and I also feel like I’m more productive. Having some interaction definitely makes the weeks without it more bearable, but I’d rather be in the office all the time if it was safe to do so.

  149. Admins, can't find good ones*

    I’ve been fully remote for years, so I’m used to it. Adding the kids to the mix hasn’t been too disruptive. But I am so ready for my husband to go back to work. He types loudly, his monitor setup is huge, he sighs a lot, and he wears a headset for calls. For some reason, I don’t want to see that side of him. We joke that perhaps he’d be more comfortable in the garage? So I miss him going in to the office.

    1. Tessera Member 042*

      My husband has a mechanical keyboard–SUCH LOUD TYPING, it sounds like he’s always annoyed or angry! Combined with the fact that he is apparently also an emphatic sigher at work, hearing him always makes me tense.

  150. J.E.*

    I’ve really enjoyed getting to sleep in later due to no commute. I feel more productive because I’m in a more comfortable environment-I can control the temperature, I’m in comfortable clothes, lunch is easy and healthier and I can get some house things done like laundry instead of cramming it in during the evening or weekend when I’d rather have time to do other things. I hope that going forward, the new normal is more employers offering 2-3 days in the office and the rest working from home. And death to open floor plan offices!

  151. Sylvan*

    I miss my office! I especially miss my coworkers. We talk on Teams and we have very occasional video meetings, but it’s not the same. While I’m glad we’re not spending too much time in meetings, which I hear is a problem a lot of people are dealing with right now, I’d like to see everyone a little more often.

    I miss some superficial things about the office itself, like the pretty good coffee and the very good massage chairs. On a less superficial note, I miss having a clear distinction between my work space and my home, and my work life and private life. It’s just so hard to compartmentalize things in a studio apartment. (I never wanted a large apartment until this happened. Now I see the appeal of a two-bedroom apartment for one person.) It’s also difficult for me to focus on work when there are other things to do all around, though ADHD probably plays a role in that at least as much as the pandemic situation.

    1. Veryanon*

      My office offered 20-minute chair massages every week, which were awesome. We had to pay for them, but it was $20 well spent and I always felt so refreshed afterwards. I miss that.

  152. blink14*

    I’ve been totally remote since mid-March and expect to be at least through the end of the year. I knew going into this I was likely not going to be a fan of working from home long term, and turns out that I definitely do not like it. I worked from home for about 4 weeks, part time and then full time, after recovering from a surgery and then occasional days in the time since, but there was always an end to it, a termination point, a return to the office.

    I greatly appreciate being able to work from home when I have an appointment, need to take care of something at my apartment, etc, and I’m very appreciative that I can continue to work remotely now, as I’m high risk. All that being said, I really prefer to keep my work time separate from my personal time and I don’t like the two blending together. I hate video calls – I refuse to turn on my camera – and I’m in more meetings now than I ever was when in the office. I feel pressure to make it look like I’m busy, and I eventually just gave up on that, and now add in little tasks or chores throughout the day to break the time up and use free time I have while waiting for an email, between calls, etc.

    I’m currently living with my family, and working remotely was a huge reason why I left my apartment in a major city. I have two roommates, both of which were also working remotely and still are, and I knew that being cooped up in my bedroom basically 24/7 would not be a good choice for me, not to mention sharing one bathroom 24/7 and not driving each other crazy. I’m still paying my rent and utilities as usual, but have only been back a few times.

    I don’t miss the commute, and getting up earlier than I am right now, but I do look forward to returning back to a normal work/life schedule hopefully early next year.

  153. LimeRoos*

    I love working from home but miss my coworkers and cafe/mini store. We’d grab breakfast and lunch occasionally and it was just so nice to take 15 and chill down there with food and friends. Plus, our cafeteria was the bomb. Best bacon, egg, and cheese bagel ever. And the salads at lunch were fantastic. Ugh. I miss it so much. So so much. They had this coconut chicken salad with strawberries, pineapples, & mandarin orange slices. And a their steak salad with feta & pepperoncini. Plus the build your own salad bar… And I just made myself hungry. Merf.

    1. pancakes*

      You’ve made me hungry too! I was already craving pepperoncini lately but now I really, really need a fresh jar of them.

  154. Ettakit*

    I definitely miss my office and all that comes with it. My husband, stepson and I are all WFH/LearnFH now and while it’s nice to not have an hour commute everyday, we could use a few more doors – my office is our open dining room. I also have 4 pets and have to do zoom appointments with my students all day so they’re constantly in the video. I miss being able to walk down the hall to get answers and see my students in person and go to campus events and walk to the student-run coffee shop.

    I’d be perfectly happy to WFH part-time in the future, but I definitely need to leave my house and get some in person human time to feel truly productive.

  155. The Other Dawn*

    Working from home full-time was really difficult at first, for a number of reasons. I had my two back surgeries in March, one on the 3rd and one on the 17th. Right in between in when things started blowing up with schools going remote, events being cancelled, etc. So I came out of surgery into a pandemic, which meant when I was able to get around a few weeks later, stay-at-home orders were issued. That meant I could go out, but it was very limited, had to wear a mask, shelves were bare, etc., so why even bother going out? When I recovered enough to work (desk job), my company had gone almost completely WFH. Since I had only planned on working from home for a few weeks while I recover enough to go back to the office, I had no dedicated space to work. Plus I was still extremely uncomfortable sitting upright in a chair so I had to figure out how to work comfortably, WHERE to work in the house, how get some movement in during the day, and then at the same time the doctor was weaning me off the pain meds, which was really bad timing due to having to figure out how to work and be comfortable (and the mental aspect of coming off the pain meds was…not good). Although I finally settled at the dining room table and got myself a sit/stand desk, two monitors and a few other things, we decided to convert a room in our house into an office, which is still in process due to the age of the house and my husband having to do 99% of the work by himself due to my physical restrictions. Although everything I mentioned contributed to hating WFH, the worst part was being so isolated in the beginning, especially since my only time out of the house was for physical therapy twice a week, and trips to the grocery store and pharmacy.

    Now that I’ve been working from home since April, have an office that’s almost done, and know it’s going to be this way at least through 2020, I’m OK with it. I’m starting to like it, honestly. I don’t have to: wake up with an alarm clock (probably the best part for me!), drive to work, think about work clothes, make my breakfast and lunch, jam everything in on the weekends since I’m always home, and I can get up and move as much as a want (not that I couldn’t at the office, but it’s easier at home). I can also be here for deliveries and not worry about someone being home. I do miss seeing my coworkers face-to-face and making small talk, but IM and Teams meetings are fine. The one thing that still annoys me is when all the neighbors, who are mostly retired or work odd hours, are out mowing their laws, cutting down trees, and doing other loud landscaping things. But that happens on the weekends, too, and we all need to keep up with the yard work.

    My company is now completely rethinking a planned expansion of the back offices and will likely make many back office departments permanently WFH–we’re one of them. Now that I’m enjoying WFH, I think I would be really disappointed to have to go back to the office, mainly because I see how much less stressed I am now without having to pack everything in on the weekend and having the freedom to get up and run to the store if I want to. It would also suck to have to go back to worrying about work clothes.

    1. The Other Dawn*

      I’ll add that during the first few months, I was desperate to be able to work in the office a day or two a week, just to be somewhere other than home. My boss was fine with it since there were only a few people on my floor and none were on my side. I went in maybe four time from May through July and that was it. Now that I’m getting out more, either to eat out or go somewhere other than the grocery store; am moving around a lot better; and I’m not in active surgery recovery mode, I’m fine working at home.

  156. ArchivistGal*

    I discovered I really like working from home! If I weren’t an archivist who works with the physical historical items in the archives, I would try to figure out a way to work from home forever. I can wear what I want (and just throw on a business top for meetings on Zoom), adjust my eating schedule to when I’m hungry rather than an arbitrary schedule, am interrupted only when my cat wants a brief cuddle (as compared to the numerous interruptions in the office), there’s no driving involved, and have a window to look out of as I work, among other benefits.

    That said, I do wish I had a separate office from my bedroom, but as I live in a three-bedroom apartment with two housemates, at least I already had a desk when this all started. I do miss my dual monitors, so that is nice when I am in the office (as I have been once a week since August, trying to get some in-office things done in case/when there’s a second round of complete closures). I have NOT missed idle chitchat (though some has always been okay), and I absolutely HATE the fact that there are some people back in the office who clearly haven’t figured out how to properly wear their face masks (which makes me less happy to be back in the office than I’d care to admit). I’m definitely more on edge there, even though I have an office of my own, because not everyone is back, we’re only allowed to come in on certain days when we do come back, who knows how the ventilation in the building works, and masks get uncomfortable after a while.

    Also my employer axed the in-house cafeteria while we were all 100% home, so I have to bring my lunches now, and so now I need a level of forethought in regards to meals at work that has always been difficult for me to manage.

    Overall I’d say it’s a mixed bag, but I definitely fall on the ‘Don’t miss the office’ side.

  157. Lore*

    I am losing it a little. I’m a total introvert and really sensitive to noise and was desperate for one WFH day a week when I worked in an open cube farm. (Ironically after literal years of asking for that, it was approved in January 2020. Sigh.) But all the time? My 1br apartment isn’t set up for it; my laptop isn’t up to it; I’m resentful of the extra expenses in equipment that my job isn’t subsidizing (like an external monitor). I’m overwhelmed by the number of extra Webex meetings that are required to substitute for the informal group problem-solving and information-sharing that we had in the office. I miss reading on my commute, and having an unlimited Metrocard that meant I didn’t have to put a price tag on every errand more than 10 blocks away. And I miss my colleagues—no, we’re not all bffs, but we like each other and we have lunch or drinks or whatever semi regularly. Yes, I like being able to do laundry or exercise at lunch, but somehow I’m working more hours and even without evening engagements, I find it harder to find time for grocery shopping and cleaning and whatnot. 1-2 days a week wfh would be ideal for me I think.

    1. F.M.*

      Oh, heck, that reminds me of another thing I miss! I used to get semester-long metro cards that covered buses and light rail, so it was trivial to just take public transit to any old place I wanted to go, on a whim, or change my mind at the last minute between walking vs. public transit.

      Now that I’m buying each ticket individually, and the rail stations are constantly playing the reminders about only using public transit for vital travel… I haven’t been to a park, or a museum, or an outdoors event, or anything where I could go have a safe cultural experience in MONTHS, and even my grocery store trips are more anxious and rare now. Not to mention how much less I’m walking just by not walking to/from bus & rail stops.

  158. Jenkins*

    I don’t miss it at all. I love working from home. I love being alone and not having to engage in annoying chitchat with coworkers all day and listening to their silly family dramas.

  159. Sabrina*

    I’d like working from home so much more if my office could support its staff doing so better. I’ve got a laptop that can’t run some of the software I need to do the most time critical part of my job. The office doesn’t have enough VPN licenses and hasn’t bought more so I can’t access our network. Plus few weeks before WFH started my group got a new supervisor, someone who was new to both managing and our group. She’s trying really hard, but has her own WFH challenges that make quick conversations almost impossible. I get emails from her like “Hi please prioritize that teapots project of yours today” and I respond with “Sure, but did you mean my teapot handle or teapot sprouts project?” and then not hear back for three hours. Eventually her boss will chime in that it’s sprouts, but by then I’m behind and frantically try to catch up.

    The bit were I actually work from home I like, it’s the struggle to be able to do my job that’s hard! And I do miss my coworkers and stuff like going for long walks at lunch, my office had some lovely walking paths around it.

  160. voyager1*

    Yes. I miss it. Bloomberg news ran a story yesterday saying that office occupancy won’t be back to pre Covid levels till 2025.

    I miss going to the office because it let me separate work from home. I miss the people. I miss getting out of the house.

    I don’t like how much this is subsidizing my workplace for less costs for them (phone, internet,etc) We did not get a subsidy to buy office furniture and were told we could use our own TVs to be a computer screen “just buy a cable.” F that! You can give me a screen.

  161. Thankful for AAM*

    I only got to work from home for a short time but I loved it more than I thought I would. I was more productive and less distracted than I expected. And less distracted than I am by the open office plan and I thought that was not bothering me at all. Now I realize just how much it is a problem.

  162. Bend & Snap*

    My job is remote all the time anyway and I love it. I do not love the insane hybrid school schedule or virtual learning for my 7 year old.

  163. Time Lord*

    I like working from home and I don’t – I like the flexibility and the lack of commute, and that I get to snuggle my dog on the couch during my lunch break. But I very much miss seeing my coworkers in person. My office was very social, and as a single person who moved for this job most of my social interaction took place at work. Chatting and even video calls just aren’t the same, you know? It’s hard feeling like I’m out here on my own little island every day.

  164. ThursdaysGeek*

    I used to miss it more, but then I realized that I didn’t freeze all summer. I set the air conditioner to come on at 78, had fresh air coming in when it was cooler, have all these windows and light. And I didn’t need to wrap a blanket around me and drink hot tea because the summer air conditioner is set to frigid for all the non-reptiles around me.

    I’m going to be able to turn on heat in the winter and stay warm then, too. Right now, I have a window open and can hear the birds. I’m in a quiet room in a quiet house.

  165. Lizabeth*

    I was working remotely for a year and a half because of parental units, then the virus shutdown hit in March.

    Overall my work doesn’t require me being in an office daily to get things done. The only downside of being remote is getting all the information I need to do my job right the first time. Too many crickets when I ask TPTB for a decision to be made or information that I need, either by email or phone. The other downside is being separated from my SO – my home state has my remote state listed for mandatory 2 week quarantine if I travel there. I used to travel once a month to work in the office for a week.

    Upsides: I get more work done. I don’t have to listen to the office squawker 8 hours a day in a shared large open office.

  166. MzFitToyz*

    I work as a clinical social worker and team leader. Out of an abundance of caution, we were sent home for several months and I hated it. There were some perks to WFH (watching SCHITT’S CREEK on lunch break, actually getting a lunch break!) but my members deal with such a severe level of mental health issues that trying to do clinical sessions over the phone just did no work. And there was no satisfaction. I am an extrovert. I get a lot of energy from the variety of roles I play in a day and the variety of meetings I get to do. I can go from personal shopper to crisis counselor in the course of one appointment. It just didn’t translate to working over the phone. And I did not like my work set up. I have a great office chair at my office. I was barely surviving a day working at my thrown together space. I was so relieved when they asked us to come back to the office. I’ll wear a mask and socially distance but I am an essential worker and I can only really do this job when I have direcet contact with people. I want to say, though, I do appreciate that my company tried really hard to protect us. It just didn’t really work in the end.

  167. A Whole New World*

    I changed started a new job in the midst of all of this and it’s been challenging as a manager. I’ve been going into the office a few days a week which is nice but it would definitely be better if my whole team was in.

  168. juliebulie*

    A timely topic indeed, because yesterday I had to clean out my cubicle. I’m working at home “forever” now. They are knocking down the building (it’s full of asbestos, dead bugs, lead, ghosts, who knows what else) and the new building won’t have room for most of us.

    Working from home was great when it was an occasional convenience. It was just okay through most of the pandemic so far, while I was still thinking of it as temporary and looking forward to a return to “normalcy.” Now that it’s officially “permanent,” however, it blows. My house is pretty small and I’m not thrilled about having to permanently dedicate so much space to a full office setup. (I’ve been working on a laptop and external monitor, but my “full” setup is two monitors, a printer, office supplies, binders, etc.)

    BUT I still have a job and I LOVE not having to drive nearly an hour each way. I just need to look for ways to compensate for those office amenities that I no longer have.

    1. juliebulie*

      And I’m also a little sour because I bought some nice fall clothes when I thought I’d be going back to the office at least part time.

      I mean, I can still wear them to family things and such, but it seems almost wasteful to wear nice things when I’m working alone at home.

  169. Jam Today*

    I would cautiously consider going back to an office one or two days a week, if I could commute by public transit, but I will be happy never to have to commute by car to sit in a grey office-park office full of cube-lets for the rest of my life. The only thing I don’t like is the total isolation (I live alone) but that’s more a complaint about our current state of affairs in the US and lack of infection control, and my inability to go to the movies or concerts.

  170. Mike Engle*

    I miss my office a lot. Actually, I miss physically going outside to hop on the metro, getting to work, and knowing that once I leave the office, the work stays there and waits for me the next day. As awesome as it is that 100% of my job is compatible with 100% fully remote working, I don’t love seeing my work-issued laptop physically at home after hours. The next residence will absolutely have a separate room (which I wouldn’t mind sharing with my wife!) that serves as the office. “Commute” to the home office, then shut the door on it at 5:30-ish.

  171. Tiffany In Houston*

    I don’t ever have to go back to the office. My team is primarily spread out across the country anyway so we were already semi-remote. My boss and co-worker are in the same city as me and we meet once a week on video.

    If I do have to go back I’d like to WFH 3 days and go into the office for 2 days. That would be the right mix so I could get out of the house.

  172. pleaset AKA cheap rolls*

    Yes, I miss working in the office.

    Working at home has deepened connections between different locations in my organization, but I miss having a dedicated space to work.

    I don’t miss the commute – time and also fear I’ll get from taking the subway if I start going in.

  173. B2*

    I don’t miss working in the office at all. When work from home started, I thought I would have a hard time adjusting and wouldn’t enjoy it, but I like it so much that I’m looking for a full time remote position. As an introvert, I’m thriving at home and generally experiencing less stress and anxiety. Typically, my job offers no work from home option and very little flexibility in my schedule.

  174. Dilly*

    I really miss my office. I have never enjoyed working from home. Sure I’d do it if I had to be home for a service technician. And sometimes when I’m sick, I’ll do a few hours of telework. But it has never been a goal of mine to not go into the office. I like to have a bold line separation between work and home, which you just don’t get when your desk is the dining room table.

    Even though I spent a lot of my days holed up in my office not talking to people because I was trying to get an analysis done, I liked knowing that people were around me. I would stop by my boss’s office or vice versa and we would talk through weird situations that we had encountered. Sure, we do it now, but it’s more awkward over the phone. When I was in the office, the junior staff would be able to just pop in and I’d be able to answer questions on how to do something or figure out which older reports and analyses they should take a look at to guide what they were working on. I liked my Friday routine of going to the food trucks with one or two of my colleagues for lunch. I took a commuter train to work and in the mornings I would usually nap or read, but in the afternoons, I had a group of 3-4 other commuters that I would sit with. We talked about TV, movies, and books. I got advice on some home improvement stuff I wanted to do. I didn’t have to constantly deal with Google Meets. I had access to a high quality printer/scanner (my home printer/scanner is . . .fine). I had 2 big monitors (at home I have 1 plus my laptop screen and there isn’t room for a second monitor really).

    I miss the office.

  175. Respectfully, Pumat Sol*

    My team is really tightly knit and I really miss seeing them in person. There’s a lot of joking and collaboration that happens in the hallways that is just so very hard to replicate digitally. I miss the free, high-quality coffee and I miss taking afternoon walks with my team. And the lunch delivery service. I miss being able to catch my team director in her office and quickly talk through some minor questions I had without having to go all the way up to an email or make a formal meeting. It’s harder to bring up delicate topics. Sometimes I miss my commute – it’s when I listened to audiobooks and I haven’t found a new space for them in my non-commuting life.

  176. Ms. Pessimistic*

    My husband and I both had WFH days pre COVID but different days and we have one home office. We both like being home now but we can’t share an office so that has been difficult!

  177. Wings*

    My husband has been WFH since March and thought it was fine. Then he went into the office yesterday for the first time and realized how much he missed it. Funny in a way.

  178. jfgulia*

    I deeply, deeply miss going into work. I’m in the performing arts and while I am incredibly lucky to still have a job AND feel reasonably secure in that job, so much of what we do and the culture of our industry is around creating space and being in space together. On top of that, I was promoted into a new role in July that requires leading a lot of cross-departmental consensus-building and brainstorming – how I miss a whiteboard and having people in the same room to just have a normal conversation! It’s been just that much harder to get the new project off the ground and find my way. Also, I echo those who miss the power of the drive-by — especially with our Company President or the other VPs who have such busy schedules and inboxes (and are generally not huge on Teams or Slack etc). Finally, I used to think I hated my commute, but it turns out it was an essential part of my day — having to go from work mode to mom/partner mode with no separation or transition time is much more taxing than I would have anticipated.

    I, too, was having lots of issues with my family and boundaries, and the feeling like I lived at work, but we were lucky enough to have the means for a fun solution – we have a fully insulated, wired for power, 10×10 garden shed attached to our garage. Gave it a makeover (fun paint, an accent wallpaper wall, indoor/outdoor carpet) and now my office is OUTSIDE of my house (by like 20 ft, but the mental difference is huge). And at the end of the day, I close and lock the shed and leave it behind (as much as I ever did pre-COVID). But even with that… I still miss the office and my co-workers and getting to be my “work self” with people IRL. I know my company will eventually transition back to in person, but we are taking a conservative stance on that which is the right call, but I am ready for that to happen.

    Thanks for providing the space to vent about this. I know I am in a position of such privilege – especially in my field and with the fact that my kid is old enough to do school on her own – so I always hesitate to whine. But I truly, truly do not like working from home.

  179. Quinalla*

    I normally love working from home when I would do it on occasion to meet a plumber or something in my quiet office space, but right now my three kids and my husband are here all the time, so no it is not great. I miss the casual, unplanned office interactions – I’ve actually tried to replicate it by sending folks IMs very occasionally when I think of something I want to share that normally I would casually in the office, but it feels weird to do remotely. Also, I hate when everyone starts mowing their grass when I am trying to concentrate lol!

    When COVID is over, I plan to ask to work remotely 2 or 3 days a week permanently. I think that would be a nice balance between some office time and some awesome, quiet focus time working at home.

  180. Dorothy Zbornak*

    I like being able to sleep in, but that’s about it. I never feel like I get to leave work behind. My apartment is now my workspace and school as well (I’m doing a Master’s degree) — I never feel fully relaxed. Even when the work day is over, I’m still stuck on the computer in class or doing homework. Weekends are devoted to the same exact thing. I have a one-bedroom apartment so I don’t have an “office” I can close the doors on and leave behind when I’m not working. I never realized how much I depended on breaking up my life into the office, the classroom/library, and home for relaxation.

    1. Me*

      I so feel you on the working and schooling from home. Not only do I miss the office but I miss being able to go write a paper in a library or study in a coffee shop. It’s somehow exhausting to never get a change of scenary.

      1. Dorothy Zbornak*

        Yes, completely agree! I never focused well in a coffee shop, but I really depended on being able to go to the library after work or on the weekend when I needed to knock out a paper or something. It was also great to meet up with classmates for library dates to suffer through papers together. I work at the university where I go to school so it was really easy to make that happen. I find it so hard to focus after a long work day or week to then put my energy on additional hours of staring at a laptop, and like you said, it’s incredibly exhausting.

    2. Dorothy Zbornak*

      on the plus side – I do not miss getting dressed for the office! My personal style is very much rock and roll/western, and if I could I would live in band tees/jeans/boots every day, so I never felt fully comfortable in my work clothes. the downside is that I’m also not really wearing my personal style ever, since I spend the majority of my time in my apartment. I live in leggings and sweaters/sweatshirts. However, it’s nice that I can wear my comfy oversized flannel every day now that it’s getting cooler. I struggled to style those appropriately for the office.

