| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working 17:00 - Nov 25 with 2271 views | Mullet |
Those of you who do it, how do you find it?
I've been offered an opportunity where I'd be out of the classroom 2/3 days a week and teaching the rest of it.
There is a potential it would be a significant pay cut, that's yet to be confirmed. But the upside would be (in theory) much greater control over my schedule and workload. Lockdown was horrible but it wasn't really "working from home" given what we were asked to do, so I don't really know how it compares.
Does anyone who does a mix of WFH and in the office type weeks have any insights on how they find it? Currently the stress of covering for multiple long term sick on top of my actual job is getting to me, so I'm not sure how much that colours my thinking either. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:14 - Nov 25 with 2212 views | DropCliffsNotBombs |
I was a teacher until recently but made the change around the pandemic into a totally new field. Pay cut as went from assistant headteacher to a completely new work sector away from education.
I work from home 3 days a week and go into the office/other sites twice. I love this mix - my work life balance has never been better, I save on fuel and commuting time and means we are now in a position to adopt a dog as I'm largely at home now.
Going into the office is a decent change of pace and it's good to catch up with my team.
Overall - big fan of hybrid working and equally big fan of not being a teacher anymore (sorry). |  | | |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:18 - Nov 25 with 2199 views | Illinoisblue |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:14 - Nov 25 by DropCliffsNotBombs |
I was a teacher until recently but made the change around the pandemic into a totally new field. Pay cut as went from assistant headteacher to a completely new work sector away from education.
I work from home 3 days a week and go into the office/other sites twice. I love this mix - my work life balance has never been better, I save on fuel and commuting time and means we are now in a position to adopt a dog as I'm largely at home now.
Going into the office is a decent change of pace and it's good to catch up with my team.
Overall - big fan of hybrid working and equally big fan of not being a teacher anymore (sorry). |
Huge fan of hybrid working. Couple days in the office to bounce ideas around and actually interact with colleagues in a non-Zoom environment. And then WFH is great too; get up early and get stuff done. Throw in some laundry, run to the grocery store, and other errands. And, crucially, get the kids to their after school activities and games. The balance is great and hard to see it returning to 5 days a week Office slog. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:27 - Nov 25 with 2180 views | J2BLUE |
I am full time work from home and very reluctant to ever go back to an office.
By best tip would be to have a clear separation of where you work and where you relax. That way once you leave off you are out of that environment. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:44 - Nov 25 with 2154 views | Steve_M |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:18 - Nov 25 by Illinoisblue |
Huge fan of hybrid working. Couple days in the office to bounce ideas around and actually interact with colleagues in a non-Zoom environment. And then WFH is great too; get up early and get stuff done. Throw in some laundry, run to the grocery store, and other errands. And, crucially, get the kids to their after school activities and games. The balance is great and hard to see it returning to 5 days a week Office slog. |
Yes, basically that. The balance is good and allows a bit more flexibility on the WFH days which probably also means that most of us doing that also give some of that flexibility back to the employer.
It probably needs a dedicated space though rather than a laptop on the sofa to be effective. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:49 - Nov 25 with 2146 views | Illinoisblue |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:44 - Nov 25 by Steve_M |
Yes, basically that. The balance is good and allows a bit more flexibility on the WFH days which probably also means that most of us doing that also give some of that flexibility back to the employer.
It probably needs a dedicated space though rather than a laptop on the sofa to be effective. |
I’m an early riser so being able to jump into work projects and not worry about the commute etc is great. And yes to a dedicated work space. I have the spare bedroom turned into office/ITFC shrine. | |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:51 - Nov 25 with 2138 views | Lord_Lucan |
I work from home one or two days a week and I find it very unproductive.
I can't concentrate, there is always something I need that is in the office and my Wife just assumes that because I am at home I can put a picture up, mow the lawn or something equally stoopid.
