Those who are 100% WFH
Discussion
I've never done this before and was wondering how you get downtime? Especially during the working day.
Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
I’ve WFH for the last 6 and a half years. As above, if most of your interactions are going to be by prearranged meetings then it’s not a challenge to maintain a good work/life balance. If the job you are going into involves lots of spontaneous communications via calls then it will require you to be careful how you use your calendar, I.e booking out non working time, be that nonworking hours, lunch break etc.
One piece of advice I would give is get yourself a decent DECT headset (not Bluetooth), e.g. Jabra and then you won’t have a problem to maintain voice calls from anywhere around your house. Handy if you need to answer the door, let the dog out or put some washing in!
One piece of advice I would give is get yourself a decent DECT headset (not Bluetooth), e.g. Jabra and then you won’t have a problem to maintain voice calls from anywhere around your house. Handy if you need to answer the door, let the dog out or put some washing in!
I WFH 100%. I have people in India and Ukraine and I'm managed out of California. I probably do a longer day end to end but I take plenty of breaks. Start early and check on my teams ahead of me. Meetings etc with UK teams, then later in afternoon meetings with US colleagues.
My wife jokes I'm a paid house husband. In between meetings I do the washing, cleaning, tidying. Workout, walk the dog, prep for dinner. I have Teams app on my phone so I'm contactable in an emergency. I don't respond to out of the blue calls - message me or book an appointment. I block out sections in my calendar. Lunch, afternoon break (school run).
It depends on what your role is. Im senior management so I don't have a visible output, I'm there in case of escalations, but I don't need to be glued to my desk pretending to be busy. If nothing needs my attention I'll go and have a break. You shouldn't feel guilty. If the work is getting done then taking 30 mins to scrub the shower between meetings is a benefit, its not taking the piss.
Personally I love it and if and when I look to change jobs if its not 100% remote I'm 0% interested
My wife jokes I'm a paid house husband. In between meetings I do the washing, cleaning, tidying. Workout, walk the dog, prep for dinner. I have Teams app on my phone so I'm contactable in an emergency. I don't respond to out of the blue calls - message me or book an appointment. I block out sections in my calendar. Lunch, afternoon break (school run).
It depends on what your role is. Im senior management so I don't have a visible output, I'm there in case of escalations, but I don't need to be glued to my desk pretending to be busy. If nothing needs my attention I'll go and have a break. You shouldn't feel guilty. If the work is getting done then taking 30 mins to scrub the shower between meetings is a benefit, its not taking the piss.
Personally I love it and if and when I look to change jobs if its not 100% remote I'm 0% interested
I agree with what others have said.
Lots of benefits and you need to plan your time according to your needs.
I diary block the school runs and any other things I need or want to do including some lunch breaks to meet friends etc. I also have an established operating rhythm with my team and management to keep things going.
Walk the dogs most lunch breaks, on the flip side some days there is no break other than the school run.
Biggest challenge I found is not having the commute either side of work to decompress/get your head into work or home mode.
It can be a challenge to shutdown the PC and walk to another room and immediately expect to play Lego, cook tea, etc. and takes a bit of getting used to!
Lots of benefits and you need to plan your time according to your needs.
I diary block the school runs and any other things I need or want to do including some lunch breaks to meet friends etc. I also have an established operating rhythm with my team and management to keep things going.
Walk the dogs most lunch breaks, on the flip side some days there is no break other than the school run.
Biggest challenge I found is not having the commute either side of work to decompress/get your head into work or home mode.
It can be a challenge to shutdown the PC and walk to another room and immediately expect to play Lego, cook tea, etc. and takes a bit of getting used to!
Greenmantle said:
the first thing is manage your team calls. all of mine are in the diary. i am then able to work around my job to get personal things done. my normal day is probably now 7 to 7 but in that time i’m able to do 2 school runs, 60 mins exercise, personal admin and cook the dinner.
Personal admin, euphemism for having a w
k?! 
On the lack of decompression from work due to no commute time. I got into the habit of doing a 30-60 minute walk in the morning before sitting in the office. This is followed up with a walk later in the day to think. I have been working from home since the late 1990s in a variety of roles/engagements. When my kids were small this helped as they got the idea that dad was at work after my first walk and they could “bother me” after my second walk - still haven’t got my wife to understand this.
Manage your time so you are not tied to the desk/computer/phone. If you were in the office you would go for a walk to get a coffee/tea - why should it be different at home. It is easy to get sucked into working 7-7 or similar with no breaks and that is not healthy long term.
Manage your time so you are not tied to the desk/computer/phone. If you were in the office you would go for a walk to get a coffee/tea - why should it be different at home. It is easy to get sucked into working 7-7 or similar with no breaks and that is not healthy long term.