    3. Tessera Member 042*

      I agree about the usefulness of breaking up your life with different locations! I finished my PhD this spring while teaching a few college classes online, but the ability to go work on my dissertation at the public library (in their lovely study rooms), come home, eat lunch, and then shift into work mode made a big difference.
      Especially now that my spouse is WFH, I do sometimes feel confined to the bedroom where my desk is. At least if I was having trouble focusing before, I could move to the couch, but now there’s just the bed and it’s way too tempting to nap otherwise.

  181. NLMC*

    I love working from home and hope to never go back full time. I do go to the office one day a week so it’s a nice little break from being home, but once a week is enough for me. I don’t miss my daily commute and I’m eating healthier by being home to make lunch and I’m not too exhausted by the end of the day to make a dinner.

  182. Nacho*

    Back when I still had a job, I did miss my office. My team was pretty laid back, so there was a lot of turning my chair around to ask my co-workers something, or just chatting with them for a while. I missed out on a lot of human interaction while I was working at home, and even more now that I’m laid off.

  183. If Lucid*

    I always assumed I would love working from home full time. I have a great home office and technology that allows me to be productive offsite. In reality, it took me months to adjust to some sense of work/life balance. Work became life, and life was work. If I wasn’t sleeping or in the shower, I was on my laptop updating project plans, answering emails, scheduling meetings. Things reached a breaking point at the end of May, now I’m better at setting boundaries and sticking to a schedule.

    I don’t miss the traffic of my commute, but I miss driving. I’m nostalgic for the scenery of my drive to work in the crisp morning air.

    I’m also worried about my comfort level with being isolated. I missed the in-person interactions at first. Now the longer I go without being around people, the more I like *not* being around people.

    all in all, it’s been a much more difficult adjustment than expected.

  185. Squeegee Beckenheim*

    I’ve been back in the office for a couple months after being at home for a couple months, and this is kind of the worst of both worlds. We don’t have in-person meetings, but instead have Teams meetings where you sometimes hear other meetings in the background, which is insanely distracting. We very rarely have face to face conversations, and when we do I often have trouble understanding what people are saying through their masks.

    The only upside is I now have a hard stop time as opposed to WFH where it sometimes bled into personal time. The downside is my boss still thinks we should sometimes work until late at night, where at home I would only do that when I had a task that was like five minutes of work, forty-five minutes of the computer running the numbers.

    I’m also glad to have my chair back, but I miss my cats and my sweatpants SO MUCH.

  186. aunt bop*

    I’ve grown used to the routine that is involved with WFH (getting up later, petting cats whenever I want, etc) but the actual working part is a struggle for me. I slip into other activities easily and I feel unfocused and not motivated. I miss the ease of collaborating with colleagues and the endless screen time is exhausting. The physical set up is also not great for me either. I managed to carve out a corner in my small NYC apartment but my desk is small and the chair is uncomfortable. I could buy a larger desk to make my work life easier at the cost of making my home/personal life worse – having an even larger desk and chair taking up space in the middle of my living room would not make me feel good. At least I am in a 1BR and not a studio.

    I WFH for about 4 years before my current job and one of the reasons I left was because I wanted to stop WFH

  187. Me*

    So so much. I could handle working from home a few days a week. But I miss the routine of going into the office and the interaction with other people.

    If my workspace was better and I wasn’t living alone maybe I’d feel different but I genuinely doubt it.

  188. Elenia35*

    Yes I frickin hate working from home full time. I left my old job because I had to work from home all the time. I am now 3 days in the office, 2 days at home and this is PERFECT.

  189. LQ*

    If someone was in my office and someone else wanted to intrude on the conversation they had to knock on a closed door, acknowledge the other person (often with some pleasantness), and then explain why their thing was more important than the other thing – either in front of the person they were budging on or by me knowing that they had something incredibly urgent. People had a physical understanding of maybe someone has something else happening.

    Now everyone everyone expects me to be doing 10 conversations at once all the time. If I’m not immediately responsive to people they’ll give me…eh maybe 5 minutes and then start escalating. Which means then other people are running to me saying why didn’t I deal with that person’s problem in 5 minutes.

    I want physical meetings with everyone in the building forever now. This BS of immediate response has got to stop. It’s absolutely exhausting in the first 10 minutes of every day.

  190. Amy*

    I definitely miss it! I’m extremely fortunate in that I enjoy my coworkers, have a short commute, and we had recently moved into a very nice building. I have strong boundaries around “work happens in the work space, home things happen at home,” and while I am not at all tempted to work extreme hours or anything, my brain just works better when I’m able to go to the office – it’s a physical cue that I need. However, I’m trying to embrace the good things – more dog walks, being able to stay caught up on chores, etc. Sending lots of strength and compassion to those of you who are doing any caretaking of humans small or grown!

  191. Aquawoman*

    Early on, we had a full house and my desk was in the dining room, ten feet from my beloved but very loud husband, and in a space that people consider a talking space. I’m an introvert with ADHD and sensory processing issues and it was murder. I haven’t shared an office since 1995. I listened to a lot of ambient music with earbuds and went on a solo vacation in August. It did not help that my unfortunate husband had the project from hell this summer. Since my son went back to college and my husband moved his office into his room (different floor!!), and my office is now where my husband’s was/out of the traffic flow of the house, it’s been much better. I do miss seeing my colleagues but I don’t miss commuting, lunch planning and wearing a bra. I think my ideal split would be 60-40 WFH/office.

  192. Dobermom*

    I could work from home forever. My setup is not great – I have a little TV tray table with my laptop on it. But I’m comfortably on the couch (with a bunch of throw pillows for posture!) with one of my dogs next to me the whole time. My job is not complicated, and I’m very efficient at it. So I’m finding it a relief to not have to try to “look busy” if I’ve completed my work for the day. As long as I’m available if someone needs me, I don’t have to stress about looking busier than I actually am.

  193. SufjanFan*

    My office wasn’t the cleanest, and I usually felt grossed out. The bathrooms were disgusting, and the office was so dusty that I honestly felt like it was negatively affecting my health. Also, many of my coworkers didn’t respect social cues that I was busy (not being talkative, wearing headphones) and would distract me constantly, so I appreciate that I can hunker down and get things down without distractions.

    That being said… I do miss some things. I miss the routine. I miss needing to take a break and walking to get coffee with my coworkers. I miss the general camaraderie. I live alone and it has been really, REALLY lonely to not see another human face in the flesh for most (if not all) of my day.

    I also miss the “hard stop” of the day. When we were in the office, for the most part, when someone left for the day, they didn’t check or respond to emails (unless it was super time sensitive). Now, everyone is juggling different hours because of childcare issues, and while I am happy that my workplace is flexible for working parents, I now am getting emails and IMs all hours of the day (sometimes as late as midnight!) and I struggle with turning off/not responding.

  194. Ann O'Nemity*

    I miss it, I really do. Recently I’ve realized that I no longer like my job now that we’re working from home. And that is just crushing me.

    I miss seeing people in person, going to a different and separate physical space, and moving around all day. Now I spend my days staring at the computer screen, mostly in virtual meetings. I don’t get a lot of enjoyment or satisfaction out of it. As a natural extrovert, I just don’t get the same energy boost from virtual that I did from in-person interactions. It feels lonely and exhausting.

    Don’t get me wrong, WFH is the safest option right now and I’m grateful for that. I’m saving money on transportation, wardrobe, and lunch. I’m saving an hour a day on commuting, not to mention the time spent getting ready and out the door. And there’s a lot of conveniences associated with being at home all day. I’m trying to be grateful for the good, and patient that some day we’ll go back to the office.

    1. Dorothy Zbornak*

      I liked my job before WFH, but a lot of that was because of working with a great team and having a friendly, fun work environment. Due to financial complications because of COVID, we’ve had major changes at our university with layoffs, restructuring, etc., and now that I’m working with different people and can’t even see the people I like, I’m incredibly resentful and honestly very unhappy. I’m stuck at my job for another year while I finish my degree because the school pays for it. I’m normally very productive in the office, but I find myself dragging my feet on everything while WFH.

      Still, I’m grateful that I still have a job and am going to school for free while many people across the university have been laid off. But it’s really hard. I live alone, have barely had human contact for 6 months, and there’s no end in sight. No vacations to look forward to, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to go home and see my parents for the holidays, and all my free time is spent on schoolwork. It’s very depressing.

  195. Linda Evangelista*

    I very much love it, however we just moved from an apartment to a house and though we have two office spaces, we still only have one desk. I am so so tired of having to split time at one desk!

  196. Anon today*

    I really don’t miss the office! I’m in a pretty social job so I’m on Zoom calls several times a day, and I prefer to be comfortable at home rather than trying to manage my facial reactions and work from a tiny desk area at work.

    The only issue I had, was that in March, my husband and I had to start working from home in a one bedroom apartment. Since then, we have moved into a two bedroom, so now we can close a door between us if one is making too much noise.

    I am surprised, but honestly, I would love to be a full time remote worker moving forward.

  197. LeaveMeHome*

    I don’t miss it at all! There are absolutely things about my WFH situation that need improvement like having to drag a chair from my kitchen to my desk every single day because my very small 1 bedroom doesn’t have room for a real desk chair or the fact that my landlord’s family is incredibly loud and disruptive but those things were issues before COVID too.

    I got back HOURS daily – the commute was torture – over 2.5 hours per day, that alone has been a super benefit – and now I find on the 1 day a week I am going into the office I get much less done than when I am at home. I am also eating better because I am not restricted to the ziplock bag of pretzels I would throw in my purse because I work in an industrial area and there is nowhere to order from or run too – and using that kitchen in the office is just a hazard unto itself. Even being able to have a 2nd cup of coffee cause I am home and can make it myself instead of the sludge they insist on at the office, then who know’s how old the milk is. Dinner is largely better too because I can take a little extra time to make something healthy instead of bulk prepping 7 days worth of food on Sunday and being restricted to what can be revived in the microwave in 4 minutes.

    Because I am very high risk I am the only person not back in the office full time. My coworkers dont seem to care, a few had refused to WFH straight through since we stayed open. I speak to the partners daily and we have had frequent in depth check ins where I have made sure they are seeing the output they want from me. Essentially my only “in office” requirement is housekeeping (they actually have to walk right by the cabinet where the files go to leave them on my desk) and I clear those up within the first few minutes of my weekly trips in office.

    During this time I have had several severe medical issues and pointed out had they not allowed WFH I would have been 100% unavailable during recovery times but this way there were only slight delays in my response time. Not to mention I can now afford to stick around to get things done where I used to have to rush out.

    My bosses very much would like everything back to normal – mainly because they are the ones that like the social aspect of the environment but they realize since they are the ones reaffirming my productivity it would seem unreasonable to just come out with “we like hanging out in your office”.

    I wouldn’t be completely against increasing my time in the office but I will certainly be discussing the aspects of that – especially the fact that if I left everyday by noon I would be back at my desk at home in 30-45 minutes whereas if I stay till 5pm I am rushing out the door like the building is on fire because every minute I am delayed leaving at 5 adds about 30 minutes to the commute.

    Now if I could just find a lovely 2 bedroom :)

  198. employee*

    Yes, for months now. There are some advantages, but I really don’t have equipment for FT WFH, and it’s ridiculously lonely.

  199. Turanga Leela*

    I miss my office desperately. I miss the physical office—my second monitor, my posters on the walls, my big mugs for tea. I miss my colleagues like crazy. I miss getting coffee with people and chatting about work.

    My house has three adults working from home and one kid doing remote school. We’re on top of each other all the time. I find myself longing for my commute, or the first quiet moments of the day when I’m checking my email and preparing for the day. Nothing is quiet here; I’m never really alone.

    I’m very lucky to have my job and my family. It’s just been a long six months.

  200. Anne Elliot*

    I disliked working from home so much I voluntarily went back to the office. I am single and in the Before Times I spent a lot of time at work and was happily introverted at home alone in the evenings and on most weekends if I wasn’t travelling, either by myself or with friends. Then came the Rona and we were sent home and for 10 weeks I was in my house, alone with my pets, 24/7, 7 days a week (because no weekend personal travel, either). I was fine with it for a good long while but then it began to really negatively affect me in terms of starting to feel depressed and having my productivity really decline.

    My office operates on a skeleton staff, with one admin and one executive present every day to keep the physical office “open.” We were taking turns but I volunteered to be the one to staff the office with the admin, because I wanted to just. leave. my. house. (And coming in is an executive-level function in order to not obligate any of our more junior employees to come in.)

    This new set-up is perfect for me. The office is extremely quiet, there’s a very few other people to at least say “hello” to, and I literally get out of my house every day. I think my personal risk is small because so few people are coming in, but regardless I am willing to take that risk.

  201. JL*

    We’re going thorough a round of voluntary redundancies at the moment, and it feels so isolating at the moment. I’m home with my parents so my colleagues are miles away. What I miss most is the feeling of cameraderie and the ability to read a meeting room. Decisions are being made without enough discussion because we’re not a properly united team. Honestly right now I hate it!

  202. Watry*

    I like it generally, but with all but me and one coworker back in the office, it’s rough. Wish I had an end date, but since it’s medical accommodation in a pandemic, I don’t.

  203. sdfsdfs*

    I did not miss the office. I can do 95% of my work from home, and was much more efficient at home, so I got my 8 hours a day of work done in 3 hours. Now that I’m back in the office, I pay attention, and estimate most people spend 3-4 hours a day in chitchat or other discussion that doesnt yield any real results. I am getting pulled back into those conversations too. Which is a bit draining, but I’m really introverted and have a rich social life outside of work so that also colors my perspective.

  204. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

    I WFH before, and I never want to work in an office again, personally. But what I miss is when my HUSBAND used to go to work at HIS office every day. :P

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      OMG YES

      my spouse is a Loud Talker, and we’re in the same room. Thank god they only have 2-3 meetings a week.

      1. So they all rolled over and one fell out*

        OMG same here. My wife isn’t normally loud, but when she puts on her headset, suddenly SHE IS TALKING AT FULL VOLUME. Both I and our daughter have talked to her about it repeatedly. She says it’s because she can’t hear herself with the headphones on. but she talks so loud we can’t hear our own meetings/classes even though we’re also wearing headphones.

        1. Sarra N. Dipity*

          At first I thought it was the headphones. Then we had our book club meeting. Which was the two of us on Zoom with our remote friends. And they were SO LOUD. No headphones. It was crazy.

  205. notMichelle*

    Mostly, I don’t miss it. I do enjoy the fact that my coworkers can’t see my face for most of the day (one of them has been getting more chauvinist-y and over confident in things he does not know anything about and my face has not been hiding it lately). I do miss the coffee trips and being able to yell across the room at my colleagues and only supporting 1 office (I have 2 now since COVID).

  206. Third or Nothing!*

    NOPE! I’m actually grateful to be away from certain toxic coworkers. There’s a Mean Girls type clique at my office, and I am most certainly not a member.

    Sure as hell miss being able to send my toddler to daycare though.

  207. me*

    I interviewed and started a job during quarantine. I have never met my coworkers in person and I have never been in my office. I miss the interactions you have in an office that start friendships, because it feels pretty lonely to be at a job for several months and feel like you don’t have any friends. Zoom “coffee breaks” are just forced interactions, it doesn’t feel the same way.
    The good part is that I’m saving money on commuting and needing to buy a work wardrobe.

  208. Rox*

    Yes, but after we are allowed to work from offices I still won’t be going in 5 days a week. One, maybe two days would be ideal.

  209. Slinky*

    I generally don’t miss the office, but I wish I could go there sometimes. Not having access to it at all, or having to jump through 100 hoops to get there, is a pain. I also still have stacks of physical work sitting in my office that’s just … sitting there! It drives me crazy knowing that it’s there waiting for me, but I can’t do anything about it without putting my health and safety at serious risk.

    All that said, home is quieter (no kids, no pets, no poorly functioning fire alarms that go off randomly). I don’t miss commuting. I like working for an hour or so in my pajamas. I do miss the camaraderie. Things also get done much more slowly when you can’t drop by someone’s office to ask them a question. There are real positives and negatives to working from home, but it sure beats getting COVID.

  210. Person from the Resume*

    I was WFH for 5 years before the pandemic. Before that I went into the office regularly, but my team members were still remote. I don’t ever think that I will ever miss the office, the commute, or dressing in business casual for work.

    But I’ve realized that you can’t recreate the “water cooler” talk that used to happen organically. People in the same role as me who also worked in the same office but not on the same team. We had no reason to talk except that we were there in person and there was a lot of information sharing that doesn’t occur working from home.

    Also my team was always remote scattered across the country (at other offices or at home) even when I went into the office everyday. The promise of the in-person project kick-off meetings and other in-person meetings never came to fruition. The organization always was trying to save money on travel, only essential travel allowed and all of these meetings take place online. We definitely are less efficient and the products are possibly not as good as they could have been if we had in person meetings for key parts of the process.
    – You ‘re more likely to get everyone’s full attention in person. (I have no illusion that at least half the people in a Teams meeting are multitasking or barely paying attention).
    – Visual cues help you to avoid talking over each other and make the collaboration flow much more smoothly.

    But the people I work with don’t live anywhere near me. If this job required that I go into the office everyday there would not be an office in my current home town so I’d have to move or quit. I’m grateful to be able to work from home.

  211. NeonDreams*

    I miss the structure of having somewhere to go. It helped me get into a routine in the mornings. now I roll out of bed 15 minutes before I start and go downstairs. some days I don’t leave my apartment, period. That can get pretty lonely.

  212. Karen R*

    I’ve got probably as ideal a setup as it’s possible to have – I live alone, so no one else is making noise or needing my attention (except for the cats); I already had a full office setup with a good desk, an ergonomic chair, big monitors, excellent Internet, etc. so all I had to do was bring home my office laptop and plug it in; I’m introverted, so I’m fine with little human interaction; I already mostly worked with project managers in other offices across the US, so I was essentially working “remotely” even when I was in my physical office. Add in that I no longer have my 40 minute commute and it should be Heaven. And it is – about 80% of the time.

    The other 20%, though… I may be introverted but these days I can go a week literally without seeing another human being. I make a weekly grocery store run and most weeks that’s it. Sometimes I go get takeout (curbside pickup, no contact, masked) and it’s as much for the brief, insubstantial human interaction as it is the food. It’s wearing in a way I never would have guessed – I’ve always thought of myself as ultra introverted but I’m finding that even I have limits.

    And I have NO work-life separation anymore. I don’t start work until about 10 am (most of the PMs I work with are on the West Coast while I’m on the East) and some days I’m working on and off until midnight. Mostly I don’t even realize it – my sense of time has been completely obliterated by the lack of external cues. Every day seems pretty much like every other day. Sometimes I have to check my phone to see what day of the week it is.

    I want to keep working from home permanently and I’m hoping that once this pandemic is under control and we can all go out again like civilized people that most of the downsides will be ameliorated. But right now, the isolation is messing with my head.

    1. MP*

      I’m in a very similar situation and find myself doing more takeout orders and quick trips to the grocery store. Even with more time in my day, ironically enough it feels like I’m cooking less often (dinner, at least) because by the time I clock out, all I want to do is get outside and be away from my apartment.

      I also find myself feeling anxious and more lonely if I get to the weekend and don’t have plans that get me around me people or out in the real world — then I’m still stuck at home, but without an underlying excuse like work and the distraction it provides. So yeah, the social isolation is really challenging.

      1. Anne Elliot*

        These things are also why I went back to work, as I explained elsewhere. I’m also single and had very similar issues with diet, where I found myself going through the drive-thru for food just to get out of the house. That was really bad for me because, while I am not eating-disordered, sticking fairly close to a sensible diet is one of the ways I feel in control and emotionally stable. If I’m off my “eating plan,” I eat too much and eat the wrong things. So struggling with that was another big reason for me to decide to return to the office. When people ask me why I came back, I say, “It turns out I’m not great at working from home, because that’s where I keep my refrigerator and television.”

    2. Sarra N. Dipity*

      yes! the whole sense of time thing is crazy-making. I look up and it’s already 6:30PM, and I’ve been working since 8:30AM. In the office, people start going home around 5:30, so there’s a natural flow to the day.

  213. who am i*

    Before the pandemic, I was working remote 2-3 days a week already, then we shut down and it was nice at first but I started to miss in person interactions. I ended up getting a new job and now work fully in an office with no option for remote work and the shift back to the office has been extremely difficult! I can’t believe how loud it is just to hear other people typing again let alone all the conversations! But I wouldn’t change it for anything – working remotely during COVID was a lonely time for me.

  214. WFH*

    I worked from home 3-5 days a week before COVID; I used to work in a busy office with co-located colleagues but once I moved onto a global team, there were only 2 of us reporting into that particular team in my location. Felt like a waste to commute 2-3 hours a day to sit in a room by myself on video conferences and occasionally wave hello to my one in-person colleague (if we even showed up the same days).

    I used to go in when I needed a break from home, needed to run errands before or after work, had a meeting I needed absolutely infallible internet/tech for (home is fine, but when stakes are high you don’t want to risk a dropped call or barking dog). But my office is closed through at least end of Q1 2021 with the probability of continued mandatory WFH.

    Not much has changed except I miss the option of going in. I’d probably go in 4 times a month if I had the option though so it’s not that big a deal. I have 2 huge monitors at home and access to any other tech I need.

  215. Smeralda*

    I love working from home but I miss taking the metro and walking down K St and through DuPont after work, with all the characters in their fashions and the bright lobbies.

  216. SaffyTaffy*

    I’ve come back to my office after working from home for 4 months. I miss my comfortable armchair, the quiet, and the feeling that my world was very small and easy to manage. Now that I am back in my office, I enjoy having more space, printing documents, working on a larger computer screen, and moving around more.

  217. IWishIHadAFancyUserName*

    I work 4/10 and switched to WFH 2 days/week in April for what I then thought would be a month or so. There’s very little about my job that requires I be in the office in order to accomplish my work. It’s just me and my spouse (who also WFH, but is out of the house most of the day), so few distractions. I enjoy the feeling that I’m getting away with something when I’m working outside on my covered porch.

    I mostly work alone at the office, and my office is at the end of a long hallway, so I don’t get those casual in-office conversations, so I don’t miss them. And I’ve saved a lot of money on commuting and lunches, etc.

    That being said, I wouldn’t want to WFH 100%. I like having physical and mental separation between work and life. But I could keep this schedule forever.

  218. Anon4This*

    I was really struggling to get along with the coworker I share an office with before Covid so indefinite work from home felt like a relief. But it’s getting old now. I think more because 2020 has taken a toll on my mental health, but I have a much harder time focusing at home than I did when I first got in the WFH groove. I’ve tried having a dedicated work space, “dressing” for work, and a few other things but it still feels like a crap shoot of whether I’ll have a barely finish the bare minimum day, or actually get something beyond the bare minimum done.

    My partner and I are starting to get tired of each other too I think. I feel lonely and isolated but I was pretty lonely at work pre-Covid anyway due to the officemate and being in a relatively new job. There are online staff get-togethers I feel like the staff pretty much all know each other and I have hiiiigh social anxiety (again exacerbated due to Covid/officemate drama).

  219. Madison*

    I missed my office so much that I jumped at the chance to return when it opened up a few weeks ago (we have very few people in a very large office and can social distance easily). Most of all, I missed my comfortable desk and dual-monitor setup – I don’t have an office space at home and was pretty much stuck working at my kitchen table, trying to change positions every time my back started to get sore.

    There were also constant distractions at home: my partner, chores that needed to be done, the temptation of just hopping on Netflix the second my email calmed down. Not only could I never really focus on work, it was very difficult to leave work at the office, so to speak, and I often found myself answering emails well into the evening when I didn’t really have to.

    I missed the structure of waking up at a reasonable hour every day and getting myself dressed and out the door, and my office is a 20-minute bike commute away, and I really felt the lack of even that small amount of daily exercise.

    I still work from home one day a week, and I don’t stay full days when I am here, but I’d never want to be at home permanently.

  220. Abyssal*

    I hate almost everything about working from home. The lack of a clear divide between working space and home space, the technological limitations — our system for forwarding calls to people’s home numbers is a roaring pain and breaks down often. I hate not having my colleagues nearby for casual conversation. I chose an apartment and accepted a way high rent in order to be close to work and have a short commute, and now it feels like I’m taking that financial hit for nothing.

    Rumor is HR is going to start offering people the opportunity to go back to the office soon for those who want it and I intend to be one of the first people back.

  221. Matt*

    I’ve since adjusted to liking it, but the social aspect (or lack thereof) is really challenging.

    Being single, living alone in a small apartment, and working from home is very isolating. While I’m on video calls all day, I can go days without having an in-person conversation with someone. And whereas I used to relish coming home after work and the gym to put on a podcast, crack a beer and cook dinner, now I find it hard to start making something at 6:00pm after being inside all day. Once I decide I’m done for the day, I need to do whatever I can to not be in my apartment while the sun is out, which is only getting harder as the days get shorter.

  222. Mockingjay*

    YES I MISS THE OFFICE.

    I asked yesterday when the office would reopen (not anytime soon). I am going nuts here at home. I had to move my workspace from my front room to a spare bedroom so I can close the door. I still get interruptions from dear hubby who is a gregarious guy missing his own team; and also from an adult child who moved back in (she lost significant income with COVID cutbacks).

    I am doubly frustrated because my project has huge productivity problems (preCOVID – it’s been sliding for a while), so I have a very light workload. It’s hard to focus when you don’t have anything to concentrate on. I looked into training and certs at my supervisor’s suggestion, but at this point in my career (1-2 years until retirement), there really isn’t much I haven’t mastered in my field; in fact much of my time is spent mentoring and training others. (I like teaching someone here and there, but not entire teams.) If I were back in the office, I could probably find another project, but without those casual interactions in break room and cube farm, there’s no awareness of other potential opportunities.

    I got tagged on LinkedIn the other day about a potential job which is right up my alley. I really thought about it, but it doesn’t make sense to switch companies at this point. Points in favor: my company is stellar and benefits are great. COVID won’t last forever, so I’ll manage. The Powers That Be in our client government agency are addressing the project problems, but they move very slowly.

    Honestly, I think the real issue is that I haven’t had a vacation in over 2 years. All my time off since then has been to take care of ill family members, including hubby. I might be able to take an occasional day off, but there’s nowhere to go. I have to save leave for hubby’s upcoming surgery so I can care for him.

    (Goodness, what a rant. Think this has been building up. Maybe I’ll inquire about the company’s EAP. Be nice to have someone listen to me instead of the other way around.)

  223. CommanderBanana*

    Pros and Cons. I had a relatively straightforward commute, but it was still 45ish minutes on the subway twice a day. So not doing that has been awesome. But I don’t have space for a home office and am working off a laptop, which is not ideal. And I feel like I have this weird, free-floating anxiety when I’m at home about not getting enough done or being productive enough that I didn’t feel at the office.

    I think the ideal compromise might be 3 days at home, 2 in the office.

  224. MM*

    I didn’t think I would miss the office because I’m an introvert … until I was a few months deep into full-time WFH. I almost need the external accountability of going into the office. Otherwise I tend to procrastinate and lose focus, and as a result I’ve really seen my work quality dip and my stress level go up as the months have gone on. I recently got the opportunity to come back into the office on a part-time basis and I feel so much more productive and happy.

    I was struggling with anxiety and self-doubt and it’s really helped to go back in 3ish days a week, even though there’s only a few of us in the office and we don’t really interact like we would would have pre-COVID. We’re in an open plan so on days I have a ton of zoom meetings I WFH, but I think just changing up the routine is key when the weeks and months start blending together. I’m so grateful my employer has been supportive throughout this all and is being extremely flexible as we return to the office as well.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      I also struggle with focus when I don’t have my coworkers around. I have my spouse (about 6 feet away) but that’s different somehow.

  225. Perfectly Particular*

    I am working from home with my spouse, and our 6th and 9th graders, and our dog. I don’t miss the office even a little, and I am dreading having to go back. Management has emphasized that we all will have to go back at some point. I am finding it much easier to find work/life balance when there is no commuting involved. For example, an orthodontist appt is about a 1 hour interruption rather than a 1/2 day of leaving work, picking up the kid, going to the appt, returning the kid, returning to the office. Lunches don’t have to be packed, don’t need to hire someone to walk the dog if I am working late, the list goes on and on.

    Since you asked for the downsides… there are a LOT of distractions, some of which can affect my professional appearance – i.e. kid/dog walking into my video conference, husband getting fired up & cursing on his call while my mic is on, dog having a fit because a leaf blew by, etc. Also, during normal times, our team is 100% co-located. We don’t use the phones at all, because everyone sits within 50 ft of each other. This means there are a lot of conversations that you aren’t invited to, but end up participating in. With everyone being remote, it is easier for some voices to be excluded, and decisions to be made without everyone’s input. This can allow projects to progress and encounter risks that wouldn’t have occurred if all the right players were involved.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      those “not invited to but participated in” conversations were huge in my office. We’d do some great work when someone overheard something and had a suggestion or insight that we don’t get now…

  226. Miss Muffet*

    i did wfh 100% for 8 years, then went 100% in office for a couple of years, and with the latest job change, had a nice hybrid. I was home every Friday and then one other random day during the week. I miss dressing up, honestly. I miss taking the train downtown to work in a beautful new building with a great view. I miss seeing my colleagues’ faces! I miss the laughter of my crazy optimistic millenial that sat near me. We collaborate well virtually but some of those little things just aren’t there. I share an office with my spouse and dogs, and teenaged kids are working on school around the house. It’s fine. But I will be happy when we can go back.

    1. SpaceySteph*

      Being home every Friday would be the ideal long term arrangement for me. Since WFH I’ve moved laundry day from Saturday to Friday so I can have family time on Fridays without as many chores.

  227. SpaceySteph*

    I miss the human interaction and comraderie of the office. I miss my desk setup a little because I had a standing desk and docking station there. Occasionally I get interrupted by a dog barking. And my electric bill is higher because I keep it cooler than usual.
    But the best thing about it was not having a 10 minute OUTDOOR walk from the parking lot to my office on hot hot Houston days. And then at the end of the work day walking back the 10 mins to get in a HOT car to drive home. I do not miss sweating through my work clothes AT ALL.

  228. Ginger Baker*

    If I could get a Real Phone for my home office setup, and business-level standard internet, that would be reallllll lovely. I have mostly been okay with WFH but miss the two above things and do sometimes miss my random coworker conversations. And maybe my better office chair and desk. I was however already pretty used to working with the people I support primarily remotely (one was on the road constantly and otherwise has a main office in another city, and one was on a different floor) so the learning curve for me was a lot less than for many people.

  229. No New Normal*

    My employer has been very good to its employees (shipped us all the monitors and electronics we need to work and gave us a stipend to buy office furniture), but I do not like working from every day, and I HATE only interacting with people through a screen. I miss seeing people in person, talking, joking, collaborating, meeting new people, and swanky conference events!

  230. 653-CXK*

    I WFH four days per week and work at the office on Fridays, and it works out just fine.

    In a way, I don’t miss working at the office, because the amount of distractions has reduced significantly. I can get work done without having someone coming up and saying, “Can I bother you for a second?” and going into a rabbit hole of resolving gnarly and gross. I was even able to catch up on stuff I wasn’t able to. I still answer emails and phone calls, but that time-stealing has gone down nicely.

    On the other hand, I miss the camaraderie and direct collaboration with my teammates. Even with the one day per week on Friday, sometimes MS Teams doesn’t cut that ability to get a direct answer (e.g, getting something signed off immediately vs. having to wait). Bonus: now that the restaurants are open, at least I can eat out once per week – within health parameters, of course :-)

    1. 653-CXK*

      Also: my commute wasn’t all that bad – 40 minutes each way by bus – but the crowding during the mornings from high school kids cramming onto the bus was atrocious. (On the mornings when the kids were on vacation, my commute was 26 minutes flat.) I’m thankful my commute is currently once per week and far more pleasant.

  232. Variant Scientist*

    I went back to work without being required to – I could have kept working from home – because I couldn’t stand it. It is incredibly important to me to keep my work and home separate, and I have discovered that not to do so is very bad for my mental health. I need to be able to leave my work at work and not think about it after 4:30 each evening. I also missed my (bicycle) commute. It’s the best way to reset after a heavy patient load or dealing with one particular incompetent coworker.
    I worked from home from mid-March, and going back at the beginning of August was a life-saver.

  233. WishIcouldworkfromhome4ever*

    Good lord no! I can wear sweatpants, I have a window, no commute (so saving time, money, and wear and tear on the car), total control over the temperature of my workspace, a clean microwave to use at lunch …

  234. Abogado Avocado*

    I do wish I could WFH fulltime. However, I’m essential and worked in our office for 3 months with no one else here but security because someone had to be here. It was stressful and lonely. I finally told my boss that I needed to get out of the office and they told me to go work from anywhere I wanted for the next 6 weeks. So, I drove about 15 hours from here, rented a small condo, and spent 6 weeks working from what essentially is, in our part of the country, a summer getaway. It wasn’t exactly a vacation — I took my laptop, a docking station, big screen, etc. — but it was great to get up in the morning, go for a hike, and then go back and log in. I’ve been back in the office since August, with slightly more people here with me. I understand why I’m essential and I love my work. But I’m jealous of all who get to WFH fulltime!

  235. diehardfan*

    I’ve been enjoying working from home for the most part. But the novelty has definitely worn off. I do miss my coworkers and being in the office. We used to have more informal conversations and stop by each others desks, but now we’re trying to fit in those conversations during our work meetings, which isn’t the same. I also am in the unfortunate situation of not being able to work from my home office because the internet connection isn’t as strong in there and my cats are constantly meowing at the door (they aren’t allowed in because it doubles as the cat-free guest room).

  236. Sarra N. Dipity*

    I do miss my office. Things I miss:

    * Office dogs
    * The “puzzle table” where we’d stand around, eat our lunches, talk about bad TV, put together jigsaw puzzles, and relax/recover
    * Bagel Monday
    * Hugs from my work bestie
    * Did I mention office dogs?
    * 1-2 hours of complete alone time (depending on traffic) (I don’t mind commuting; the main thing I didn’t like about it was getting up early)
    * The view of Mt. Rainier when I looked to my left, and the Seattle waterfront when I looked up past my monitors
    * It’s just easier to work if you have a coworker near you. You know that if something comes up, you can take a quick look around and see who’s there, who’s interruptable, who’s busy…
    * Being in downtown Seattle, there were a LOT of fantastic lunch options. Now I play leftover roulette
    * All those little social connections that I had with my coworkers. We’d loan each other books, give each other TV/movie recommendations, landlord advice, call out awesome shoes…
    * Office dogs

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      I also miss the person at the donut shop that I had/have a crush on.
      I don’t, however, miss the calories from my daily morning crush donut.

  238. DrSalty*

    Yes. I miss chatting with coworkers. I miss leaving my apartment every day. I like having set boundaries between work and home. I wish I had more time away from my partner (we are both full time WFH right now in a tiny apartment). I’m looking forward to going back into the office a few days a week. I don’t miss the commute but that’s basically it. I miss having a reason to get dressed up and do a little make up.

  239. Van Wilder*

    I wish I could just go into the office for one day. Say hi to everyone, chat in the pantry, make some tea. I feel like I graduated but I didn’t know it was my last day of school.
    We got an email that our stuff is being packed up for us. We will likely never go back to the office.

  240. Elliott*

    I’m back to working in my office (which isn’t too bad since I’m the only one consistently working on-site).

    I have some mixed feelings. Neither one is perfect. I liked being able to sleep in a little and wear my pajamas all day when I worked from home, and I liked being with my cat. But I found it hard to transfer in and out of work mode when my environment was the same all day. Also, I live with my mother, and while I love her a lot, there were more distractions at home with her wanting to talk to me (I can only imagine how parents with small children are faring). Overall, I like having the routine of getting out of the house and being in my office again.

    However, I do miss aspects of my old routine. I used to go and sit in a coffee shop on my lunch break, and I miss doing that. I don’t feel like I get a “real” break if I stay at my desk. Now that the weather is cooling down a bit, I’m hoping to at least get out and walk more. I was excited to be back in the city, but if was too hot to walk around with a mask on.

  241. Jojojojojo*

    We live in a two bedroom condo and I gave birth to twins in January. Not too bad – but then covid happened and my partner is working from home in our living room, the only room that makes it possible to work (desk space etc). I’m still on mat leave but I’ve got to hear him talking all day long, sometimes to clients who are hearing two babies having fun by screaming at the top of their lungs three feet from the mic. I just can’t take it anymore. I’m scheduled to go back at the end of November and I’ll be working from home too – I have no idea where (on our dining room table I guess?). Wish we could easily but a bigger place but that’s not doable now. So, yes, I miss his office!

  242. Quickbeam*

    Late to the party but I miss NOTHING about the office. Cube farm, people interrupting me constantly, sports talk every minute, people betting on March madness (the bookie sat next to me, no I don’t know when he’ll be back). I hated the forced socialization, the pretense that we’re all family. we’re not.

    1. MechanicalPencil*

      Omg. Sportsball. And the one sport I actually cared about/could carry on an incredibly knowledgeable conversation, no one wanted to talk to The Girl about. March Madness. Football. Whatever. Mondays post-weekend football were the absolute worst. Now I have no idea what’s happening in the sports world and I’m so happy.

  243. Fuss*

    I’m remote 80% of the time now. Honestly I dread the one day a week I have to go in. Yeah, it’s nice being around people, but I get less done in the office. I also have more balanced time for my kids while working from home. If I were more focused on career and less on raising my children, I probably wouldn’t mind being in the office. But right now they’re more important and this gives me more balance.

  244. Pumpkin215*

    NO. I do not miss it one bit.

    I work for a company that is very anti-WFH. They were forced to make us remote and they did it with much hand wringing and pearl clutching. Low and behold, they are so “surprised” that we continued to function.
    If all you have to do is change your employee’s environment in order for them to not produce, then you hired the wrong employee. I previously worked somewhere that had WFH as the norm (a use it as is suits you policy) and it was great. I miss having that and made a mistake moving to a 5-days-a-week-in-the-seat position.

    Now I’m also an exception because I don’t have kids and my husband and I have the space to spread out. It has been great having lunch with him every day. We saw a savings in our budget from not spending money on gas and lunches out. My car remains under warranty since I’m not racking up miles. Laundry never piles up and dinner is done early so there is more “me time”. I had more time to spend on my vegetable garden. The cat has found a new best napping spot- right on top of my laptop. The dog doesn’t have to hold his bladder until EOD. I save money on makeup, hair products and work clothes. Why would I want to go back to sitting under fluorescent lights for 40 hours a week, with no fresh air or windows nearby, deal with traffic and get home after dark? No one stops by my work station to ask a question and interrupt me, they have to email, IM or call. I was born to do this. I could do it forever.

    1. lilsheba*

      This is exactly how I feel!!! Here here. My last company was very anti WFH and they were forced to do it eventually, and they let me get paid to sit at home for 5 months because they stalled setting up WFH. But then I got a better job offer and it is starting out as WFH and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

    2. Perfectly Particular*

      +1000

      In this house, the laundry still piles up, because I do need to be in front of my computer most of the day, but other than that, what you said is spot on. I thought I would be lonely working from home, and maybe I will be if hubby goes back to work, and kids go back to school before I return to work but right now, I am seriously contemplating looking for a new role with more flexible work arrangements once they make us all go back to the office.

  245. A Series of Letters & Numbers*

    I miss the people I work with, and how much easier it was to share information and naturally learn about other areas of the company just by getting coffee at the same time as people you wouldn’t normally interact with. And I miss onboarding new people in the office. While I’ve adjusted better than I thought I would to managing established teams remotely, training people has (company wide it seems) been a real hurdle. Obviously there are companies out there that do this all the time though, and at some point it would be great to have resources and best practices on how they’ve been successful.

  246. JustaTech*

    I don’t particularly miss the office, but I miss the lab. Like, I didn’t go into science to spend all my time trying to figure out the increasingly arcane ordering system, I went in to science for the lab work! Yes, there’s probably more time spent on all the literature searches and statistical analysis and report writing, but there’s just something special about being in the lab where it’s me and the equipment. Or me and my coworkers and the equipment.

    But, if I’m honest, I hadn’t been in the lab that mush in the past year anyway, and now that I’ve got a proper desk setup and not just a laptop, I don’t mind working from home. And if it was safe to go in without a mask I’d be happy to get back to the office. I eat leftovers at home or in the office, my commute is minimal, my chair there is better, and the office has a much better printer.

    But it’s not safe so I *really* resent the nebulous downward pressure to go in when I’m not in the lab just to “show face”.

  247. 1098, 1099. Whatever.*

    I was really looking forward to going back to the office until I learned how my role would change going forward. I love working with my customers. A large part of my job is education, explaining how their decisions can effect their future income and helping them have the information they need to decide what steps they want me to take for them. A lot of trust is involved in this, and that is hard to develop through email or over the phone. Which is what I’m going to be relegated to. I’m feeling very flat and unenthused about the whole thing. I might as well stay at home. I like my customers! I miss seeing them.

  248. Tegan*

    While this is probably the opposite of a lot of people’s experiences during COVID, the thing I miss most about working in the office is alone time. My husband and I are both working from home, and we both have our office area/desks in the same room in our house. It’s not causing any logistical issues, we both mostly do independent work and are not loud phone-talkers, but man I miss being able to close my office door and just be completely alone. I think I would feel differently if my husband weren’t also working from home, of course. And I won’t even get into the 5 months our toddler was at home too – I’m very grateful that her school is taking things very seriously and has a great plan in place so we felt comfortable with her going back to preschool last month.

    I feel weird for saying this one too, but I miss my commute. It was more alone time, and it was also my dedicated “reading” time – I used my commute to get really into audiobooks, and I usually got through 45-60 books a year that way. I’ve made it through… 4 or so this year? Which makes me sad to think about.

    Of course I do miss the in-person interaction with my coworkers too, there are certain types of conversations that just don’t happen as easily virtually. In the Before Times, my team worked from home every other week, and I think that was about the perfect balance for me. I’d be very happy to end up going back 2 days a week or so, more staggered this time, once it’s safe and feasible to do so.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      Yes! My commute was my alone time, too. My backlog of podcasts has been insane since March. I can’t listen to anything while I work, so I have no idea when I’ll catch up…

  249. lilsheba*

    I absolutely love working from home. I’ve been wanting to do it for years and thanks to the current situation I finally get to, and because my employer is based out of state I can continue to work from home from now on! I can decorate the way I want, have my lighting the way I want, it’s quiet, I don’t have to walk half a mile to get to the breakroom, I can dress however I want. I don’t have to participate in team building junk, or any of the rah rah crap that happens in offices. I get to get up later and have home cooked breakfast and lunch. I’m spending less money, no commute costs and no vending machines to tempt me. I play music all day, burn candles and run my essential oil diffuser in peace. I am alone most of my work day cause my kids are grown and my partners work outside the home. I love it and will never want to change!

  250. El Esteban*

    I don’t miss working in an office in the slightest. Though I don’t have kids or pets, so my home is pretty distraction free.

  251. Ladycrim*

    I miss seeing my co-workers and our clients in person, but I don’t miss my office at all. I DEFINITELY don’t miss the 90-minute commute! I actually feel less stressed and more productive at home, and I’m hoping I can work something out to continue WFH at least part-time after the office reopens. (We were not allowed to WFH under any circumstances until this, so it would be a big push. We’ll see.)

  252. Shhhh*

    I’m losing my mind and have to get back in the office like yesterday. And I don’t even have childcare duties or anything – I’m just better at what I do when I’m surrounded by my coworkers and students (academic librarian).

  253. JBeane*

    I started off hating WFH because I like that division between my work life and my home life. At the time I had a temporary set up in the dining table because I thought I would only be home for 3 weeks – ha! I like WFH a lot more now that I have a proper office setup in the guest room with a door. Buying a 3 bedroom house seemed ridiculous for 2 adults and we only moved forward with it because it was a great deal. Now that we’re in a pandemic, I’m super grateful that we each have our own dedicated, private office away from common areas or the bedroom. I really feel for my friends and colleagues who are juggling spouses and children, all taking meetings or Zoom classes in the same space. I suspect real estate listings will highlight office spaces going forward if WFH will be part of our new normal for the next few years.

    1. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

      Haha, I feel you – I have three adults in a house with four bedrooms, two living rooms (I think that was an 80s thing?) and a fully finished basement with a “living room” type space and a “den.” But one of the living rooms is my office, one of the bedrooms is my husband’s office, and the basement is my housemate’s territory, and everyone having both a designated sleeping space AND a separate designated office space has been so good for all of us.

      Housemate and I both WFH full time before Covid too – husband used to be full time onsite, but is now 60/40 onsite/home. Our “office” spaces are all both for work and non-work – mine is full of bookshelves and yarn storage, husband’s has his TV and x-box/playstation, housemate’s has racks of snake tubs and HIS TV and gaming consoles, and all of us ended up with one desk each for both work computer and personal computer to share.

      1. JBeane*

        It really does make a world of difference I’m grateful for the privilege I enjoy! I spent many years sharing a studio apartment with my then-partner and that would have been a total fustercluck if I was still in that living situation when “Safer in Place” hit.

        1. Red Reader the Adulting Fairy*

          Amen. When I bought my house there were four of us, so it wasn’t quite as ridiculous, but we have definitely expanded to fill our space.

  254. Orange Crushed*

    I’m back in the office, but miss being at home. When I was home, I did miss seeing some coworkers. ( It was a lot more relaxing with not seeing some toxic people every day.) I did feel like it was difficult to concentrate and like I always had to work because my computer and work stuff was out on a table. (It was in a different room, but I had to pass it in the house. I never felt like I was ever “done” with work.)

  255. Buttons*

    I have been giving WFH webinars to employees in the region. It isn’t mandatory, over the 4 I have given over 200 people have joined. This is the most turn out we have had for any non-mandatory webinar. The questions I am getting the most is how to have effective meetings and to cut down on the number of meetings. People are reporting that their meetings have increased about 20 % since they went to WFH full time and then how to manage their time after hours or on their day off. They are reporting that with everyone working in different time zones when they get an email after their normal hours they feel compelled to answer it. I push back and ask if that is the expectation of their manager or an expectation they have set for themselves. My next series of webinars will be how to hold effective webbased meetings and collaborations.

  256. Simon*

    I miss working in the office as well. I feel too comfortable working at home that it is often a bit of a challenge to get work done. On a few occasions, I’ve been able to go into the office when few or no one else is around to work on matters requiring my physical presence. After the pandemic subsides, I wouldn’t mind a hybrid schedule of working in the office part of the week and at home for the remainder.