In terms of regimen, working from home is no different to being in the office; Allocate a dedicated working room in the house which everyone in your household knows and accepts is your office and not to be used for other things, pick a start time and, when you start, work as if you're in the office. Plan your activity for the week ahead just as you would if you were in the office, allowing sufficient focus time for reading/reviewing/producing and flex for dealing with inevitable emerging issues and then stay focused until you've achieved what you've aimed to achieve.
Don't fall into the trap of slicing and dicing your day into bits of work and bits of personal activity - doing the school run/walking the dog/cooking supper/going to the gym will just elongate your working day and make you less focused, less productive and less flexible.
Don't fall into the trap of slicing and dicing your day into bits of work and bits of personal activity - doing the school run/walking the dog/cooking supper/going to the gym will just elongate your working day and make you less focused, less productive and less flexible.
I have a garden office, so I'm not working in my own home. That makes a world of difference to my mental health and wellbeing, plus it means people in the house don't hear endless Teams calls.
I do a 30 minute walk round the park at the start of the day before I sit down at my desk. Aside from the exercise being good for me, the "commute" helps get me in the right frame of mind, and at the end of the day being able to shut the laptop and turn off my work phone provides clear separation.
I don't worry about taking a break during the day to go and get a drink, go to the corner shop, use the loo, fuss the cat etc. If someone calls me out of the blue it's not a problem that I didn't answer, any more than it would have been in the office if you'd done the same. I block out my calendar for a lunch break and the evening, or I'd find I'd have back to back meetings from 8am to quite late at night.
I do a 30 minute walk round the park at the start of the day before I sit down at my desk. Aside from the exercise being good for me, the "commute" helps get me in the right frame of mind, and at the end of the day being able to shut the laptop and turn off my work phone provides clear separation.
I don't worry about taking a break during the day to go and get a drink, go to the corner shop, use the loo, fuss the cat etc. If someone calls me out of the blue it's not a problem that I didn't answer, any more than it would have been in the office if you'd done the same. I block out my calendar for a lunch break and the evening, or I'd find I'd have back to back meetings from 8am to quite late at night.
What this thread is already proving is that personal WFH regimes vary a lot. It's a question of finding you what works for you.
I am self employed and WFH pretty much 100%. My work is all about output and deadlines, but can be lumpy so when I am busy I work long hours but when it's quiet I will do 'life' stuff, or take a day off and go for a bike ride or whatever. It's fine, but I would be equally happy 2-3 days a week in an office. There are pros and cons to both.
OP, one thing I would say is that if you are moving into a new type of role, making the shift to the private sector and starting to WFH, that's a lot of change to deal with in one go and you will need active support from your new employer to make it work.
Does everyone WFH at your new place, or will you be in a minority? Prob better if it's the former, if the latter can you spend a few weeks in the office after you first start?
I am self employed and WFH pretty much 100%. My work is all about output and deadlines, but can be lumpy so when I am busy I work long hours but when it's quiet I will do 'life' stuff, or take a day off and go for a bike ride or whatever. It's fine, but I would be equally happy 2-3 days a week in an office. There are pros and cons to both.
OP, one thing I would say is that if you are moving into a new type of role, making the shift to the private sector and starting to WFH, that's a lot of change to deal with in one go and you will need active support from your new employer to make it work.
Does everyone WFH at your new place, or will you be in a minority? Prob better if it's the former, if the latter can you spend a few weeks in the office after you first start?
redrabbit29 said:
Thanks everyone
The job I am looking at is a cyber security consultant. It's a change of industry for me, going from public to private sector so a really big change for me
Cyber security here too, and full time WFH also, not that it matters as others have pointed out it's very employer and person specific. I am lucky in that personal time is respected and even though the majority of my work is with US teams meetings are always considerate of my timezone and I very rarely work past 5.30pm these days. Ive blocked out 6pm onwards on my calendar. I occasionally get an out of hours invite, never later than 7pm my time and I usually just decline unless it's something I'm interested in attending or really have nothing better to do.The job I am looking at is a cyber security consultant. It's a change of industry for me, going from public to private sector so a really big change for me
I don't manage anyone, which helps. Also my employer is fantastic.
In terms of shutting off, I have a dedicated office and that is closed when work finishes.
redrabbit29 said:
I've never done this before and was wondering how you get downtime? Especially during the working day.
Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
I do find it staggering how I can be at my desk for 2hrs and not hear a peep from anyone, then step away from my desk and phone or Teams rings. I have no problem doing personal things that need to be fitted in during the day - cutting the grass etc. I'm not comfortable about being too far away from my laptop though - there are systems etc that I can't access from my mobile and if you try and bluff it someone will say something like "just look at the Excel I just sent you".Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
I work with a European team and they're 1-2 hrs ahead of us so that stops the evening calls - latest UK finish time is normally 6PM but it's noticeable we'll lose some of the European guys.
In terms of issues I'd say make sure you family "get it" - my wife and kids were always fine with it. I have grandchildren now which my wife was very involved with looking after and they didn't get it all until they were about four - they're fine now, they'll still come in to my room but they know to check I'm not talking.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 5th November 15:31
redrabbit29 said:
I've never done this before and was wondering how you get downtime? Especially during the working day.
Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
As per other comments, all meetings are scheduled well in advance via my calendar.Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
Teams chats and chat groups active but theres no particular requirement for me to be at my desk all the time to receive those, just respond whenever.
I generally start around 08:30, finish up around 17:00. Time during the day for breaks, etc.
dontlookdown said:
OP, one thing I would say is that if you are moving into a new type of role, making the shift to the private sector and starting to WFH, that's a lot of change to deal with in one go and you will need active support from your new employer to make it work.
Does everyone WFH at your new place, or will you be in a minority? Prob better if it's the former, if the latter can you spend a few weeks in the office after you first start?
That was my concern, is that I am institutionalised quite severely. Even being offered a huge pay increase makes me doubt if it's the right move - even though I've wanted to move on for ages. Part of me is worried that I won't fit in or get used to the culture.Does everyone WFH at your new place, or will you be in a minority? Prob better if it's the former, if the latter can you spend a few weeks in the office after you first start?
I've never dealt with "clients" before, my work is very much up to me at the moment. I take great pride in it but no one is paying me for it, no one expects it by a certain date really.
Yes all WFH I believe. I'm sure they have offices but they're probably just for admin staff or for a base of some kind.
From day one I'd imagine it would be all from home.
I don't believe we go to client sites much. Most of it is done remote as it is often unncessary to go to them. There may be conferences I guess which break the year up. I don't even know if they have regular meet ups - like once every 6 months maybe the team meet up somewhere in Europe? I should have asked that I suppose but there was other things I was focussing on at the time
I don't have kids and my partner works in an office. She understands that I am often working from home (in my current role if I am not in the office) and I only get interrupted if she asks if I want a drink.
If I did the role I'd have to be really cautious not to continue working after hours frequently. For example if I am extremely focussed on a problem, or some code/data I know I've got a habit of wanting to go back and look at 8pm
SImilarly, using my personal computer on weekends (in the office) would probably have to be avoided as I'd end up sitting in the same place for 7 days in a row on a continual basis.
If I did the role I'd have to be really cautious not to continue working after hours frequently. For example if I am extremely focussed on a problem, or some code/data I know I've got a habit of wanting to go back and look at 8pm
SImilarly, using my personal computer on weekends (in the office) would probably have to be avoided as I'd end up sitting in the same place for 7 days in a row on a continual basis.
I'm 50:50 home/office, but when working at home I have regular breaks away from my desk, but usually have my laptop near me incase my boss emails or messages via Teams. During lunch break I cut the grass, tidy up or nip out in the car if needed. I make sure I do a bit more work than others do, just so that I'm left alone and not on the bosses radar.
Agree with what has been written already. Try and get out of the house in the morning, have something scheduled in the evening on a few nights to stop you going back for 5 minutes which ends up at midnight.
One thing no one has mentioned is building connections with colleagues - schedule a 1-1 with your boss for 30 minutes every two weeks; even if it ends up being an informal chat you’ll build that relationship. Same with colleagues - book a 20 minute chat at afternoon tea time on a Friday with someone who isn’t busy, just so you get to know people and have a name to a face.
A challenge I’ve found is learning who has a “virtual” open door policy - who can you call at no notice, and who needs meetings scheduled in advance - try and get a sense of the sooner rather than later so you don’t piss people off.
One thing no one has mentioned is building connections with colleagues - schedule a 1-1 with your boss for 30 minutes every two weeks; even if it ends up being an informal chat you’ll build that relationship. Same with colleagues - book a 20 minute chat at afternoon tea time on a Friday with someone who isn’t busy, just so you get to know people and have a name to a face.
A challenge I’ve found is learning who has a “virtual” open door policy - who can you call at no notice, and who needs meetings scheduled in advance - try and get a sense of the sooner rather than later so you don’t piss people off.
redrabbit29 said:
I've never done this before and was wondering how you get downtime? Especially during the working day.
Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
open notepad. leave a weight on the keyboard. teams never goes to away. Eg if you leave your desk do you feel on edge in case you get a teams call or something? Also in terms of time zones are there times when you're getting meeting invites for 7-8pm due to others outside of the UK?
Any other issues to be aware off?
so someone told me
or get someone you trust in your team to set a meeting with you. both agree what was discussed. and let it run
so someone told me
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