  257. Media Monkey*

    I LOVE working from home. I miss my colleagues as most of them are ace, and general office banter. this morning i was chatting on teams with 2 work friends about why my monstera plant gets water droplets on the leaves when i haven’t watered it (spoiler – it’s plant wee!) and the lovely posh breakfast she made and thought that was exactly the kind of conversations we would have had in the office. I see my husband more and my 12 year old more. I eat more healthily and don’t snack as much, i am saving a fortune on train tickets and lunches. I also miss my nice work clothes – i could still wear them but dark clothes/ moulting white cat are not a good combo.

    I do not miss the 90+ minute each way commute (and the cost), crowded trains and tubes, getting home late, not seeing my house in the daylight in winter, going to the gym in the morning and then going straight to the office.

    but i am in a fortunate position – a secure job and a house with outdoor space in a place where i enjoy living. my kid is at school (we are in the UK so schools are open – she is also 12 so when she is here she is in her room on the phone!), my husband works from home normally and we have enough space to work in separate rooms despite neither of us having a proper desk.

  258. Kotow*

    I reopened my office and got back to in-person meetings the day the Governor allowed us to do so and have no regrets about going back. Working from home was complete chaos and I lost so much productivity during that time. If I had a different place in the house where I could set up maybe I would’ve felt differently about it. It also doesn’t help that between my spouse and I, *I’m* the one who has the constant angry calls all day that he can’t help but overhear at least my side of it.

    But, I’ve also had to put on professional pants for three days in a row this week because of the lower temperatures in the morning. Then realized the last time I had to do this was back in March when I could just put on sweat pants and leggings. I miss those!

  259. KnitsOnZoomCalls*

    I loved not going into the office so much, I job hunted and got a full time remote position.

    1. No commute. Spending an hour a day contributing to polluting the atmosphere and being tired and cranky when I got home? GONE
    2. Having a rough day where you just want to stay in your pajamas? Wear a nice top and rock the polar bear pajama bottoms. It’s not a problem. Need a moral boost to feel like I’ve got this? Put on the killer shirt and full face. Can only do one of those in the office.
    3. Spontaneous conversations = Slack. Much lower barrier to entry. Also gifs.
    4. Boring meeting? I can turn my camera off and work. Or I can doodle or knit and keep it off camera. No distractions or social repercussions, and I focus better. Win win.
    5. More dog time. She mostly sleeps during the workday, but lunchtime bellyrubs are awesome for lowering stress.
    6. Less office politics. Less face to face time means more focus on work outputs than on socializing.

    It’s not for everyone–as a lot of posters above are noting–but working from home is definitely better for me personally.

  260. I'm just here for the cats!*

    I wish I had a dedicated space besides my bedroom. I also find that I’m just sitting a lot more where in the office I get up, walk around.

    1. writelhd*

      Yes this. Being at home at a desk job, vs in an office at a desk job, has meant I get even LESS exercise. Before I would have reason to like walk to the printer, or walk over to ask someone a question, etc.

  261. YetAnotherNerd42*

    Yeah. I just … like my coworkers. Maybe that’s weird? I also miss the casual conversations where people would tell me about some random thing they were working on, because that often illuminated some aspect of our product and/or how our customers use it.

    I suppose I’m lucky in that I joined the company back in early 2019, so I got to do onboarding and training and so forth when I was physically adjacent to my team and could ask questions easily. I can’t imagine doing that under current conditions.

    Also I prefer going in to a physical place to work, since it changes my mindset into a “work mode”.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      You’re not weird. My coworkers are all (with one or two exceptions) people that I consider friends as well.

  262. anycat*

    at the start of this i didn’t realize how much i needed adult social interaction. i miss being able to have conversations about work in person, or drop by the kitchen to catch up with other people in different departments. i haven’t seen my team since march 9. it’s also complicated further by not wanting to take public transportation – BART is rough, and i’ve heard commuting in will be even worse trying to cross the bridge with people not wanting to take public transportation when this is over.
    i’m incredibly grateful to have a job – but working from home is hard. we have a toddler, two cats, and host a nanny share. our downstairs is currently unusable, so i’ve been bouncing between my kid’s bedroom, our bedroom, my bathroom, my car, or the kitchen when the kids are out. my husband does stuff that’s heavily covered by an NDA, so i have to make sure he has space for his private calls.
    that being said our company leadership has been transparent and extremely forthcoming with plans. they’re not planning on rushing us back and it’s going to be on voluntary basis first when the time comes. everyone on our teams are more compassionate and understanding of the fact that boundaries are being pushed and you will hear/see kids, cats, dogs, and background noise on calls and meetings from now on.

  263. Liz*

    Pre-pandemic, I would only work from home when it was beneficial to me; half a day before a holiday, when I’d be heading in the opposite direction of the office after I was done, bad weather as I am not a good snow driver, and so on. I really did NOT like it. And was never all that productive. My main issue is I live in a 1BR apt, and do not have a dedicated office or workspace; my laptop is on my DR table.

    Then we shifted to WFH entirely. It was a bit of a learning curve and adjustment but something very simple actually made it 100 times better. I have carpal tunnel so typing on my teeny laptop keyboard aggravated it. as did looking down at the screen, for my neck. I got a laptop stand, inexpensive, but it sits on that, and the screen is more vertical and higher up, more like a regular desktop monitor. its been a game changer!

    I also think the fact that i feel safer at home, living alone I’m the only one here, so no germs etc. and i can control where I go outside of home vs. being in an office with sketchy ventilation and many others, who I can’t really know for sure if they are doing what needs to be done, i.e. social distancing and so on.

    I do miss my co-workers, but given the reasons for WFH, i’m much happier doing it. That’s not to say I’m 100% productive every day; there are some where I can only manage the bare minimum, and others when I work past my end time because I’m being really productive.

  264. Kyrielle*

    I miss my office SO MUCH. But it probably helps that my office is a 1-mile commute for me, and each of us has our own actual office there – it’s like the ideal office space.

    Things I like about working from home: having the cats around, being able to take a 5-minute break every hour and have it be enough to get laundry done, my IBS is even less of a problem here (although it wasn’t much of one in the office).

    Things I like about the office: not having my kids trying to do school nearby, not having to stop work to help them with school, being able to chat with my coworkers casually in person, not having to listen to my kid’s end of their class or my spouse’s end of work calls, not being around all the undone chores/tasks. I miss the sense that work is there and home is here.

  265. Stavia*

    I worked in an extremely loud, very visually distracting open office. I miss the snacks, but I don’t miss the noise, the commute, or the general feeling of overwhelm. (I also don’t really miss my coworkers, because driveby conversations are the worst waste of time.)

    Also? My cat is much happier and much less clingy than she was, now that she gets to sleep in her bed next to me all day.

  266. Anonnie Moss*

    Nope.

    I exercise every morning during what would be my commute and have lunch with my boyfriend every day. I get so much more sleep than I ever did because I don’t have to worry about fitting in time to sort out my outfit, put on makeup, and make and eat breakfast before I leave. Obviously, I’d love to be able to see my friends and family in person, but work-wise, I love this.

    1. Hakky Chan*

      I’m like you in many ways! There’s several aspects I like about working from home – Less interruptions (I shared an office with 3 other people), I’m saving money on gas, using my commute time to exercise, not spending money on extraneous food (which combined have led to health improvements), and I eat lunch with my husband. Those are all awesome.

      But now that I’m back in the office one day a week, those are always the days I feel mentally the best. I’m still barely seeing anyone (I’ve seen 4 people out of an office that would normally have more than 50 people around at any given time), so I’m trying to figure out what’s different about my office days that I can replicate (other than the drive!)

  267. reluctant project manager*

    I hate it. I miss the physical office, I miss seeing people (at least I don’t live alone), and I miss face to face collaboration and serendipity. Video just isn’t the same. More than that, my projects are behind because I can’t go see people. I’m used to flying all over the world to see people and pull their attention to our work, which is important but usually not top of their priority list.

    Everyone is stressed out and grumpy and it shows. As humans we use a lot of visual cues to remind us we’re engaging with other humans and that just doesn’t work over email.

    1. reluctant project manager*

      I’m lucky my boss is very collaborative so I’m still included in most of the meetings where I’m optional but they develop my career. Even so I’m not in all of the ones I would be if I was sitting next to him. I know other people in my org are becoming much more siloed.

    2. Sarra N. Dipity*

      You rang?
      :D

      I miss flying to various parts of the country for some of my projects, too. Didn’t happen often, maybe 1-2 times a year, but it was a nice change of scenery and work-type.

      1. reluctant project manager*

        I already hit silver before the pandemic (and even managed to get COVID in Amsterdam back in March) – I was going somewhere at least once a month. It was nice to be home for a bit, but now I have itchy feet. ;-)

        1. Sarra N. Dipity*

          One of my coworkers traveled probably 50%, and she misses it so much it hurts. Zoom/Teams/Webex/etc. just isn’t the same.

  268. SovereignSF*

    Yes, this is me. I always had a flexible WFH/office situation, so I’d usually work at home in the mornings and go into the office on my lunch break and work the rest of the day there. My commute was also really the only exercise I ever got (bike to work) so I have definitely gained a few pounds as well. I feel lucky that we don’t have kids during this time, but there are a number of other complicating factors. My husband is a professional pianist with a piano in our apartment; we live in San Francisco and we also have a lot of neighbors in adjacent apartments, many of whom were laid off and decided that the best way to spend their time was to drink beer and play loud music all day, which made it really hard for me to concentrate on work when it sounded like there was a nightclub downstairs. It’s been a constant struggle, but luckily things have gotten a little better. I still can’t wait to go back to the office!

  269. Nicki Name*

    I was just feeling a little nostalgic for being in the office this morning, and then this post pops up!

    I think my nostalgia is mainly about being able to get out and do things at all. But I miss the view from the office window, and I miss team lunches. I had a significant workaversary recently, and I was thinking how normally I’d have gotten donuts for myself and my teammates to celebrate.

    For the daily grind, I’ve adjusted to working from home a lot better than I expected, and I’m fine with it continuing indefinitely. But I’d like to be able to go in occasionally and see people.

  270. overcaffeinatedandqueer*

    I actually got my present (and most stable I have had in my field), position BECAUSE of Covid so I feel kind of guilty.

    Before July, I was applying, applying, applying, and putting myself at Covid risk as well as barely making min wage after expenses, doing Instacart.

    So my wife and I have both been from home since then. I am doing 1/10th the effort for double the pay, buying almost no gas, building my resume, and spending time with my cats.

    But I miss so many small things. I miss driving. I miss having moment to moment *agency*. Talking to people who aren’t my spouse. Choosing what to eat on the spur of a moment rather than planning everything out week by week because we now order all our food. Time alone. It was easy to get, before.

    And actually this time last year I was attending a really excellent in person language program in the actual north woods. I miss that most of all. It started out as a camp for kids, then added for adults in the spring and fall time. So I had gone as a kid. Basically it’s my Hogwarts. The learning, friendship, sun and fresh air, minimal technology use, sitting by a lake, time alone without my spouse (I love, but she’s a bossy extrovert).

    I really feel like I have trouble thinking clearly and deeply, planning, or considering what I want, these days. When I have time and low stress, I feel like I can escape in my head/a book/something I write. In fact when I was growing up until about 17, that was what I did in most free time! And now I want to escape more than anything, mentally if not physically, and I can’t.

    1. Hillary*

      OMG, I didn’t know they had adult programs. Thank you!!! I may have to sign up for French Camp next year – I went 92-95.

  271. Rachel Greep*

    I do not like working from home. I work in child welfare. My job is stressful and emotionally draining. Most people quit within their first five years or so. There is a lot of secondary trauma. You have to work really hard to maintain firm boundaries and a healthy work/life balance. Working from home is throwing that off for me. I’m finding that in order to “leave work at work,” I need to be able to physically “leave work at work.” In May, we were able to return to the office 40% of the time. I recently got permission to come in 60% of the time. I need it to avoid burnout!

  272. Carrotstick21*

    I do not miss the office. I never want to go back if I can find a way to make that happen. It looks like I don’t have to worry about that until at least June of next year, but I’ll change jobs if it means I can continue to work from home.

    I am fortunate that I have a good setup, with office space and strong wifi. And I get to see my husband and dogs during the day. And no 4 hr per day commute. And no forced small talk or pressure to “get involved” in myriad extracurricular events which simply eat into my already-long late nights due to the big commute. I feel bad about that, but I do not miss seeing my coworkers in person – Zoom is enough. I am saving a ton of money.

    My dream is that I can figure out the tax situation somehow so that I can move somewhere even more rural and keep doing my job remotely. That would be amazing.

    Don;t get me wrong, the pandemic and political situation and many other things are AWFUL and it’s a high stress year no matter what your setup. But the work from home part of this has been a dream.

    1. Carrotstick21*

      I should also mention – I am losing weight that last year I found impossible to manage, because I have more time to cook and make healthy meals instead of “OMG I have ten minutes to eat between meetings and I’ll just grab Pret a Manger again because it’s in the building.”

  273. Anon Y. Mouse*

    to be honest, I never want to go back to my office.

    WFH has removed so many of my day to day struggles with accessibility that I am DREADING the day we’re called back into the office. If I could find a job with similar pay/benefits that let me WFH 100% I’d have a hard time saying no

  274. Kay*

    I prefer working from home so strongly that it is genuinely baffling to me to read replies from people who miss the office. That headspace is so totally foreign to me. I loathed my desk, my office, having to be there, the interruptions, the endless chatting, being trapped in the same conference room for hours, you name it.

    I have the option to go in now whenever I want; I usually end up there one day a week to take care of crucial onsite things but the rest of the time I never want to go back. I flex my schedule around what I need on a given day, I hang out with my dog all day, I can go to the gym during non-busy times, I can have a crocheting project in my lap during meetings or webinars, I can wear jeans and slippers, I can play music…there’s just no comparison.

    The one thing I do miss is occasionally taking a long lunch with coworkers at a local restaurant, usually if we’d accomplished something big in the morning.

    1. Carrotstick21*

      I knit during meetings! I have a fall sweater finished and half of an afghan. Feels so productive and calming during dull meetings.

    2. AnotherAlison*

      I am also surprised by how many people don’t like WFH, even though I’m one of them.

      You hit on a key point, though: “I flex my schedule around what i need on a given day. . .” I didn’t have that option. I think that would turn me into a supporter. There are pros (flexibility, not getting dressed up) and cons (less effective communication, slower network) to WFH, but I felt like our set up really, really minimized the pros. If I could just take a 2-hour lunch so I could go to the gym (or do an at-home workout when things were shutdown), then that would have added a lot to my experience. Instead I felt like a prisoner in my own home office!

  275. Blissfully at home*

    Not missing the office at all. We have an open floor plan and frankly it was maddening. We were all just constantly together. It was exhausting and I needed a break. No private space to have a phone call. When I was on a call, junor staffers would chime in or one in particular would relay the details they overheard to my boss — not necessarily anything I didn’t want him to know, but very innappropriate. Constant chatter. People asking for help all day with things they should just figure out like printer problems. No commute, not paying for parking, and not getting tickets! Saving money on gas and lunch. Most of all, my boss radiates tension and I definitely was at a breaking point. Just being in the office together was giving me anxiety because he’s a bit of an angry typer and would grumble to himself all day. Working from home has given me some space to breathe and without it I would have thrown a lamp through a window by now.

    Although I definitely feel like I’m living at work sometimes.

  276. JT180*

    For whatever reason, I’m interested in categorizing at a high level why folks may not like working from home.
    Space
    -Modest homes, where all space is allocated for other duties.
    -Enough space to carve out a dedicated working area, but do not execute for various reasons.
    Time
    – Lack of dependent care or other intruding responsibilities that cannot be delegated right now.
    – Inability to dedicate time during working hours. Various reasons for this one.
    Infrastructure
    – Phone/Data/Power and backup for these.
    – Some folks do not have homemaking skills. Deferred maintenance at home like insect infestations, hoarding, a leaking roof or plumbing problems are inescapable when working from home.

    1. Waiting to be Future Endeavored*

      We’re in a duplex on one floor (with some finished basement space and a life-saving spare bedroom down there), but if you tracked our movements, I think you would see that we are fully using our entire house. I’m in the main bedroom, the kids now share a room, and the other upstairs bedroom is the School Room. Husband kept his office in the basement bedroom where he was already set up. For awhile, though, he was at the kitchen counter. It helps to be able to just step outside for a walk. And to run into neighbors. The pros/cons of smaller spaces in cities.

      Fortunately, very few WIFI outages have happened over the past 6 months.

  277. hello*

    I miss students interrupting meetings by asking me for socks. I miss conversations with coworkers. I miss meetings not being interrupted by a poor internet connection.

    1. Sarra N. Dipity*

      I think we need that sock story. I mean, just that one-liner is pretty awesome, but what happened? Why did they need socks? Did you have socks? Were they stripy?

  278. Claudia*

    To make matters interesting, in very early 2020 I moved to an apartment that is literally right across from my office. I can walk from back door to the lobby in less than a minute. I went home everyday for lunch. My gas consumption/car use was way down. I loved going into the office, with optional work from home days if I wanted. It allowed me the opportunity to set up a great routine, which gave me a purpose – something to strive for. I even started working out several times a week, as my gym was also in walking distance. In general, things were really falling into place for me, both professionally and personally.

    Of course, I no longer go into the office. I suppose I could, but there are only a handful of people on each floor and none of whom I would interact with regularly. So my social outlet is gone. My routine is shot (it’s a regular struggle to start and stick to any routine as I have diagnosed ADHD-PI). I honestly feel hopeless working from home, day in and day out.

  279. sara*

    I live alone, so there’s some ways that WFH is easier (quiet, space) and harder (I usually go the full week without talking to anyone in person).

    At the beginning, I really missed the office – the noise, the people, the commute, the coffee, the impromptu conversations, etc. But now that I’ve settled into things, and also realized that I’m probably going to be optionally WFH for the foreseeable future at this job, the only thing I really miss is having a commute and the easy ways to collaborate on the fly.

    The collaboration is still an issue, but one that there are options for – we can work out of our office just very limited number of people at a time (20 I think, out of about 100 people before), and they’ve set up a big collaboration area with spread out desks, big screen, and far away from the non-collab area. Have only used it with our team once, but it’s just reassuring that it’s there. We have a couple teams who work on hardware (we’re an IOT and software company), so mostly at this time of the year it’s those teams who really need the office space to get all the stuff ready for the upcoming manufacturing cycle.

    The commute, well, I try to work out or go for a walk before work every day. And then at the end of the day, I usually call my mum or read a book or sit on my deck for a little bit before tackling dinner etc. Getting into those habits help but it’s definitely not the same… My commute to/from the office was usually a long walk or run, or a combo of an easy bus ride and shorter but still nice walk.

  280. Rebecca*

    I love working from home! I hope I never have to go back to the office. So many benefits, more sleep, less stress, no commute (so much less cost for gas and car upkeep – I went from driving almost 200 miles a week to 20 miles a week, tops). I’m much more productive here. I can concentrate, I’m not constantly interrupted, plus cats and a great view out my window. I keep in contact with my coworkers via Skype, meetings, phone calls, it’s really no different than being in the office, as I don’t work with my coworkers much but I work with other teams in several states. And, I don’t have any of the nightmare scenarios described here, like constantly being on camera, constant zoom calls, all of that – we have the same meeting schedule as before. I also don’t have children to care for, so for me, it’s just same stuff, different location. I even keep the same schedule, get dressed like I’d go to the office, etc.

    I hope our country moves toward work from home options where feasible. Personally, I think it would go a long way toward reducing pollution with less commuting, and would help companies lower overhead by not renting or maintaining large office spaces.

    1. The Man, Becky Lynch*

      It’ll also kill restaurants that are already on the slide with their current restrictions. Lunch rush keeps people employed.

      It’ll kill the businesses that also thrive on offices purchasing their products on a regular basis. More people out of work. People who don’t have the skillset or educational requirements for jobs you can do from home.

      I think a lot of people who can do these jobs forget the people who simply cannot and are literally facing homelessness and bankruptcy. A bigger society divide is not a good thing. Many of those people who are suffering aren’t commuting via personal car, they’re using bikes, walking and buses and aren’t attributing to the environmental issues.

  281. saradesel*

    I don’t miss my office or my particular coworkers, but I do miss working around _people_. Any people. I get so much more done when other people around me are also doing things, which makes me think I’d be a prime candidate for a coworking space post-pandemic. I live in a small apartment and having my desk in the middle of my living room is less than ideal, but it’s not like I can afford a place with a spare room. It’s likely that my company is going to give up our office permanently, so I’ve been advocating for a coworking stipend when things return to “normal.”

  282. Wendy Darling*

    I miss everywhere that is not my house. EVERYWHERE.

    I don’t miss commuting, or my coworker who trimmed his nails at his desk, or people having loud conversations next to my desk while I’m trying to concentrate, or paying for parking at the office. I do miss going outside, and asking quick questions over the partition, and getting to work in a different room from the one where I play xbox.

  283. Tau*

    Seething hatred of the enforced WFH over here. I have a disability with executive function issues and I used a lot of tricks involving the strict physical home/work separation to keep myself on track at work and I have utterly, utterly failed to get them working if I’m at home. I’m having major problems with procrastination and focus that are only getting worse as time goes on. And having a bad day at work slides into my evening and screws up my sleep schedule so that the next day is likely to be worse, so there are a lot of vicious circles that can develop.

    Just. Ugh. I was so happy when I switched to a 9-5 job after my PhD because the added structure was what I needed to be productive and I suddenly felt like a competent human being again. This feels like being smacked straight back into a part of my life I was happy to escape and I hate it so much.

  284. Mimmy*

    My vision impairment prevents me from driving so working from home has given me more flexibility. The program for which I’m an instructor has been entirely remote since the spring and will continue to be remote at least through the end of the year. Thus, I can schedule my students at times that work for them and me rather than having a schedule set for me, which can sometimes be less than ideal, especially when there are last minute changes.

    But I am increasingly itching to return to in-person instruction. I miss the connection of being with my students face-to-face. I teach typing and other keyboarding skills and I was used to being able to see my students’ techniques and help them get set up on their lessons if they aren’t as skilled with using a computer. Now, I’m relying on Zoom, WhatsApp or the phone for instruction. Also, there are many potential variables to deal with: The computer the student is using and his/her skill level with it, internet connection, home setup (do they have a desk they can sit at?) and whether someone in the household can help if needed.

    I am not trained in providing this type of instruction, so if a student is not as skilled with their computer, I feel incompetent and that I’m letting the student down if we can’t even get a proper Zoom meeting set up. My supervisor said I may have to do audio-only for these students, but I’m not comfortable with that (there are completely blind instructors, so I may have to get their tips!).

    Aside from the technical issues, I do miss having lunch with my coworkers.

  285. Run By Fruiting*

    I absolutely hate it. I’ve always had the ability to WFH when needed here and there, but being forced to do it for 6 months now with no end in site is awful. I’m alone all day and I have no boundaries between work and home and it makes me crazy.

  286. Temperance*

    I do miss my office. I can do pretty much everything from home with the exception of host in-person clinics, but I can’t do those now anyway. I miss the routine of going in to the office, and reading on my commute. That said, I like waking up and basically immediately getting to work.

  287. Lilli*

    I live on my own and I really miss working with colleagues. I’ve given up my longterm job shortly before COVID for a traineeship in the legal profession which is basically a series of short (3 months each) internships where I don’t get to know a lot of people. I never worked from home before COVID because it’s to distracting for me and I just don’t like it. COVID with all it’s unexpected changes and working from home really hit me hard on top of the expected changes and the lack of having colleagues that I know.

  288. Concerned Academic Librarian*

    For the most part I have adjusted to WFH and I’m fine with it. I feel like I’m more productive at home. But I have my dark days.

    I miss the students. I miss being able to teach in person. I miss my desk. I miss having access to a pretty powerful desktop computer. I miss being able to go stand in someone’s doorway and straighten up a misunderstanding in a minute. I miss being able to get in the car and decompress on the commute home.

  289. Anon WFH*

    YES – although on it’s face, working from home is actually amazing. My setup, internet connection, etc. etc. are all top-notch. And no commute, and I focus easier at home.

    Downside? My office has become a mask-free fun zone. Nobody wears masks in the office, even when having meetings in our small individual offices. Only a handful of us are still WFH and there are a lot of new hires who either don’t care or don’t feel they can push back because they’re new who now populate a lot of our office.

    I don’t get it. Everyone, especially head boss, are smart, reasonable people who I love working with and can’t wait to see in person again… except now I guess I have to until that curve is way, way lower. Thankfully they are supportive of my continuing to WFH. But I feel left out.

    1. shocked I tell you*

      I work with folks with masters degrees in public health and am shocked at the lack of masking.

  290. Ray Gillette*

    I don’t miss the commute, but I do miss the kind of informal collaboration that happens naturally when everyone is working in the same space. I also miss the (short, non-intrusive) social chats I had with people in other departments. We still collaborate and I still chat with other departments, but it’s a little more awkward and requires more intent and effort than it did before.

    We are never going back to the office – our company leadership made the decision to go 100% remote, so at the end of our lease (possibly earlier if legal can successfully negotiate a buyout with the landlord) the office will be gone for good. One advantage to this, though, is that when I hired new people for my team I got to cast a wider net than people living in or willing to relocate to our city. I made two excellent hires who wouldn’t have been options if they’d had to come into the office.

    The thing that I really, really miss, though, is our customers going into the office. Our product facilitates remote work, and I’m very proud of that. But it means we now have to contend with a general lack of client IT support since each employee is working out of a home office.

  291. I Need That Pen*

    I do.
    I have a great job with people I truly like, been here for over a decade. I’ve decorated my office to make it welcoming, and I do come in a couple times a week to run things – we have an ENORMOUS screening system where I work, but the building is mostly empty. I have my dog and husband at home – although husband has returned almost full time to his place, and not having worked from home a lot is unusual for me. I always feel like I’m “on.” I read emails at 10-11 at night. I work while I’m eating dinner. It’s strange. I feel like there’s no separation right now, where work is left at work and home is left at home. I could see myself working remotely one day a week whenever normal returns, but permanently…I’d have to learn.

  292. not that kind of Doctor*

    I miss my big desk, giant two-monitor spread, and the art wall my office mate and I decorated above our desks. (2 Wonder Woman posters!!!) I miss chatting with random people around the building. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get to know the new guy when all of our interactions are so regimented. I miss the hot chocolate from the cafe downstairs.

    I don’t miss the commute, having to get dressed every day, or the way time always seemed so scarce. I like being home with my dogs and being able to cook breakfast or lunch if I want to. I think my ideal would be 2-3 days per week in the office and the rest at home.

    1. not that kind of Doctor*

      Also I hate how much higher our power bills have been this summer, running our own AC instead of keeping cool at the office. :-/

  293. Cookies For Breakfast*

    I used to work from home frequently in my old role and it was great. The days I didn’t commute gave me a lot of flexibility, and I often could fit productive work, daily errands, exercise and hobbies within my day. My then managers trusted my work a lot and it never really mattered where or at what time I was working.

    In my current role (same company), I’m stuck on video calls most of the day and very few of them have actually any reason to be. I can hardly hear myself think, my “office” really is a cramped corner of the living room (my partner also works from home and we have very little space), and I get to the end of the day completely drained. I only miss the office a little (some colleagues, the change of scenery, double monitors and good chairs). What really wrecked my mental health is the attitude of my current department heads: the constant need for meetings is, you guessed it, lack of trust in the remote setup, and the pressure they put on my team has been unreal. But at the same time, the organisation is making enough of the right noises about supporting employee wellbeing, that calling them out on their crap is a challenge. This all would be an entirely separate letter to Alison!

    In short, I’m in a bad place in terms of mood, energy and confidence (on top of some personal bad news the pandemic threw my way), and have seen some consequences on my physical health too.

    I’m job searching and would be ok with another remote role, because I don’t feel commuting is safe yet where I am, and because I know I can strike a work-life balance in the right environment. Also, because we’re saving money to move to a bigger apartment. But I know finding another job is going to take months, so I’m kind of resigned to more of this.

  294. Nessa*

    No, but I miss my bakery. Many of you are lucky to have work from home as an option but I can’t bake a cake and bring it into work. My boss never updated me on a return and just…never called some of us back.

  295. schnauzerfan*

    As a librarian, I never considered working from home. It just wasn’t on my radar at all. I do miss some things about before times work. We went out in March. 3 of the 8 of us are still working from home due to prex conditions, family circumstances, etc. The other 5 are back in the library working as distanced as they can. Not being on site makes some parts of my job much more difficult and other things are just impossible. I can’t look up and see that person x looks to be struggling with her project, I can’t hear that a patron is getting loud and angry and the person at circ is in need of backup.

    My internet (DSL) is ungodly slow, so slow that we’ve added Sat Internet for work, and left the DSL for the netflixers in the house. The Sat Internet is also much slower than work (T3) and prone to unexplained hiccups. I did get a second, large monitor, so that’s actually better than work.

    But, all in all I like working from home, and I’m really enjoying being a Stay at Home puppy parent. In 40 years of dog ownership I’ve never got to do that, but of course now, I worry about separation anxiety.

    So yeah. Not better, not worse but different.

    We are doing a little zoom reference, which is interesting, but not the same as in person, and I kind of miss that. I really miss the “management by walking around” part of my work. I like stopping by, visiting with the staff, getting and giving feedback on projects, displays, etc. and that’s all missing now.

  296. Hoya Lawya*

    I detest working from home. It’s atomizing, isolating, stupefying, eliminates the opportunity for international travel (which I view as a major perk of my job), and provides much less intellectual stimulation than the office.

    I cannot wait to go back.

  297. Frenchie too*

    I do miss seeing my coworkers in person, not just on teleconference meetings. What else do I miss? my physical work area (court), it’s not the same on video. I miss in-person networking, celebrating birthdays with coworkers, lunch with friends, the upcoming holiday luncheons (always pleasant), fundraising bake/plate sales. I miss running into other employees in the hallway and exchanging a smile or a greeting. I miss going on walks at park near work. Yes, I do have an awesome job, a great manager, and fabulous coworkers!
    I don’t miss the racist/sexist/prejudiced employee who loves to speak loud enough for others to “overhear” him. That’s his way of telling others that he is perfect and those who don’t share his religion or perspective are immoral sinners who hate our country. My blood pressure has actually dropped for this other reasons, such as no commute. No, I can’t do too much about it because we don’t share the same manager or agency. I just avoid him. And he’s a little scared of me, so that’s a win.
    With any luck, and if good sense becomes more common, we will have a safer 2021 and find a better normal.

  298. ObserverCN*

    I like working from home because I can sleep in later in the mornings and I don’t get distracted by my co-workers’ loud conversations.
    One downside is that my workday ends about an hour before my roommates are done working, so I have to stay in my basement bedroom (where my desk is) for about an hour and try to find something to do so I don’t bother them (they work upstairs).
    I do need to work on exercising more and eating better, though.

  299. The Man, Becky Lynch*

    I realize reading comments and other situations, the reason I hate working from home so much is that I already have enough isolation at work. I have my own separate office, it’s spaced out, we have to seek each other out when it’s necessary! I understand how other bull-pen kind of setups and open floor plans could make you crave space but I have it and WFH is too much space. My cat doesn’t even like that I’m home all day, he is P-E-E-V-E-D when I don’t leave for days on end, it takes over his kingdom he begrudgingly shares with me lol

    It’s so convenient to just be able to walk to someone’s computer or to look at the issue together, instead of conference calls and sharing screens.

    It’s also triggered my depression because I need a routine of having a reason I have to get dressed and be seen by the world. I was relieved we were essential, that this is manufacturing and I’m allowed to be in the office in general. Even if I spend a lot of my time just sanitizing things and keeping up with the evolving standards!

    1. The Man, Becky Lynch*

      I also have flexible hours, I have core hours and even then, all I have to do is give everyone a heads up that I’m going to be out instead. But I feel like when I’m at home, I have to let them know when I’m “arriving” or “leaving”. Then it’s much more uncomfortable needing time off for personal stuff.

      “Slacking off” at the office still feels like I’m here and ready if someone needs me. Slacking off at home, I feel guilty. Like going to the bathroom at home is different than going to the bathroom at work, I’m thinking “I have to get back to my computer, I have to be present!” and my boss prefers calls when we’re WFH. So I feel like I have no reason ever to miss a call, so it makes going to the restroom that much more stressful [that is obviously in my head but it’s still my stress.]

  300. Firecat*

    This is tangentially related, but I was surprised at how difficult returning to the office was. I worked for an employer who needlessly risked our health to bring everyone back to the office out of “fairness” to the few who had to work on site. I got another job but for the last two months I was on site I struggled with the following:

    Resentment. Bosses attempt at fairness bred a ton of it. Those who worked in the office the while time had absorbed that we who were WFH were on vacation. Those of us who were WFH were irritated we were put in needless danger to make a few people who had to be in feel better. It was nasty.

    Professionalism: After months of being able to say what they want when they will. Those who were WFH or in the office both lost their filters a good bit.

    Stamina: A 15 minute break at home was more restful. You could watch an episode of something, prepare a snack, etc. Work was more boring so the breaks weren’t as fullfilling.

  301. WhoKnows*

    I miss seeing my coworkers but I really, truly don’t miss the office, mostly because of the hour-long train commute each way. I’m single, and I don’t have kids or pets, so I’m able to focus perfectly fine. (Except that the couch starts to call me mid-day). I will actually be kinda bummed when it’s time to go back.

  302. Not_Kate_Winslet*

    I’ve been up and down on this. At first I loved it, then as weeks/months went on I was really struggling with it. Now that it’s looking like it will be several more months (years? ugh) of this, I’m starting to just accept it. There are things that I love about working from home: getting little things done around the house throughout the day (throwing in a load of laundry, running the dishwasher, etc.), more flexible scheduling, a more relaxed wardrobe, etc. But sometimes I really really miss being around my coworkers. I live alone, and while I see my boyfriend regularly, being “alone” all day can be very isolating, even if you’ve been on video calls all day.

    A large part of my Before Times job was traveling, so I’ve missed that part, too :-/

  303. MLH*

    I love WFH. I was doing it a few times a month pre-pandemic and already had a good set up so that wasn’t an issue. The first 2 months of full time WFH felt really isolating as my spouse was essential and still going to work daily so being home alone (no kids here) all day plus no other social interaction was an adjustment. But once I established a routine, it was great. I get to sleep in later, no traffic to fight, and I get to wear comfy clothes daily.

    I am part of the IT team at my company and WFH has really improved my productivity. It was eye opening to see how much time I was losing daily to people stopping by my desk for questions or stopping me on my way to refill water or get coffee. We are also in the middle of system upgrade so my workload has increased right now and I am not as resentful at having to work late as I’m already home. No 40 minute commute to get home.

    I do miss seeing my teammates but we have a daily group chat that helps us stay connected.

    We are WFH until at least Jan 2021. But I’m hoping that when we do go back, I can flex my schedule to do 3 days at home and 2 in the office.

  304. A*

    Thank you for asking this. Some of my coworkers and friends wish we’d be remote forever but I hate it. I think it’s the right choice for us to be closed right now, but I have always known that I wouldn’t do well working from my apartment and miss the structure of the work day AT work. I live in an apartment and my desk is just a couple feet from my bed. It’s so hard to stay motivated and focused and on a decent sleep and work/life separation schedule, and my anxiety is through the roof. I miss being able to really print and mail things. I am so over screens. I know a lot of people don’t like their coworkers, but I really do, and so much is lost without the informal chitchat and checking in of the work day. I’m not opposed to having more flex work from home days post-pandemic, but doing it all the time is just not for me.

    1. The Man, Becky Lynch*

      The docs are all about limiting your screen time too, so I’m curious how the long term effects on forced WFH will be on our brains/concentration especially those of us with condition that you know, are made worse by being forced to do screen time instead of human to human interaction!

      It’s literally not good for just your eyes to be focused on a screen. You need to have the option to move between tasks and take your eyes off the screen.

  305. Rara Avis*

    I had the option of WFH or returning. I chose to return: better ergonomic setup, better wifi, it feels more like work, I get to eat (socially distanced) lunch with human beings I’m not related to. (We have outside picnic tables so we each sit at separate tables.) Right now my commute is about half of what it used to be. If it ramps up again, that might be the tipping point to start staying home again.

  306. I DK*

    I don’t miss the commute, but I miss my office. I spent years getting it perfect for my working style, and now I’m stuck at home working on a tiny table with crumbs on it — and my little brush and dust pan is at the office. It’s like leaving the bridge of the Enterprise only to end up piloting a Vespa.

  307. HannahS*

    Doing medical appointments from home is going to stink. My husband and I live in a 550 sq ft space. I think I’m going to have to wedge an tiny end table in between the bed and the bedroom door. Trying to set up a neutral-looking confidential space is going to be a STRUGGLE.

  308. Ollie*

    For several years I worked in an office where we worked from home 3 days a week and were in the office 2 days a week. It was great! Then I moved and they allowed me to keep my job and work full time from home. Not so great. It would have been better if the office hadn’t been working in the office those 2 days because having a meeting where you are the only one on the phone can be very frustrating. People would forget I was there. I couldn’t hear well and there were side conversations that I missed. Also individuals would text me questions about the meeting and I couldn’t answer and listen to the meeting at the same time. It was hard to keep focus. I also missed the daily “how are you” conversations because I really liked my coworkers. All personal conversations ceased. All conversations were business and it got very lonely. Zoom meetings might have made it better. I gratefully retired two years ago.

  309. Bibliovore*

    No kids at home, high risk. I don’t miss my office but I miss the people. I miss the ability to casually run ideas past my peers. I am way more productive at home. I have great focus. My work/life balance went out the window the first 4 months but now I am getting better at closing my computer and not looking at it in the evening. I don’t go to all of the all hands zoom meetings anymore because of zoom fatigue. This has immensely improved my anxiety about having time to get “everything done.” Getting much better at prioritizing.
    Also I have learned a lot about my perfectionism and expectations of others. Extending grace and when stuff goes awry clean it up, don’t look back, no excuses except ” and there is a pandemic”

  310. anonymous 5*

    I am partially back in the office (we’re doing all lab instruction in person for as long as we can, but everything else is virtual). It has its advantages. BUT…my hours on campus, around people (smaller groups than usual, physically distanced, but still in the same room for 2.5h), and accessed via public transit are still exposure. And I’ve realized in the past couple days that this makes me *really* reluctant to spend time with people in any other context, even though it’s still possible to do outdoor things comfortably where I am. Basically I feel like my exposure budget has been exhausted already and has nothing left for social interactions.

  311. alienor*

    I had already been doing WFH one day a week for several years, so it wasn’t a hard transition to full-time, and I don’t miss the office at all. That said, I also have one college-aged child, a high-speed internet connection, and a home layout that lets us both be in our own areas doing our own tasks behind closed doors (we break for lunch around the same time and will usually eat together while watching an episode of something, then get back to work) so I’m not struggling with the challenges that are making it rough for a lot of people. The downsides for me are that there’s a lot of pressure to be constantly available for meetings/chats/calls–days with 7-8 meetings have been more common than not over the last several months–and it’s hard to disengage from email in the evenings.

    One funny thing I’ve noticed is that even though I know everyone else is at home too, and I can see their homes and pets and so forth in the background on calls, in my head I still imagine them all being in the office together while I’m here. No idea why!

  312. Introvert girl*

    WFH has had a major positive impact on my wellbeing. I’m less stressed, stopped losing weight and have found a balance between work and private life. I now take a longer break during the day for a walk with my dog. Taking breaks when you need them instead of just going to the kitchen with the rest of the team is really destressing. I manage to get more done in less time and have a better relationship with my coworkers.

  313. DanniellaBee*

    I do not miss the office. I created an absolutely lovely workspace for myself in my loft with a nice desk and comfortable computer chair right by my window with a view. I surrounded myself with art and books and I also put in a small couch as well so I can alternate working at my desk and sitting with my dog. I am also not losing 4 hours a day in commute time and it is easier for me to make healthy meals and exercise! I would never choose to go back to the office full time again. I work in tech and we are able to do all of our work online and over zoom calls. We still get some social aspects of working together via zoom and slack. My hope is that when the pandemic is over they allow us to do a hybrid approach of work from home and some office time and then schedule fun work events or retreats for us to socialize at. It is an odd thing to say, but the pandemic has actually greatly improved my quality of life because my worklife balance is so much better now!

  314. KSE*

    I do miss my coworkers. We’re all young people in research; we had a lovely, chatty rapport and it made being in the office enjoyable. I also really miss the structure of the workday and the fact that I could leave work at 5. I try to set those boundaries at home, but it just doesn’t happen for a million reasons.

    Plus, my office is near a city pool; I used to go swimming before work and visit the park at lunch. Long subway commute aside, I had it really good.

  315. Editor Person*

    I miss the keyboard and the desktop computer with lots of RAM and being able to get up and walk away from work at the end of the day. But I miss my printer most of all.

  316. norma rae*

    I juuuuust started to kind of miss the office in the past month or so. We have the option to go in some days (one person at a time, masks required, etc.) and I’m not (except for brief visits to use the printer, pick up supplies, check mail, etc.) because I still feel safer at home, but it’s draining. I think a lot of us are hitting a wall around the 6-month mark, so it makes sense that this thread is very popular!

    I like a lot of aspects of WFH, and I’m glad this has pushed my employer to be more open to it, but I dislike not having a clear line between work space and home space. I live in a one-bedroom with my boyfriend (who works night shift) and our cat, and I’m always worried about waking him up when I’m on a call. The cat also feels very possessive about the dining room and is upset that I’m in here all the time, so she often tries to attack my feet while I’m working (awkward for zoom calls!). I also hate that my work completely takes up the dining room table, so I have to either clear everything up at the end of the day to use it for eating or board games, or have all of my work stuff in the middle of my apartment when I’m trying to not think about work work.

    I do miss some things about my physical office. I pushed for a while to get my own office with a window (after years in a cubicle and no window), and I miss how bright and sunny it is in the mornings. I also have some cool posters, trinkets, cards from coworkers, etc. in there, and I miss those things. A big part of my work used to be site visits, which I can’t do right now because those sites are healthcare facilities, and I miss that face-to-face interaction a lot. That also involved travel to those sites, which are anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours away, and I miss the mid-day driving time that I would use to think, listen to podcasts, or call people (with my bluetooth headset, of course). I also miss being on a different side of town for running errands, especially the huge farmers market near my office that’s open on weekdays, but I’ve definitely saved money by not stress-shopping at the Target around the corner after work.

  317. Sinister Serina*

    Do I miss my office? Here’s what happened: I left the area to take of care of my mom. The shutdown happened during that time, so I stayed there-an hour’s plane ride away, or about a 10 hour drive. During that time, 0ur CEO told us we could all work from home until January, if we wanted to-I work for a global company and we have offices everywhere, but our largest offices are NYC and London-I don’t work in either one, FYI.
    And then in early July, our mayor said offices could open at 25% capacity. Sooooo, I got summoned back (one person in particular was pushing very hard for the office to reopen) and worked very, very hard for two months so our offices could reopen, which we have. And 5-6 people come in every day, which is not 25% capacity. And I’ll point out, that when I brought up that our CEO said that WFH applied to everyone, it pretty much got blown off. I have two underlying conditions, I would have preferred to stay with mom to make sure she was ok, but it’s fine, I guess. I walk to work every day, dodging people who are out walking their dogs and mentally ill homeless people who have become much more confrontational. And the smell of weed/skunk everywhere.
    Guess where I live?
    TL/DNR I did for a while but not for the past couple of months, because I’ve been at the office since mid-July

  318. OwlEditor*

    I’m just not made to work from home. I have a hard time working in my pjs. My cats are very rarely demanding (unless I’m in the kitchen). It’s too easy to get distracted and I really, really want to take a nap every day.
    I miss my coworkers. I miss seeing faces and chatting in the breakroom, or just asking a coworker a question because they’re right there. Plus a nice, large desk and a gorgeous view of the mountains. Plus the perk of food trucks on Fridays in the summer.
    My work had set a date for 1 October to return to the office, but that’s on hold. No idea when we’ll be able to go back. That’s been hard. This feels like this is going to go on forever. My anxiety and depression are worse and that makes it even harder to WFH. My landlords are around a lot lately (plumbing issues: the sewer line collapsed) and I don’t like them, so right now I’m sitting with my curtains closed and hoping the plumbing problems are fixed and they can just go away!

  319. OwlEditor*

    I’m just not made to work from home. I have a hard time working in my pjs. My cats are very rarely demanding (unless I’m in the kitchen). It’s too easy to get distracted and I really, really want to take a nap every day.
    I miss my coworkers. I miss seeing faces and chatting in the breakroom, or just asking a coworker a question because they’re right there. Plus a nice, large desk and a gorgeous view of the mountains. Plus the perk of food trucks on Fridays in the summer.
    My work had set a date for 1 October to return to the office, but that’s on hold. No idea when we’ll be able to go back. That’s been hard. This feels like this is going to go on forever. My anxiety and depression are worse and that makes it even harder to WFH. My landlords are around a lot lately (plumbing issues: the sewer line collapsed) and I don’t like them, so right now I’m sitting with my curtains closed and hoping the plumbing problems are fixed and they can just go away!
    I don’t have kids and I feel like people expect me to be grateful and fine with WFH. But I’m not. It’s very lonely.

  320. Sloan Kittering*

    I will say it’s a lot harder than I thought to keep on task. I blame myself and feel guilty all the time for failing to sit down and get started on stuff I know I should do. I’m not sure if it’s just working from home though, I think I’d blame it on the wider pandemic and isolation fricking up my mental health. Everything seems kind of pointless right now.

  321. Lyudie*

    I miss my friends from my old team that I ate lunch with, and I miss walking to the local restaurants for lunch. That’s pretty much it really. I don’t like working in cubes. I don’t like commuting. I am saving tons of money by eating leftovers and such for lunch, there are fewer interruptions, I can get online earlier and thus (sometimes) sign off earlier. A lot of the people I work with are scattered across the country already, heck I’ve only been in the same room as my manager once in over a year because she is in a different state. I already had a good set up for working and I realize I’m lucky in that sense. I’m struggling in some ways, but I don’t think returning to the office would help that much.

  322. Gallery Mouse*

    I dont miss working in the office at all!

    The office itself is incredibly depressing due to the layout, the 80’s gray desk dividers and lack of perks (aside from old coffee mugs there are no perks at all), no one talks to one another anyway, there are zero office supplies (I still have no idea how anyone got pens/paper/notebooks) and the lights are a glaring NYC midtown office white (causing my eyes to water and turn red every so often).

    I work in HR and have zero privacy so WFH has been truly great in that regard.
    I save so much time not having to hunt down a hallway or private cubicle to discuss personal matters, salary issues, or to conduct interviews. I’m so much more productive.

    To be honest, WFH has made me realize how little I liked seeing my current coworkers. That sounds really mean, and maybe I’m having another bad day (who isn’t!) but I would be perfectly happy continuing on like this and never seeing them again.

    I am also incredibly worried about exposure and TBH I dont trust that my employer is doing the best job of keeping common surfaces cleaned or pushing back on clients that dont wear masks or get too close when they visit the office. I’m not sure what I will do when they start requiring that we go back at least part of the week/time.

  323. Me--who cares anymore*

    I don’t know if this counts because I was unemployed before the pandemic, but yes, I do miss going into an office. Before I started at Exjob, I was home all the time and I got tired of it. Though I could have done my job from the sofa and I was grateful that we had the option to WFH during inclement weather, I liked getting out of the house, plus I had a better set-up at work (i.e. double monitors, more desk space, etc.).

    The pandemic has made it worse since there are now less jobs than ever that fit and there seems to be no hope of me ever working again, or having my own space ever again (maybe I should have stayed where I was and just dealt with COVID while flipping burgers or whatever). I have a lot to offer but no one cares. Apparently, being unemployed instantly makes you a pariah despite your skills, and no one will ever hire you again.

    (Yes, I am having a bad day, and no, I do not need medication or therapy which I cannot afford anyway.)

  324. Master Bean Counter*

    After working from home for 6 months I’m back in the office this week to deal with our annual audit.
    I can now firmly say, I want to work from home forever. Having to wear real pants is over rated. Also I am missing my mid-afternoon naps. It’s kinda amazing how much that helps my energy level and productivity.
    They are talking about consolidating offices in the spring. I am very close to packing up my personal belongings and taking them home now, so my office looks like it can be shared in the future.

  325. LizardOfOdds*

    I love working from home and enjoy the quiet focus time, having my pets nearby, being able to cook my meals fresh every day. I also appreciate that I have not gotten sick once in the last 6 months, whereas I am normally sick every couple of months going to an office full of people who come to work sick like it’s no big deal. As an immunocompromised person with chronic illnesses, it is much safer for me to work from home, pandemic or not.

    That said, I do miss some aspects of working from the office. People have to communicate much more intentionally in a virtual environment, and not everyone has made that adjustment (honestly I’m not sure everyone is *capable* of that adjustment). I miss overhearing bits of information that’s relevant to me/my team and being able to interject to make a relevant connection. I never thought I would say this, but I also miss the office politics gossip. As much as that annoyed the ever loving ish out of me at the office, it was helpful in figuring out how to navigate the world of a big company. There’s more guesswork virtually.

  326. Sola Lingua Bona Lingua Mortua Est*

    I’m starting my 10th year full-time permanent remote. It’s a dealbreaker now; I won’t interview for a position that doesn’t offer me remote work.

  327. moneypenny*

    Not. At. All. My office is open plan (UGH) and it’s never quiet or easy to focus even when I wear headphones. I love being able to shower or not shower, PJ bottoms, wire-free bra, music on out loud, dogs sleeping soundly behind me. I love it. They won’t bring us back before the end of the year but my hope is that it’ll extend beyond that because in spite of feeling a little stir crazy, I love it.

  328. SimplyAlissa*

    I was WFH for many many years before my current job, and definitely missed it.

    And I’m enjoying WFH to some degree, but it’s not the same as before. We have a nightmare upstairs neighbor (who sends her middle school aged kid to play the drums on our shared back steps regularly, and has been hosting large gatherings despite the ban), and the office furniture that I put off upgrading because I took an in-office job…still needs to be updated.

    It’s still better than being in the office! It’s impossible to social distance in our small shared space, and my boss is still holding client meetings which is a nightmare to my immunocompromised self. So I can definitely spend a good amount of time venting about situational issues.

    I’ve always been the “just leave me alone to get my stuff done” kind of worker. The socializing is fine, but it always seems to come at a time where it breaks my workflow/train of thought, so I have a preference to work solo. Since my boss and I have a friendly relationship outside of the office (text each other recommendations on tv shows, share articles, I forward coupons for his teacher wife, he lets me know when he sees a sale), I don’t feel like it’s interrupted the office camaraderie. Despite the fact that we haven’t seen each other since March.

    The biggest awkwardness is that we are trying to hire. We were short-staffed pre-apocalypse. So now we’re doing these 3-way phone interviews with candidates, and it’s definitely not the same kind of experience as in-person interviewing. Especially when you’re trying to hire sales people and you’re trying to gauge their personality. Not having as many face-to-face conversations with candidates puts a wrinkle in the whole thing.

    1. Gallery Mouse*

      Oh I feel you on the upstairs neighbors – mine are heavy walkers, and their kid loves to jump around. That would be my only complaint about working from home, the upstairs noise.

  329. Gigi*

    My extrovert self is struggling. Like the Little Mermaid, I just want to be where the people are. I was finally able to get off the couch and convert my guest room into an office, which helped some. But I was the first person to ever be virtually onboarded into my new assignment this summer, and the learning curve has been exponentially worse. Not only is it hard for me to figure this stuff out, but none of the OJT was designed for virtual use and the trainers are having to adjust on the fly too. I guess I’m lucky in the sense that I have no kids, so I’m not juggling work and teaching/child care. But I’m also single and can go the whole day without seeing another human in person.

    No one is getting out of this unscathed. I hope that one lesson we can learn from this sh*tshow is to just all be a little nicer to each other.

  330. S*

    It’s way too easy to fall into bad habits at home. Why not wake up right before my morning meeting? Why not take a break and catch up on work later? Got nothing to do in the evening. Should go outside at some point today but 9pm is fine. Can stay up scrolling, will be fine because I’m waking up later tomorrow…

    I realize this is a personal boundary thing and in an ideal world I could just run my day in exactly the same way, never procrastinate, and force some work life balance… but it just hasn’t worked that way for me. This feels like it should be easier but it’s exhausting and isolating and I’m down on myself and my inability to do this.

  331. HailRobonia*

    Also: The window in front of my work-from-home setup is great for birdwatching. There are a pair of mourning doves, a blue jay, and a northern flicker that all make pretty regular visits. I’ve been calling them my emotional support birds.

    1. pancakes*

      Local mourning doves have definitely become regulars — whenever they hear me open the screen to water my fire escape tomatoes, they come over to see if I’m putting sunflower seeds out for them! I’m a bit torn because twice in my last apartment they built nests in my outdoor potted plants and the babies are so messy. They’re good company, though.

  332. MoopySwarpet*

    I hate not knowing if my boss has “left” for the day or I should still be expecting a “daily” check in. I’m never sure if my boss has nothing to ask/report for the day or if it’s a busy day and I’m not going to get a call until 4:30 or 5. At the office, I’d know if the boss is gone for a period of time or gone for the day.

    The other thing I don’t like about it is I’m pretty much “on call” all day, but the actual work load is quicker due to a combination of less work and I’m more efficient at home, which means I have a lot of free time, but I can’t really do anything very meaningful with it.

    (Overall, though, I love working from home and never want to go back!)

  333. Arctic*

    I miss my office so much it hurts sometimes. I look forward to our pointless Zoom meetings just to see everyone’s face.

    I miss talking to my co-workers, I miss going for walks with them at lunch, I miss sharing a salad. I really miss being able to just stick my head in my co-worker’s office to talk through a thorny problem and them doing the same to me. I miss just being able to hash an issue out on the spot rather than scheduling a call.

    I miss the random celebrations. That we won’t have a Yankee swap this year kills me.

    I don’t know how people do this.

    1. SomebodyElse*

      I’m currently pondering the yankee swap and how to do it virtually. I think I may have cracked it, but need to go through a few more details.

      I think you really need to have one person who is ok with knowing what all the presents are. Then they can ‘host’ and control the ‘unwrapping’ and the tracking who has what.

      1. Arctic*

        Definitely share your wisdom if you can.

        I think a Secret Santa would be easier to do remotely. But those just aren’t as fun. It’s pressure to get the perfect for someone. People are less likely to stick to the recommended price point. It really saps the fun out of what should just be silly and chill.

  334. whistle*

    I have never wanted to work from home. Provided I have an easy commute, I would always rather leave my house to work. When my company sent everyone home, they set a few people up to work from isolated offices, and I was thankfully one of them. So, I have not wfh’ed during this time, but as I have seen things play out, this has only solidified my desire to never wfh. Some of the factors in this mindset that have surprised me are:
    -On nice days it would be really hard to not be in my yard if I was at home.
    -When I have downtime, it would be really hard to not pick up a book or knitting project if I was at home.
    -I find I’m less willing to perceive coworkers’ actions in good faith when I never see them in person.

    1. Cookies For Breakfast*

      “I find I’m less willing to perceive coworkers’ actions in good faith when I never see them in person.”

      I have been looking for a way to express exactly this for a while. Thank you!

      My job assumes I’ll monitor Slack for “how-to” questions, and 99% of the answers are documented in public places coworkers never bother checking. I get around 20 requests a day. People escalate if they don’t get immediate or detailed replies, which take time away from my top priorities.

      I hate having to remind everyone all the time and can’t help feeling they’re being lazy. It’s soured my mood so much while WFH.

  335. Margali*

    I wouldn’t mind working from home 1-2 days a week, but I’m really tired of it. I miss seeing my co-workers, and the casual chat, and the ease of picking up new projects if I’m having a slow day. Also, I’m a lot better about being undistracted and keeping to deadlines when they are ones that I have made to someone else, instead of just to myself. I work part-time, and my boss doesn’t care much when I do those hours. Sounds great, and there are times when the flexibility has been fabulous, but what it really means is that I dither around in the morning and start later than I meant to, and then the late afternoon feels like a slog because in normal times I would have been done by then.

  336. Deirdre*

    Way, way, way more than I thought I would. It’s so great to be back and seeing people and I have a great hybrid set-up, a few days in the office, a day or two at home. It’s perfect.

  337. Lynn*

    I’ve been WFH (mostly) for several years. I do miss the travel that we used to do for field work-I used to get to go somewhere at least once or twice a month. My husband hated WFH (high school teacher) and is glad that he is back working from his classroom-even if he still doesn’t have kids in person yet. At least at school he has his big whiteboard. I’m happy he is doing that as well-having him give a lecture about stellar evolution (or waves or vectors) behind me while I was trying to talk to a client about an issue with their documentation was less than fun. Though my boss said that he learned a lot about stars during that particular conference call. :>

  338. Metadata Janktress*

    I’m a social person and my coworkers and boss are delightful, so oh my goodness, do I miss going in and I am longing for when we can all be in the same place again. I’m also far from alone on that. We are a close-knit bunch who work with a difficult subject matter, so I find the office incredibly supportive and I feel badly isolated, especially when I’m working with the most emotionally taxing parts of my job. I also prefer supervising my staff in person. (Although I can supervise competently when remote, or at least that’s what I’m hearing.)

    That being said, I have found that I perform certain job tasks much better from home because my super delightful, social office can be distracting when I’m working on things that require complete concentration, to the point where I want it to be completely silent. Being that it’s an open plan office with people working on all sorts of projects, I can’t exactly tell people to not make any noise at all when I’m working on those tasks. So if we every go back to “normal,” I’ll probably work in the office four days a week and work from home a day a week.

  339. ThisColumnMakesMeGratefulForMyBoss*

    My last job was in a large office with about 1000 employees. I enjoyed the social aspect of it, but hated the politics and gossip. 5 years ago I started a new job with a small company (4 of us in the office) and I worked 2 days from home because my commute was awful – it was the perfect combination. In January, my team was laid off and I managed to retain my job (I was working on new projects), and my office closed permanently. So I was full time WFH shortly before the pandemic and the shutdown.

    I don’t miss my commute (I’ve gotten gas twice since the end of March) and it’s nice not to have to set an alarm. I do have a dedicated office in my house and my stepson in in HS so I don’t have distractions at home. But I’ve struggled to get myself into a routine, and I’m not sure if it’s an effect of the pandemic and being bummed that I haven’t left my house much in the last 6 months or just because I’m lazy (probably a little bit of both). And I miss the social aspect and collaboration of working. I think the ideal situation for me is a few days WFH and the rest in an office. I’m a homebody at heart, and an extroverted introvert (I like to call it selectively social) and this pandemic hasn’t affected me as severely as some, but lately it’s really started to get to me, especially with no clear end in sight.

  340. LK*

    I started a new job a month before WFH began. I’m lucky in so many respects. I have a job that finally pays me well. I live alone so no little ones to manage. I can snack during the day and wear what I want (two things that I wouldn’t have been able to do in my new job environment in the office). But to play devils advocate, I have a tiny apt in a big city that keeps being in the news for people not behaving properly. I tried to take walks in the beginning and go to the grocery store, but there were so few people wear masks, I’ve stopped. I barely leave my apt. My kitchen table has become my desk. My bedroom is for breaks and non-work anything. (My bedroom is for my bed and closet.) I just bought a new couch, but even sitting on it and watching TV in my kitchen/living room space is hard because I see the laptop on the kitchen table and sometimes it’s hard to completely feel free of my work. I miss having that place to go to do work and then having a nice cozy home to come and relax. It was hard this summer because I always rely on the AC in my office and I missed that the most. My AC unit is in bedroom.

  341. EmilyAnn*

    I miss my office. I like my co-workers as people and I live by myself, so they were a real social outlet for me. I also worked in a really fun area and could meet up with friends and go to happy hours after work, so I miss that too. I teleworked one day a week and always liked that day when it was a rare treat. I did enjoy the time for hobbies and not commuting. I also decamped for my parents home in another state for three months once I got too lonely and my mental health began to deteriorate because of being at home and the state of racial injustice in America.

  342. Florida Fan 15*

    I thought I was going to love it, and there’s parts I do, just not every single day. Like a lot of people have commented, I miss my colleagues. The chitchat, the ease in asking questions or brainstorming ideas.

    I hate with a burning passion the conference calls and GoToMeeetings. We don’t use the cameras and everyone is encouraged to stay on mute a lot, so no matter what you feel like you’re talking into a void.

    It also doesn’t help that I don’t have a dedicated workspace. My husband is WFH normally, so he’s got the room we turned into the home office. I get the dining room table or the couch. And as much as I love him and our pets, they’re a constant distraction; not to mention that my dogs lose their minds every single time I’m on a call.

    A couple of days a week would be good, but I’m 100% over WFH every day.

  343. iliketoknit*

    I feel very lucky b/c it’s just me and my spouse in a big house where we each have space to WFH without interfering with the other, and we’ve really enjoyed spending more time together. We’re not trying to wrangle kids, our cats love having us home, and we’re pretty introverted homebodies at the best of times.

    That said, I find myself pretty conflicted about WFH now. I love a lot of the logistics of it: I had a pretty short commute, but it’s nowhere near as short as rolling out of bed and going downstairs. I like not having to plan out what I want to bring to work on a given day and schlepping it with me in the morning and evening. I really like being able to take a break to put laundry in the washer or similar, I love being able to feed myself out of my refrigerator/pantry rather than having to schlep food to work or buy something at lunch, and I LOVE not having to worry about what I look like (most of the time; I do have some formal Zoom meetings, but even that’s not the same as being in other people’s presence). I LOVE not having to style my hair every day. I LOVE not wearing makeup. I LOVE not having to wear a bra or clothes with actual waistbands, and I LOVE not having to worry about wearing the same comfy items over and over again.

    I’ve always been anti-WFH (for me, not others); pre-COVID I refused to work from home because home/work boundaries are really important to me. I find my job really stressful and I don’t really want to bring that stress/mindset home with me, I want to leave work at work. And WFH makes that tougher. I also found it really hard to adjust to being productive at home – I think I have a decent rhythm going now, but especially when this all started, I could not focus for the life of me (though some of that may have been adjusting to the pandemic, and I certainly had less productive lulls when I was in the office, too).

    The other issue is social. At least in the office, I saw co-workers regularly; now I don’t. I talk to my supervisor and various clients semi-regularly (on the phone), but I rarely talk to or see my co-workers. I’ve only lived in this city for 3 years, so a lot of my day to day socializing used to be through work, and now that’s gone. Again, I’m pretty introverted, so it’s not devastating emotionally, but I feel like I’m getting weirder and less socially adept.

    We can actually go back into the office at this point, if we choose (we alternate days in/out), but we can continue to work from home, and almost everyone does unless there’s a specific reason to be there in person – in part b/c being part time at the office and part time at home is the worst of both worlds in terms of accessing the things you need (is it at home? is it in the office? where am I today?). I’ve also gone back into the office and being there when it’s like a crypt in terms of silence/socializing is worse than working at home. Even though I feel incredibly lucky, I don’t love any of the options available now. I still like the concept of separating work/home by going into the office to work, but the ease of WFH has seduced me; I don’t know if I’ll ever be willing to put on a bra, real clothes, and makeup every day again (yes, in theory I could adjust my personal style to deal with this, but my workplace is fairly formal). I kind of miss the human connections, but I don’t know when the office will offer those again.

  344. WantonSeedStitch*

    I have a pretty ideal work from home setup: work-provided laptop with nice externals (big monitor, keyboard, and mouse), I don’t have kids (yet), and my husband does his thing in the office upstairs while I work at our dining room table. I am grateful that I don’t have to go into the office: being pregnant, I have really been trying to avoid as much contact as possible with people other than my husband, and I don’t drive. I wouldn’t want to be on public transit everyday and also in an office.

    I do miss my office, though. Commuting is a pain, but I also feel like it’s a nice time to get some walking in and then read on the subway. I have been walking around the neighborhood before and after work, but it hasn’t been the same. I miss seeing my coworkers in person, too: they’re a truly great bunch of people, and I really value the in-person connection. I look forward to a time when that’s possible again, without the fear and anxiety of the pandemic.

  345. cacwgrl*

    I had a rough time adjusting to never, ever working from home in this capacity to “you are not allowed to access your worksite”. I thought I had started to adjust to it, but really, I ended up distracted by also becoming a caretaker to a family member with a major, non-COVID medical situation. That’s mostly resolved now and I’m back to working from my home full time. I have the flexibility to handle medical appointments as they come up, I can spend time at the barn if needed and that was a huge help when I was also dealing with a major injury for one of the creatures, I can run over to the grocery store on non-peak hours (my favorite!!). But I also genuinely miss my people. I miss having coworkers I can easily collaborate with, although for the most part, we’re relatively reachable within a reasonable time, processes were so much faster in person. I really, really miss the interactions with my customers, who basically never left due to the nature of their work. For years, they have had me there to support them. They can stop by with OJT issues, call for support, pick up their books. They are mostly boot on the ground focused, not communications technology focused. Getting information to and from each other is more time consuming and challenging. Last week I was finally able to spend time in my office getting caught up and took the opportunity to deliver and pick up everything that’s been sitting around. Safety protocols are easily followed, we have so many other rules that these don’t make an impact, we just do and did it appropriately. And it was great. My soul felt better seeing them, making sure things are good, reinforcing to them that I am coming back eventually (sooner than later based on current projections). Since then, I tell myself I’ll eventually get back but until then, I need to ride this out. But distractions come more easily and that makes things so hard at the moment!

  346. Summersun*

    I was forced to go back because dinosaurs run Company (my job is easily done remotely, and the company has been incredibly careless about precautions). I’m allowed to keep one token WFH day per week, for some illogical reason.

    It reminds me of the Chris Rock bit about women getting used to dating a certain “level” of guy (owns a car, has his own place) and not wanting to move backwards. My previously scenic-but-slightly-long commute is now endless, my mildly chilly cubicle under a vent is now miserably cold, and the daily prep of hand-washed business clothes and hand-made lunch is suddenly insufferable.

    I think my brain is nitpicking at the minutiae, to avoid coping with Company clearly not caring if we sicken and die, as long as our butts are in those seats.

  347. Potatoes gonna potate*

    I really do miss the socialization and getting dressed up. I miss the people I used to work with, talking to other people etc. I just miss people.

    But I also enjoy being able to roll out of bed and seeing my baby every few minutes

  348. sc*

    I miss lunches with my team! We’re a small office of educators and academics, we used to sit for 1-2 hours daily discussing everything under the sun.

    And shockingly—- I miss my commute! That dedicated hour of podcast listening and brain turning off each way just doesn’t hit the same WFH

  349. lazy intellectual*

    I definitely don’t mind working from home, and will have trouble readjusting to working at an office if/when that resumes, but there are some benefits I’m missing. One is I had just started my current role before the pandemic, so didn’t get as much of a chance to bond with coworkers before moving to remote work (although online interactions have been fine.) There are also some downsides to having a lot of alone time. I’m an introvert so I don’t hate it, but I feel like negative triggers affect me more because of the lack of distraction I usually get from just moving around and being around people a lot. And obviously, the fact that we are where we are because of *waves around* current circumstances.

  350. c562*

    Feel guilty saying so, but yeah, I do. My office is fairly utilitarian — only perk is free coffee — I miss the wind up/wind down my commute (about 20 minutes, the perfect length IMO) provided, my home office being 80/20 fun stuff/work instead of the other way around, and just … having a routine. I tried keeping a very similar routine early on, showering before my shift and putting on regular work clothes (not a big deal because it’s casual, but not gym shorts and a t-shirt) but fell out of the habit pretty quickly because an extra hour of sleep is the absolute best part of working from home and I’m gonna enjoy it.

    Part of it is the nature of my work and sometimes having very little to do (but still having to be ready at a moment’s notice from 9-5). Going to the office every day almost tricked me into feeling like I was productive. Now when I spend a few hours browsing the internet in yesterday’s t-shirt, well … there’s no fooling myself there.

    So I won’t lie, when the opportunity to go back comes up again later this year, I’m going to think about it a little more. In a very low case area and the building will still only be about 20% full.

    1. Tupac Coachella*

      I was surprised at how much I miss my commute. I don’t like driving very much in general, but my commute was fairly easy and gave me a chance to just be alone with my thoughts and listen to my music. I’m with you on maximizing the extra hour of sleep, though-I do not miss needing an hour of prep just to get out the door.

  351. Generic Name*

    I’m honestly torn about working from home. I do love the flexibility, and I love being able to make lunch in my own kitchen. I’ve even been enjoying having lunches at home with my teenager. I have a nice home office in a well-lit room with a door. I can sit with my dog at my feet and snuggle my cats whenever. I can wear yoga pants and slippers and sports bras. All that is nice.

    But I still miss working in an office. I miss my coworkers. Teams meetings have been fine, but I often prefer in-person collaboration. I work for a company with a strong “clan” culture, and my coworkers are all genuinely awesome people. We frequently have happy hours/go on outdoor excursions together. One of my officemates just told me that they are expecting, and I wish we could have all been in the office in person to laugh and cry and hug because it’s been a long j0urney for them and their spouse. The group text just wasn’t the same.

    And trying to work from home full time while my son also learns from home full time is sometimes nightmarish. He’s in middle school, so he can navigate a lot of the classwork independently, but a lot of it is flat out confusing, and he does need reminders sometimes. He had standardized tests last week/this week, and it was a bit of a mess. I can’t simply set my work laptop next to his school laptop and work back and forth. It makes it hard for me to focus, and I’m distracting to him. I can’t even be in the same room with him when he’s doing school because he is constantly trying to chat with me (he’s like the annoying chatty coworker who doesn’t seem to notice you’re not paying attention to him and trying to get work done).

  352. Former Retail Manager*

    I feel for anyone that has young children at home. I don’t have that, but I do have an elderly mother that gives me hourly COVID updates, updates about the neighbors lawns (they need to mow it! according to her), wants to have lengthy chats in the middle of the workday and is oblivious to the amount of noise she makes while I’m on the phone. I also have never wanted to work from home and my house isn’t big enough for a dedicated office. I’m literally at the dining room table in an open concept house. I have a very large wardrobe and now 95% of it is useless really. I like getting dressed up for work, planning outfits, putting on makeup, etc. Now I look like a baglady all day, every day.

    I’m also coming pretty close to hitting a wall, in terms of productivity. I just want to watch TV and pet the cat and organize my closets. I have good days and bad days, but I feel perpetually behind despite my best efforts to keep myself on a strict schedule.

    In the long run, I could continue working this way if forced to, but I certainly see if being a detriment to newer employees who haven’t yet established contacts in different departments or haven’t gotten real “face time” with people that could help their career. While I know many may say that it’s the work that counts, I don’t entirely agree. Personality matters, especially when deciding if someone is a good fit for a promotion or leadership role or just determining their areas that could use improvement so you can mentor them. Minimal interaction via Skype meetings or phone calls doesn’t always paint an accurate picture in my opinion.

  353. Mad Harry Crewe*

    I miss my commute – not the cars, but getting out of the house daily and being on my bike for half an hour twice a day was wonderful. I’m much less connected to the seasons and weather than I used to be.

    I have adapted to WFH better than I expected, but it’s still hard and isolating. I don’t need a lot of social contact, and I got a lot of that from work, chatting with people in the hall or kitchen. With everyone remote, there’s a lot less opportunity to have the kind of low-key work friendships/acquaintance-ships that I enjoyed.

    1. homesick*

      I used to commute on foot and I missed it so, so much at first. I’ve now mostly successfully replaced it with walks during the day and before/after work — I’m actually walking a lot more than I did before the pandemic — but I especially miss my walk home from work, which was my time to clear my head, disconnect a bit, etc. It’s such a nice ritual.

  354. JanetM*

    I find that I like working from home. Like many others who’ve posted, I miss the casual conversations or being able to drop by someone’s desk to ask a question, as well as my dual monitors. On the other hand, at home I have windows and can wear slippers all day.

    To be fair, I have a nearly ideal setup for working from home: no kids, no pets, and a large enough house that my husband and I each have our own “office.” I’m also a strong introvert, so not having a lot of people-time doesn’t really bother me.

    My manager does not attempt to micromanage his staff remotely (he didn’t micromanage on campus, either) — we have staff meeting once a week, communicate regularly by email about things, and once or twice a week he pings each of us on Teams just to say hi and ask how things are going. My division is currently in the midst of implementing a new application for our trouble-ticket, change management, and project management systems, so we’re also having implementation meetings three times a week with our consultant and once or twice a week without the consultant, but that’s specifically project-focused.

  355. casual librarian*

    The thing I miss most about my office is my standing desk. I have significant hip and lower back issues, and standing during the day really helps alleviate that. My home setup doesn’t allow for that. On the flip side, though, I am able to get up and walk around freely and stretch which I can’t do at my office.

    1. Moeg*

      Sorry if you’ve already eliminated these options, but I found a cheap “lap desk”/”breakfast in bed tray” from Amazon when put on a desk/dining table makes it ideal standing desk height. I’ve also used our ironing board as a standing desk (more frequently than I’ve used it to iron, which does make me feel better about having bought it!) Both of those combined were cheaper than any actual standing desk I looked at, and fold away easily.

  356. Jigglypuff*

    As a neurodiverse person, I do not miss my office. Typical chit-chatty office interactions are exhausting, and I get to skip out on that now. Also, all directions have to be given in a written manner, which makes it easier for me to re-read and make sure I understand them properly.

    On top of that, my office, which is basically a cubicle farm, has an antiquated dress code, so now that I’m home I can wear jeans and a tshirt, items that are comfortable for me, help me to focus on work instead of clothing, and in no way impede my ability to work.

    All that being said, my spouse was already working from home and we have no children, so it’s definitely easier for me than it is for others. I do sincerely hope we get to stay this way more long-term, but I doubt that will be the case.

  357. Petty Editor*

    I miss only 2 things: a reason to put on makeup everyday and the ease of having meetings. We were already in a partial WFH schedule as a perk of the job, but all staff in our department were in the office on Tuesday and Thursday, so we did all our meetings on those days. Zoom is imperfect in that it removes non-verbal cues, which is a huge part of how I read others’ engagement and response to ideas and direction. Plus, there’s a lot less overtalking when you’re face-to-face.

  358. DoubleE*

    Working from home is better than I thought it would be, but I’d still rather be in the office once it’s safe. I’ve done everything I can to maintain my work life balance: dedicated work area in my house that I don’t spend time in when I’m not working, set working hours, shutting down my computer at the end of the day. But even with all that, I find that I’m experiencing more work related stress in my off hours than I did when I was working from the office. I also miss seeing my coworkers. We have regular zoom calls, but it’s not the same as an in person conversation.

  359. Middle Manager*

    I miss: the printer, the clarity of distinction between home life and work life, and seeing other human beings. But after months at home, I’ve largely adjusted, sat up an actual office space. I’m certainly a bit zoom fatigued, but it’s manageable and I could see working this way long term. I’ve never felt so lucky to live alone though, I do not envy my co-workers trying to do this with kids and other people WFH.

  360. BuckeyeIT*

    Prior to Covid I worked from home for one week of the month and travelling throughout my assigned territory [The Dakotas to the East Coast] for the other three. As an extreme introvert and homebody, I hated it. I’d whine to my husband the night before my flight out that I didn’t want to go- every. single. time.

    I haven’t travelled to even local facilities since March and I’m surprisingly missing it. I’d actually like nothing more than a week in NY, the Carolinas or Midwest to break up the monotony.

  361. Ms. Ann Thrope*

    I love WFH! Used to do it once a week in the Before Times, and honestly after doing it FT for 6 months I don’t want to go back. I paradoxically feel more like ‘part of the team’ because people were pretty cool, if not downright chilly, in person so not seeing anyone means I don’t get the cold shoulder.

    The only drawback is that my gym is way more convenient to the office than home, but then again that hasn’t been an issue this year anyway.

  362. Tupac Coachella*

    I miss my office so much. I’ve gotten to the point where I recognize the up side of WFH (which I had a really hard time with at first, especially before I’d set up a functioning work space), but I definitely feel like my drive is not nearly as strong; I’m doing my job, but not pushing, exploring, or getting excited about new things. Work has always been an anchor for me, and dealing with everything going on in the world and my community has kicked my depression into high gear. I haven’t been this depressed for this long maybe ever. I miss having a place where I felt focused and productive most of the time to help me balance that. It was my space that belonged to just me, and I was amazing there. Now I don’t feel like I’m amazing anywhere. I’m just surviving.

    (For the record: I’m not ok, but I’m ok-I’m not in immediate danger or anything. But I don’t have much outlet for this type of thing, and I know this is generally a safe community for people who live with anxiety and depression, so I decided to keep it 100.)

    1. homesick*

      “My drive is not nearly as strong; I’m doing my job, but not pushing, exploring, or getting excited about new things.”

      This is exactly my experience. I’m trying to be kind to myself — it’s been a really hard year, I should grade myself on a curve, doing my job under these conditions is no small thing, etc. My productivity and motivation have always cycled, so it’s not unusual for me to have a month or two out of the year when I’m kinda checking boxes and getting the job done, and then other months when I’m kicking butt and achieving at high levels. But by the time we go back to the office, it will have been 18 months. I don’t want to tread water for 18 months. I like what I do, and I like it because it’s engaging and challenging. I know have value outside my performance at work (and my performance is still pretty good), but the way I feel about work right now is so freaking demoralizing. It’s hard.

  363. Moeg*

    I can’t tell whether it’s not having a desk (working from the sofa), the dog being incessantly irritating (recovering from knee surgery so not allowed to run or play), or general burnout (covering 3 roles’ work for the last 18 months) but I am fed-the-F-up with working from home. My partner can’t work from home (lab work) so is gone all day, which is great from the perspective of meetings but sucks when there are days when I literally don’t communicate with anyone, be it via email, IM, or phone.

    It’s been super convenient that I’m here to receive deliveries and caring for the dog post-surgery would have been impossible if I had to go into the office, but I’m so grumpy and stressed. It’s an effort to be thankful that my job was unaffected by the pandemic and partner was entering his sixth month of unemployment when he was offered this job, starting the first week of lockdown. I know we have it better than huge numbers of people. I’m still bloody miserable.

    1. The Man, Becky Lynch*

      Have you experienced any back issues from being parked on the sofa so long?

      I only ask because I’m still trying to figure out if I’m the only one who throws out their back when seated without proper support :”( I had to get a standing desk at work because of it even, so a couch is EXTRA aggravating!

      1. Moeg*

        Sometimes I get achey in the shoulders, but more often than not I’m fidgeting constantly, so don’t stay still long enough to cause strain. I’ll move to stand at the ironing board or sit on the floor in front of the fan heater and all sorts if I don’t have meetings. It’s definitely terrible, I’m still just about in my 20s so I suspect if I were a couple of years older I’d feel very differently.

  364. I edit everything*

    I’ve been working from “home” for the last four+ years, so I don’t miss my office. I do, however, miss my coffee shop and my room in the library and sitting across a table from a friend who also works from home. My home office is in my basement, which is somewhat dreary (as basements are), and instead of a mostly pleasant background buzz of conversation and espresso machines, I have thumping over my head from my dog or son or one of the cats, and my mother coming down to give me the latest news from whatever friend or family member she just spoke to on the phone, or to moan about the news. It’s much harder to focus.

    But I’d still rather do this than be in an office.

  365. homesick*

    I miss my office terribly. In theory, my work from home situation should be OK. Slack and Zoom have been part of my company’s workflow for years; our jobs aren’t technically difficult to do remotely; I don’t have kids at home, and although I share a small one-bedroom, my partner and I have done a good job carving out workspaces. There have even been some upsides: I’m really not a morning person, and I’m much happier not having to rush out the door to commute. I’ve lost a little weight because it’s easy to control what I eat. I like to cook and I really enjoy being able to whip up a lunch in my kitchen.

    But I miss my office SO MUCH, both the physical space and the people in it. I thrive on interpersonal interaction and I miss collaborating in person with my coworkers. I even miss stuff I didn’t particularly like, like unnecessary meetings and kitchen small talk. I miss having a place set aside for WORK, which really helps keep me on task (if I have to sit in an office for 8 hours, I will eventually do the thing I have been putting off; less so at home).

    This is a really busy time for me — I’m a journalist — and normally there would be yelling across the newsroom, pizza on convention and debate nights, too many people crammed into conference rooms to brainstorm and plan. I really miss that energy and focus. (The prospect of remote election night is really, really sad to me; it’s usually a night with a lot of shared purpose, community, good-natured griping, pizza.) I feel like I’m not doing my best work at a time when I really should be, and I know it’s because working from home is a struggle for me.

    My relationships with my coworkers have also deteriorated — it turns out that low-key small talk before meetings and the ability to quickly talk through a question or dispute is really really important, and hard to replicate. My work world is smaller than it used to be: I used to talk to coworkers on my team but out of my reporting line all the time because we sat near one another, and there’s so much less of that now. It’s also just been a tough year with quite a bit of tension in the office over various things, and not being able to see one another face to face has made it so much harder.

    All that said… I can’t imagine going back five days a week! If we could figure out a rotation where the team was in the office together 3 days a week, with optional WFH on the other 2 days, that would be my ideal. There are definite quality of life upsides to working from home, but full-time is not really suited to me at all.

  366. michaela*

    We were supposed to move into a brand-new facility that just finished construction this summer, after two years of my team being located at a temporary office away from our main office. So, I was really looking forward to being reunited with all my colleagues in a beautiful, functional space. I suppose I’d rather be waiting it out at home than be in the temporary space any longer.

    For awhile, I didn’t miss the long commute I had at all, but now I’m missing the little things traveling by bus brought into my day. It was my time to get immersed in reading a book or stare out the window thinking and daydreaming. More than that, it allowed me to see what was going on in the world: to experience the weather, to hear and see little happenings around the city, to see familiar faces of other commuters, to observe changes in the neighborhood, to experience funny little moments like overhearing an odd conversation. I do really miss that.

  367. Choggy*

    Eh, the only problem is that I don’t move as much when working from my home office, but try to get up a least a few times a day to go upstairs and get outside on my deck. I still feel so tied to my computer but am trying to be more flexible with myself and now that I have a 5G wireless mifi (love work perks!) can probably work from my deck now that the weather is nice in the NE. I really have no complaints to speak of as any issues are my own to fix. No kids, no pets, hubby is only home two days a week, and only every other week is he home during my work day. I hope everyone is taking care of themselves as well as everyone else while we take things day by day.

  368. Jessica*

    HATE IT. Don’t have an ergonomic setup, don’t have two monitors, don’t see my team daily, don’t see my department, don’t see other colleagues, have four roommates, the internet/servers take longer, miss walking out the door at 5 sans laptop to go do something else…
    In all honestly, we were already seeing a disintegration in our department just in the last few years from switching from a dedicated office/cube space just for us, to a hoteling setup that combined all departments. When you aren’t around the people you actually work and collaborate with all day every day, what’s the difference between coming into the office or wfh? I’m sad that this whole situation means we’ll likely never have a cohesive department ever again. We get less accomplished, we’re less efficient, information doesn’t flow as easily, people are unhappier, and turnover is higher.

  369. NeonFireworks*

    Strongly mixed feelings!

    I love my house. My desk at home gets way, way more light than my office does, plus I have a fantastic balcony. At work, to get fresh air, I’d have to go down to street level and then try to find a bench. Commuting always felt like a huge chore, and getting to give it up has been fantastic. It’s also hard to find good food options at/near work – I usually end up packing my own lunch, which always feels like a chore. I’m finding it much easier to exercise enough at home, too, so my health is better. WFH means I have considerably more control over my own schedule, which is wonderful. Crunch time in the office is sometimes 6 through 8 PM, and 8 PM is when I’d really like to be going to bed. With WFH I can do my work whenever and climb into bed as early as I want. Way more time for hobbies and housework – I can always do the laundry in the morning now! My home computer is a lot faster than my work computer. Better thermostat control. I like my colleagues a lot but am very introverted, and when in-person work gets busy, I usually don’t quite get enough time to myself. It takes very little before I feel like I’ve been around people, so I’m not lonely. There’s one person at work who really gets on my nerves, and not having to put up with them is nice. Oh, and one of my colleagues has an office door that makes a horrible creaky noise (like a terrible parody of a haunted house). I once overheard someone asking her about it, and she said she actually thinks it’s funny/endearing and it puts a smile on her face over the course of the day, so I’ve never said anything, but…I do not miss the horrible creaky noise.

    But…I’m about 25% more productive at work, and would prefer to get to leave work behind in the office when I go home at the end of the day. I like meetings a whole lot more when they’re in person; it’s so easy to zone out via Zoom, and that’s uncharacteristic of me. My work is fast-paced and exciting in person, and I can tell I’m a bit more apathetic about it this way. Most of my colleagues and I are really close; I miss the collective energy in the room. My team (of about 50-60 people) gets along well and tends to accomplish a lot just by mingling and ending up spontaneously bouncing ideas around. With everything scheduled now, that’s really missing. There are a lot of individual people I care about a lot but don’t have good excuses to talk to or email with everyone in isolation. Online conferences are better than nothing, but I miss the real thing (though I don’t miss what the large amount of travel must have been doing to my carbon footprint). I did like getting dressed for work, which I mostly don’t bother with now. I miss collaborative whiteboarding. And (except for the days ending at 8 PM) getting to go to the public library on the way home.

  370. RB*

    I’m single, no kids, so I don’t have the downsides of WFH that a lot of people have but I still think I’d prefer to be in the office for anywhere from two to four days a week, provided I have some of the same schedule flexibility that I have at home. Also, when quarantining alone you don’t see a lot of people so going into the office would address some of those issues.

  371. I'm Not Phyllis*

    I do miss my office. (I am not set up to work from home, so I miss having a dedicated work space.) That’s just part of it, though. I miss my coworkers and my normal/previous office life but even when I go in, it isn’t the same. The building is half empty, where it used to be a busy, vibrant community space.

  372. Czhorat*

    Like many here, I miss the office. I miss having someplace to go everyday that isn’t home. I miss the quiet moments in the train ride in, I miss juggling in the park at lunchtime.

    The sense of place matters so much and means so much. I dearly missed it.

  373. Mademoiselle Sugar Lump*

    I’ve always disliked working from home – I feel like I’m home sick, I didn’t until now have a big monitor, I like being in the heart of the action and being around other people. I’m married and my husband’s business is an essential service, so I’m alone all day.

    Now I appreciate (so much!) that I’m able to keep my job, and my employer has been great about providing equipment and support. I’ve always worked with people all over the globe so I’m used to video conferencing. But I miss being around people much more than I would have expected – I didn’t think of myself as an extrovert – am am grateful for “coffee break” video meetings that some managers have scheduled. Just to see faces and hear chit chat about how everyone’s doing – it’s the highlight of my week.

    Besides that, some of my work involves doing complicated diagrams and drawings and nothing beats being able to walk over and ask “is this where this power cable connects?” instead of having to go back and forth in email.

    Thanks for asking!

  374. Mademoiselle Sugar Lump*

    This week’s New Yorker cover, of a lone worker in an empty office, summed it up for me perfectly.

  375. RK*

    I LOVE working from home. No kids, and we have separate “office” rooms for both me and my partner, and pretty good internet, and a lovely house and outside spaces – I totally get that all these are things that make this so much easier!

    One thing I’ve realized is that I must be much more introverted than I thought. I work collaboratively with a lot of co-workers through Teams calls throughout the day – sometimes video, but mostly just audio, and tons of Teams chats – this is actually the sweet spot for social interaction for me. I feel like I have plenty of interaction with my co-workers, and then I can just turn it off when it gets to be too much – I didn’t realize until leaving the office how much being “on” all the time for constant little social interactions was really draining me! If it wasn’t for the fact that others on my team are clearly miserable about being home, I’d want to do it this way forever!

    2. MissDisplaced*

      “I didn’t realize until leaving the office how much being “on” all the time for constant little social interactions was really draining me!”

      Yes, that’s me! I found the office draining.
      Not to mention there also was a 2 hour drive + another hour to shower/dress/makeup. That’s 3 hours a day saved!

  376. A Genuine Scientician*

    For me, the biggest drawback has been that the workload has expanded massively, and there’s not a clear demarcation between work and non-work time any longer. I’m in a full-time (non-adjunct), university level teaching position. There are things that take 5 minutes to do when teaching in person, that now take 40 minutes to do because everything’s online. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to troubleshoot student tech issues, which means less time is available to teach the actual content of my courses. The number of emails we get from students has gone up more than 10x, as students pushed past their normal limits by the pandemic are much less good at reading and following directions than they normally are — which also ties into the tech issues, as often it turns out that the issue is that the student wasn’t following directions. We can’t use virtually any of our old assessments, because realistically everything is now open-note, open-book (or else we’re effectively punishing the students who follow the rules, since many others won’t), and we need to generate new ones not only for this term but also can’t use this term’s ones again in the future since too many students will have access to them and the answer keys. And for a 250 person, 100-level science course, I absolutely do have to have multiple choice questions as it is simply not possible to grade everything in time if it’s all free response or project-based.

    My favorite part of the job in the Before Times is that we have a room that we’d all take turns staffing, where students in the course could come and ask for help on any topic within the bounds of the course. I loved that, since these were students actively seeking help, and I’m happy to go out of my way to find a different way of explaining something if they’re putting in the effort. We’re still doing that on Zoom, but attendance is down 50-85% from what it was in the Before Times, and there are sometimes entire hours I staff that session where not a single student signs in.

    Also, teaching to a sea of black screens because students understandably don’t want to have their webcams on (and I won’t require it — there are too many good reasons they don’t want them on, particularly students from marginalized positions) is just exhausting in a way that teaching in person isn’t. I typically adjust my tempo and depth based on a lot of nonverbal feedback I get from my students, and that’s simply not possible now. It is rough having to rely solely on interactive polling features to see if students are comprehending the material prior to graded quizzes or exams. I expect that my student evaluations will suffer, and it’s just hard putting in massively more work than before, while knowing that you’re going to be judged more negatively for it, by people that don’t really know what all your job entails.

    My boss has been great about getting me the tech I need to do my job, but there are some things that are just beyond his ability to do anything about, and which make this job worse than it was in person. Having my cat on my lap, and not having to police student clothing in the lab (where I’m not worried about them distracting others, I’m worried about them spilling dangerous chemicals or live bacteria on their exposed skin) doesn’t fully make up for some of this.

  377. trudrlka*

    Do I miss the office? Yes & no. The nature of my work involves a lot of troubleshooting. It’s nice to overhear bits of other conversations because sometimes a change I made may be related to an issue someone else is troubleshooting or vice versa. Yes we have slack channels, but I tend to ignore any channel that doesn’t directly relate to my work, so I miss those discussions. Also, it’s easier to learn by sitting near someone who’s working on something you’re interested in. Still possible, but not as natural when everyone is WFH.

    What I don’t miss is all the boring all-hands/status update meetings that (in my experience) are almost always a waste of time. Anything truly important that gets announced in an all hands will be followed up in e-mail. So now I can just dial in on my phone, continue to work, & half/sorta pay attention.

  378. Grammy*

    I just started a new job totally WFH. My previous job was highly toxic and my team could not WFH. Employees were slack about wearing masks and scornful of social distancing, etc. We were a hospital billing office, the attitude from my teammates about COVID was mind blowing. Now I am enjoying the WFH, but training was daunting. I’ve been in it for a month I’m really enjoying it. I live alone except for cats so no distractions. I don’t miss rush hour or being out in bad weather. My team has an IM chat going and encourage and help each other that way. The only thing I lack now is confidence in my router and modem…

  379. AshK434*

    I absolutely LOVE working from home and am hoping I can make this permanent. I hated my commute and I no longer have to deal with casual acts of racism and microagressions so this is a win-win. It also helps that ordinarily my team is distributed across the country any way so we’ve never been in the same office and I’m not missing those types of interactions

  380. TimeTravlR*

    I a that weird animal that enjoys a nice quiet office and doesn’t require constant (or sometimes any!) interaction. I love working from home. But I also have a separate room that I had already set up as an office/sewing room so I have my space and I can close the door and walk away. Or move to the other side and sew. Having my computer staring at me does not bother me and I can ignore it outside office hours.
    Partner has a separate office in our home so there are no distractions. Kids are grown, the neighborhood is quiet during the day. I LOVE IT.
    But I have TONS of empathy for those of you dealing with kids and partners, and small spaces, and uncooperative employers!

  381. DG*

    I never thought that I would miss a cubicle but good LORD do I! Working from home has been a difficult transition; I have ADD and am unmedicated for a variety of reasons. I’ve spent the last four years building up good skills and habits to organize my work, keep me focused, and keep me on task. All of that fell apart when COVID hit and its been a struggle to really reclaim the progress that I’ve made. Even worse, going from two screens and a mouse to a tiny laptop has slashed my productivity tremendously. I can’t wait to see my coworkers, two screen, and office plants again.

  382. NicoleK*

    I miss having lunches and going for a stroll with colleagues, but for the most part, I love working from home.

  383. WFH2020*

    Someone here on AAM very early on hit the nail on the head when they wrote: instead of Working from Home it feels more like we are Living At Work.

    Still feels like that. It still feels uncomfortable and intrusive but what’s the alternative? I’d have other stresses if I was trying to work from the office during a deadly pandemic.

    One positive was that I was in a two-day intensive training on racism and came away feeling like I got a lot more out of it via an intense ZOOM format than had I attended in person. I would have shut down a lot more if it was in person.
    During the training,
    ZOOM set up random people in breakout rooms, which makes it so much easier than finding a new group each time by wandering around the room.

    There are other things that seem easier to me to accomplish via ZOOM than in person. Some processes are actually moving faster and smoother while WFH.

    Someone who I manage has been able to get caught up and stay caught up since she doesn’t have a steady stream of people seeking her out with questions and chitchat.

  384. MissDisplaced*

    Big nope! I don’t miss the office on a day to day level at all. It was both open office and hot desking and I absolutely hated it.

    What I do miss is having in-person meetings with my team as we were all distributed throughout the country. I was the only one bring forced into the hated office because of where I lived, which was stupid and unfair. And I miss trade shows because we’d usually all go together to those.

  385. Cassidy*

    I love working from home so much I’m hoping to do so indefinitely.

    No more encountering the grouchy boss and suffering her glare for, I dunno, having the nerve to share the same planet as she. No more same ol’ long trip to the restroom. No more having to walk past the co-worker who insists every. freaking. time. to hum a golden oldie song that is titled with my first name. No more commute. No more parking. No more worrying about porch pirates. No more taking vacation days to be at home for maintenance calls.

    Cooking a hot meal for lunch. Having TV on in the background. My cats lazing about nearby as I work. A good thunderstorm. My own private restroom. Making a private call when I want to. Checking email during meaningless meetings about nothing. WFH is like being in Willie Wonka’s factory but with even more candy and rainbows and sunshine.

    Hell, no, I don’t miss it! I LOVE what I do, and love it more from home. Let it be a paradigm shift for those of us who want it.

  386. writelhd*

    I do not like it. When I first started having to do it I felt a sinking depression at the thought. It got a little better with time, but I still sometimes feel depression on weekends when I think about going back to it.

    I always thought myself an introvert, and I am. When I was in the office I savored the days when I didn’t have meetings or interruptions and could just sit and get deep work done.

    But when I’m at home, without that human connection, I realize how much my job depending on real time collaboration with others, how much rapport I built with colleagues that was useful for my social capital on collaborative projects when I had those unplanned interactions in the hallway with them, just the face to face stuff in general. I do rely heavily on the phone now and can get some of that through phone calls, but it’s still not quite the same.

    I miss us all being in the same place, working together on our stuff. Even the guy who used to loom in my doorway and chat for waaay too long when I was busy.

  387. Des*

    I miss my office but do not miss the commute. I would say I miss driving to work (very little traffic) and I hated to drive back (in rush hour). I miss seeing my coworkers, not having “at home” distractions and having a dedicated workspace (not in my bedroom). But it’s alright, overall, and I’m very hopeful that in the next year or two we’ll have the flexibility to come into the office or stay home as needed. Now THAT would be ideal!

  388. Gatomon*

    Well my acne has cleared up and I’ve had far less migraines and allergy issues since WFH, so I definitely prefer it. It is nice to go in when I need to do so. I am lucky enough to have an office with a door at home, but it’s consumed my computer gaming space. I’m probably going to invest in separating that space more by getting another monitor and mouse and keyboard set so I can move my gaming PC to the other room. My chair is too expensive to double up on, so I’ll just wheel that around between the areas as needed.

    I don’t like having to put the cat up constantly while WFH though. He just can’t seem to chill with me, he must be getting petted or beg for food and I can’t trust him if I get a phone call. He’s pretty good about coming to get me for lunch and at 5 pm though.

  389. Kate H*

    I was only surprised by how much I *love* it.

    No commute. A full-hour lunch that I make up for by starting early. Lunch isn’t restricted to whatever I can eat cold/heat up in the microwave. There isn’t a line for the microwave in my kitchen. There isn’t a line for the women’s restroom. The bathroom is always clean. I’m not constantly surrounded by ringing phones and loud personal conversations. I can multi-task in long meetings. I can talk to myself and curse at my computer when things go wrong. I don’t have our GM walking around announcing how quiet we all are. I don’t have to worry about overhearing political conversations that make me want to scream.

    I never want to go back.

  390. Karate Saw*

    I miss my office a lot. I am middle-aged and single and childless, and already had most of my social activity happening online, so going in to work was genuinely about the ONLY place I went. I’ve been struggling a lot kind of existentially about being here all. the. time. Its been especially hard because a lot of my team worked remotely before so nothing has changed for them. I think they’re baffled that I’m having a hard with it.
    I feel like I might feel completely differently about this if it had been a choice I made in normal times? But even then for me WFH is a nice treat once a week, and not for everyday.

  391. Properlike*

    Since I’m a creative with a home office, I do miss it — in that my kids and my husband are here constantly, and I don’t have big, uninterrupted chunks during the day where I am the only one home and can count on not being interrupted or distracted by someone else.

  392. Weasel007*

    In February 2020 I did everything in my power to not go in. I’m pretty sure I was about to get a talk about it. Now I haven’t been in the office since March 1st. I totally miss having in person meetings with humans that don’t bark to go potty, or fight over the milk ring. I even asked my manager to ask for folks to turn on cameras for a meeting so I can see everyone’s face.

  393. JM60*

    I hope I never have to go back to the office. With WFH:
    – If I can go fully remote forever, I can save tens of thousands of dollars a year on housing. Where I currently live, and where almost all the jobs in my industry are, have insanely high housing costs.
    – I don’t have to waste hours of my life every week commuting, which also saves money on gas and vehicle wear and tear.
    – I can watch/listen to a YouTube video in a window on my PC while efficiently working, but that often can’t be done in the office (it will look to some like you’re not working).
    – I can wear what I want.
    – If I want to look at something on my (personal) computer during a break, I don’t have to worry about it being workplace appropriate.

  394. Ainuvande*

    I just started working from the office three days a week and I love it. I focus differently depending on whether I’m at home or in the office, so I feel like I’m more productive overall and really appreciate the chance to get out of my tiny apartment where my partner and I can hear each other’s meetings.

    I also have my own office with a door that can close at work though. it’s a big part of why I’m there instead of my staff actually – any of us can receive packages and get the mail and it’s a lot safer for me with my closed door than them with their desks in a high traffic area.

  395. Sam Foster*

    No. I do not miss my office in the slightest. Why? Open floor plan with three foot shelves for us to work at. Two conferences for 100+ employees. Why would I want to return to that misery?

  396. Workaholic*

    I learned years ago that, for my sanity, I really need the division of leave for work, then leave for home. However, being able to wake up 5 minutes before my shift and hopping online not dressed, messy hair, and deal with it later is nice. Saving tons of gas money. And while my ergonomics were so bad they approved me to go back to the office months ago if I wanted, I stuck it out. FINALLY 2 weeks ago I was able to rearrange my living room to make room for a table (i was in an armchair with dual monitors set up on TV trays). I’m in a very small apartment and space was maxed out before having to work from home. My employer has us working from home until January and… I may finally get my lifelong dream winter. Getting to enjoy snow from the window and not have to go outside. No scraping ice and snow from my car, no early morning commute before the snow plows are out, no dealing with other drivers and bad roads.

    1. Workaholic*

      Oops. I do miss coworkers! One of them calls me almost every day to talk work stuff then we just chat a while. Miss having a printer and scanner. Do not miss the lighting that apparently makes me tired and the vending machines I frequented for munchies to keep me awake. I’ve lost 20 lbs working from home.

      1. Just Jess*

        I found your 20lbs!
        But seriously, I’m fascinated by stories of people losing weight since my 1) walk, bus, train to work and 2) hit the gym a block from work 3x a week self is certainly not in that category.

        On that note, I do really miss the free office snacks.

  397. Chickaletta*

    Really miss the office, although I have lots of benefits from working from home: sleeping in, getting more excercise, spending more time with my son, saving a ton of money on gas, food, makeup, manicures, etc. But I was so much better at my job in person. For context, I’m an assistant to a high functioning executive. Not being in person means I don’t have a pulse on how his day is going, I can’t help with all the little things or give quick reminders in passing, and most of the time I don’t even know what he’s doing despite managing his calendar – I can’t tell if he’s working from home or the office that day, I can’t tell if he’s running late to a meeting or getting out early or touching base with someone he needed to connect with. I’ve also noticed that my demeanor and professionalism have loosened up quite a bit – and that’s not a good thing in the c-suite. It’s hard to stay polished when you’re barefoot, barefaced, braless, and pausing work every 15 minutes to explain fouth grade math or searching for a missing purple marker. (I do dress professionally from the waist up on video meeting days and ban my son from the room when I have important meetings). But I have drifted off during video meetings when I should be taking minutes, I let out comments or frustrations that should be tempered, and I sometimes put in the bare minimum effort because it doesn’t seem like anyone is watching. I’m an island, and I should’t be. Part of me worries that my reputation is going to be affected permanently by this.

  398. PumpkinSpice4Ever*

    Miss:
    Huge dual monitors
    Midtown Manhattan lunch options
    Continual availability of hot coffee made by someone else and cold seltzer bought by someone else
    My children attending school in person – their schools are virtual this fall

    Don’t miss:
    The 90 minutes each way commute
    Finding clothes to wear to work every day
    The open office plan and regular distractions
    Hurrying back from work in order to pick up children at aftercare programs

  399. Keyboard Cowboy*

    I totally miss the office! I have a much harder time making myself work when I am surrounded by home stuff: partner, dogs, chores, hobbies. I had such a hard time focusing that my partner and I moved into a house this month so that we could each have an office. It’ll be really nice when it’s safe to go back.

  400. Beth ANNE*

    I’m currently working two jobs. 1 that is back open and I’m working in the office and one remotely. I love my remote job. I miss working from home at my office job. I’m actually thinking about asking to work from home more. I mainly do not like this office job b/c I share an office with a guy that talks to EVERYONE ON SPEAKER PHONE and it is seriously so annoying.

  401. Christine*

    I do not miss it. Crowded, hot, noisy environment. At home I have peace and quiet and I can focus. My company is building out a new office space for post Covid and I just found out we’ll have shared cubes. I do not want to spend an hour a day in my car to go sit in a crowded noisy office where I can’t focus. Having proven I can be productive at home, I’m hoping to make a case to work remote permanently.

  402. Anony-Mouse*

    Don’t miss it at all. Got my nice set up at home, peace and quiet, no commute, a full fridge. It’s been amazing. I’m so much happier. I can’t imagine going back.

  403. CreamyMami*

    In my job an office is practical but unnecessary. It stressed me out to be there all week as there was no silence to focus, rooms were crowded like chicken coops, no great facilities, dirt and so on. Working remotely was the best thing my collegues and me could have, and we know for sure that without a pandemic we will be still getting a big NO.
    I find myself more focused, I manage to do things in better quality and I have a better relationship with colleagues: if the mere idea of having a meeting used to overwhelm me with impatience and the certainty of witnessing a triumph of stupidity, now I wouldn’t say no to an aperitif together.

  404. Director of Alpaca Exams*

    I don’t miss my office, but I miss Starbucks. I was just diagnosed with a herniated disc that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have if I could have taken my laptop hither and yon like I used to instead of being stuck in a substandard home workspace.

  405. Hannah*

    I’m working from home about two days a week, three days at the office, and that’s a perfect balance. Honestly, all those people saying how they’re “much more productive” they are at home compared to at the office stump me. I find it MUCH harder to concentrate at home! Knowing there are dishes to be done, laundry, groceries, etc. I realized I need the “social control” of an office to do most of my best work, being home all the time causes me to slack off a bit. I know, not great, but there you go. At least I know now what works best for me :)

  406. WS*

    I’m an essential worker and can’t work from home. I’m very much over everyone trying to get their social needs met by chatting to essential workers like me, when I would really like to get on with my busy job and not have people sidling closer and closer to settle in for a long talk!

  407. Katie*

    I miss my partner going to an office. I just finished a post-grad degree (lovely timing) and I am looking for work. My partner is a manager trying to stay ahead of a project that is constantly falling behind, and working from home full time. We live in a 1-bedroom apartment. I can never not hear their endless Zoom meetings, no matter how many doors I shut. I feel like I’m at their work all day, while hunting down what few positions there are.

  408. Jenna*

    Yes. I am somebody who needs to leave the house and have a routine. Otherwise I become antisocial, I don’t shower as much as I should, I don’t take my medications consistently, etc. I’ve also been increasingly irritated that the place where I could forget about work has basically become consumed by it. My work/life balance is suffering because the boundaries are so jumbled. Also a few of my coworkers are good friends and I miss them. I miss the cafeteria where the lovely employees remembered my usual lunch order and where I could have most anything for breakfast without having to make it myself. I feel very disconnected from everybody that I’m not working with directly at the moment. So many coworkers I would exchange friendly conversations with (not just small talk) who I haven’t spoken to in six months.

  409. A.O.*

    My office is downtown, so sometimes I miss the convenience of everything I could possibly want within a 5 min walk. But, that leads to too many snacks/treats! I love working at home/being at home in my PJs, with my pets. Away from work drama, co-workers bodily sounds and scents, etc etc etc. Oh, I do miss my office’s free heat/AC.

  410. Usernames are hard*

    Very late to the party, but yes, I missed it so much I chose to return to it about 6 weeks ago. I have a firm policy about keeping work and home separate so even in the Before Times I was part of the approximately 10% of my agency that never worked from home.
    When the entire agency was ordered to work from home in March I was expecting disaster and was pleasantly surprised that I managed to maintain my productivity and find a few positives (working next to an open window on a pleasant spring day, eating lunch on my deck, etc). But, I live alone and between March and August would leave the house once a week for groceries and stir craziness eventually set in. The lines between work hours and home hours began to blur and my concentration on work started to fall.
    Since working in the office is an option I applied to return and I am sooooo much happier. I consider it an acceptable level of risk; I have my own office and the building is very empty (3 other people scattered around the floor I work on) so I don’t even encounter anyone else most days. I can play music as loud as I want and have recovered my ability to focus to the extent a lot of the days fly by. Most of all just leaving my house and having some part of my pre-Covid routine back has greatly improved my mental health.

  411. Vana White*

    I used to go into the office 3 days a week and WFH 2 days a week and I miss going into the office desperately! I miss getting out of my apartment. I miss the clear separation of work and home. I miss socializing with coworkers. I miss after work happy hours. I miss my window seat. I miss the free lunches 2x a week.

  412. RestResetRule*

    Honestly, I’m kind of dreading going back to a normal 5 day workweek in the spring. I love my coworkers and my workspace is really cool (I work in a building that looks like a castle so everything is neat-looking,) but I really enjoy the flexibility I have working from home. My mental health this year, despite COVID, has been pretty good because I’ve had the ability to go on walks, meditate more and step out for errands and things without fear of “Oh, I have to be back by this time or someone is going to throw shade.”

    I’ve been thinking about asking my boss if, when we all go back, if she’d be open to letting me work from home at least 1 or 2 days a week. I can do my job from anywhere and I’ve proven this year that I work well from home.

  413. Anonosaurus*

    I guess I have adjusted, as I feel more positive about it than I did at first. I like the flexibility and not having to wear business dress. I don’t like the gaps in information sharing in my team because we can’t just lean over and update/overhear each other on the phone. It takes more effort to keep on top of that.

    I really really miss co-workers, even the ones I don’t like. Just the everyday human trivia.

    And I miss the cute crush object in IT and the thrill of trying to time my lunch to run into him in the elevator lobby. He probably doesn’t miss me!

  414. OpsAmanda*

    Overall I like working from home. I used to spend 3 hours commuting each day. I have so much more free time now and I’m saving a lot of money that would’ve gone to transportation. The downside is I definitely feel less close to my coworkers. We still talk during weekly staff meetings and occasionally instant message but it’s definitely different from being able to walk next door to their office. But for me, the good outweighs the bad. However, I think it’s a bit different for my coworkers who have kids.

  415. aett*

    I’m lucky enough to work in a fairly small office (which is a part of a much larger department) and all of my coworkers are fantastic, especially since our last toxic coworker left shortly before the pandemic. I also have two kids at home, each with their own disability (autism/ADHD for one and the other requires multiple types of therapy for various delays) who are both doing remote learning and therapy.

    That said: I don’t miss my office AT ALL. I’d say the only thing I miss is going on two 15-minute walks daily with a friend who works in the same building, both for the mild exercise and for a chance to talk to another adult. My job is pretty laid-back, so it’s great to not be tied down to that building, plus NO COMMUTE. And I’m finally able to spend much (much, much, much) more time with my kids.

  416. Warm Weighty Wrists*

    I was only in the office two days a week before all of this happened, but yes I do miss it! I miss…the Mary Tyler Moore of it all, I guess. I miss getting up in the morning, putting on An Outfit instead of the comfiest cleanish thing, briskly walking to public transit, getting my coffee, and coming into the office punctually to be a Professional Lady Person all day long. It felt like I was setting myself up to be competent and productive, and it was a nice confidence-building frame to my day.
    I’m aware that this is all psychological. I’m just as productive at home, the coffee is better here and the food certainly is, and best of all I have a lovely partner and dog to chat to… but I miss having the option of leaving that lovely situation to be all brisk and professional. I’ve got a good situation but it’s all same same same.

  417. Stormy Weather*

    The only reason I want to go back to the office is to bring home the little plush tiger that sits on my monitor.

    My commute wasn’t horrendous, but it was on a train that was almost always crowded up to sardine level. We have offices in multiple time zones, so we were on video calls half the time anyway.

    I do miss the food from the neighborhood where I worked.

    I worked from home in a job several years ago, plus I live alone, so once I had a good monitor, it hasn’t been a big deal to me.

  418. Bow Ties Are Cool*

    I did not expect to like working from home at all, but aside from the fact that my home office space is a bit cramped, I really do. If my work weren’t an “open office” (shoulder-high while sitting, partially glass cubicle walls) having more space might be worth the (short) commute and dressier clothes, though.

  419. Lobsterp0t*

    Working from home is a perk if you have the option.

    I hate working from home full time. I feel trapped in my house and I miss seeing coworkers.

    I don’t benefit from it much – I already had a perfect commute, and I’m stuck on Zoom or a laptop all day. Whereas before desk time was a relief from all the other stuff, now everything is desk stuff.

  420. Mariana*

    I definitely do NOT miss my office. I already worked from home regularly anyway. I have a super long commute (which can easily increase in length by an hour+ if I don’t leave my office within a certain window), and my primary contacts are in another region anyway, so I am always remote).

    There’s nothing I dislike about being home (except not having someone else prepare my meals).

    The reality is, I am actually terrified of going back to the office. Between the commute, the chronic lack of sleep and a rather demoralizing job, I am legitimately in fear of my mental health when I return. I’ve been pretty chill since I have been home, and have already had a couple of incidents.* I am actually afraid that going back will finally push me over the edge.

    (*Yes, I see a therapist weekly; twice weekly at times, and we are working on this…all of this)

  421. crookedfinger*

    I hated it at first, but I’ve come to really appreciate getting to work on projects without interruptions, lack of commute, hanging out with my cats all day, and getting to work out in the privacy of my own home. The only real darkness in WFH for me is the occasional crushing loneliness. I do miss interacting with my coworkers.

  422. Lavender Menace*

    I’m in a weird liminal space.

    I don’t miss the commute, and I enjoy being home to walk my dog in the middle of the day, or do little tasks around the house. I also like the different level of flexibility in my day – my schedule has always been flexible, but the long commute and terrible traffic in my area constrained that somewhat. Now that I don’t have to drive to work, I can really take advantage of that flexibility – sometimes I’m ‘at work’ as early as 7 am and other days I meander on closer to 9:30. And it is much easier to ‘hide’ from people if I don’t have meetings – I turn my Teams onto do not disturb, close Outlook, and turn some music on. (Actually, it’s much easier to run and hide from messages and get some focus time in general – I find myself only really dealing with email 2-3 times a day as opposed to constantly, which is great for focus. And operating in a remote world has caused me to stretch in ways I never thought I would have – I’ve found ways to reduce costs and deliver things in diverse formats that I never would’ve considered pre-pandemic, and my team has expanded services and coverage in other areas because of some creative, scrappy thinking that I think has flourished in this era of more uncertainty.

    I love how my team is all pulling together to support each other and just survive; in some odd ways, I think it’s made us closer. I’ve noticed interactions with close work others just becoming much realer; people are more vulnerable and open about saying they’re not okay, and we’ve been trading mental health tips and just shifting the load around when we need to.

    BUT. I miss my coworkers and I miss meeting people in person – I hate video meetings. I miss the serendipitous projects and things that happen when people run into each other in the hallway, and I miss seeing my coworkers that I don’t work with on specific projects. We got combined with another related team, and all the people on that team seem really cool, but I haven’t met most of them in person. And work/life balance is…weird, because work is home and home is work. Most days I find myself able to shut off work and not do more, but it’s just that I never feel fully “off”, and so my time out is not nearly as relaxing. A weekend used to be enough for a good recharge and now I feel tired on Monday and dragging ass by the time Friday comes along. Also my health has not been great – I get migraines, and I have been getting them more frequently now; my anxiety and depression have also been like a roller coaster during this period of time and sometimes it makes work really, really difficult. And I feel like a lump parked at my desk all day.

  423. AuroraLight37*

    WFH has its advantages- I don’t have to wait for lunch break, I can wear what I want, etc. But being back at the office means I get to talk to actual live people again. I missed that during the lockdown. And I get to buy the occasional takeout meal of food I can’t get delivered to my house, which is awesome because eggplant fries are so darn yummy.

  424. Berkeleyfarm*

    I miss the office, although things are better now that I have a two monitor set up and a real office chair for my desk.
    In my industry I was allowed to go in even in the strictest times (exempt industry), but our employer wanted as many people as possible home to prevent risk.

    Our grandboss is happy with our productivity, very much wants us to reduce our risk, and we have acquired some new tools. We also are in a unique position of hiring enough people since lockdown that we don’t have cubes for them all. One of our hires does not live in the area although has said they’d move if “coming into the office” was regular.

    I’d know more about a lot of things if I was just around to absorb it or “hey when you have a few I’d like to learn about” . But it is what it is.

    I don’t have air conditioning so go into the office when it gets super hot. That’s been nice for maintaining some work relationships as a peer group rotates in to do things that require laying-on-of-hands.

  425. Curmudgeon in California*

    Absolutely not. If I never work in another open plan cesspit it will be too soon. I do not miss the 2.5 hours of commuting each day, the noisy office with ugly decor, and having to walk 60 feet to the bathroom.

  426. Ginar369*

    I have to say the no pants things was fun. We aren’t the kind of business where we needed zoom meetings so pantless was perfect! A Tank top and shorts was my work attire.

    I did find though that I did more work at home than I do in my office. I think part of it might have been just getting organized. I have 4 very large filing cabinets in my office at work to hold all the paper I generate. Plus a stackable on my desk. So every day was a day of figuring out how to organize everything and streamline my processes because I didn’t have the same space as my work office.

    But I was starting work about an hour before normal work times and stopping about an hour after quitting time while at home.

    I have to say I enjoyed working from home. My kids are grown and out of the house and that might have enhanced my enjoyment of it! I do feel for everyone with kids. Trying to work, teach and keep up with the house sounds exhausting.

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