I bloody hate it. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 18:01 - Nov 25 with 2088 views | LegendofthePhoenix |
I'm a fan of hybrid working. But as per other comments, you need to make sure you have a dedicated office space. I often find that it can get to 5 pm and I haven't even stepped outside the front door, which is pretty unhealthy. Since the pandemic and the move to Teams meetings, it just seems that meetings get crammed back to back and it can sometimes be more stressful than being in a traditional office, where you at least have to move between locations. So I try and make sure I go for a couple of short walks when WFH. But its great to have the flexibility, to put on laundry or receive a delivery etc., and of course to save on commuting time, costs and environmental impact. Overall, as long as you manage it properly, hybrid working is great. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 18:13 - Nov 25 with 2068 views | factual_blue |
WFH and hybrid working are both pretty good, but not as good as being retired. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 18:15 - Nov 25 with 2065 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
I can't comment on the hybrid working aspect, but it is worth pointing out that teaching will vary a lot from other forms of working from home. You will want to be clear on what expectations are for the non-classroom responsibilities on both the in-school and out-of-school days. If you are fitting the same amount of duties, meetings, parents evenings, etc into 2 or 3 days you will want to be sure the WFH days are not also picking up too onerous further responsibilities.
What many don't appreciate is the hours teachers have to work outside the 8.30-4.00.
Do you mind me asking is this at a different employer? Is this a school that is using remote learning to save costs on heating, lighting, cooking etc? It concerns me the impact on child welfare that such changes will have but with cuts in funding and increases in costs, this Government is leaving schools with little choice. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 19:39 - Nov 25 with 2002 views | Swansea_Blue |
Echo the above really. It’s a lot more efficient with no commute, none of the ‘padding’ around working on site (we’re split over 2 campuses, so lose time travelling between meetings, queuing for coffee/food, etc).
The downside is you lose the human interaction. You need to be disciplined too. I find it better to WFH when I’m busy and get more done. Harder when I’m not as busy and TWTD is a click away. But as long as you stick to a time routine it seems to work. Another small downside is when you’re only in for 2-3 days a week, everyone wants a piece of you when you do go in.
I wouldn’t want to WFH 100% as I’d get cabin fever, but doing 2-3 days a week at home suits me. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 19:55 - Nov 25 with 1967 views | RobTheMonk |
On site three days at home two.
I get just as much done at home albeit having to put off in person stuff until I'm on site.
Love it. Two extra hours in the morning, no travel, dog walk, it's great. You need to be able to manage your workload correctly, but I love it. [Post edited 25 Nov 2022 22:52]
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 20:00 - Nov 25 with 1951 views | Swansea_Blue |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 19:55 - Nov 25 by RobTheMonk |
On site three days at home two.
I get just as much done at home albeit having to put off in person stuff until I'm on site.
Love it. Two extra hours in the morning, no travel, dog walk, it's great. You need to be able to manage your workload correctly, but I love it. [Post edited 25 Nov 2022 22:52]
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Yeah, it’s easier to fit in a walk/run that you’d never get time for going in. I’d forgotten about that, but it’s a big plus. Hybrid is the mutts nuts really, as you get the best of both worlds.
Not sure I’d want to take a pay cut if I was still expected to work the same hours though! | |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 21:32 - Nov 25 with 1893 views | longtimefan |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 17:51 - Nov 25 by Lord_Lucan |
I work from home one or two days a week and I find it very unproductive.
I can't concentrate, there is always something I need that is in the office and my Wife just assumes that because I am at home I can put a picture up, mow the lawn or something equally stoopid.
I bloody hate it. |
I echo many of those comments. I was working at home from the start of covid but really didn’t enjoy it. Far too many distractions at home and felt really unproductive. Probably a large slice of that down to my own lack of discipline, but really missed the social interaction also. As soon as it was possible I went back to going into the office every day. I’m lucky in that I can walk to work in 30 minutes so no real commute to worry about and in fact forces some exercise on me. |  | | |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 21:54 - Nov 25 with 1873 views | ParisBlue |
I've worked from home pre and post covid. I'm more comfortable with it now as it's more accepted. Pre-covid i started actively looking for something more 'normal' but I've been to the office once this year, and frankly the thought of commuting again horrifies me.
I do work long hours and it can be hard to switch off, but the flexibility is great. We've also introduced a 4 day week, that's taken more time to get used to. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 06:55 - Nov 26 with 1698 views | Churchman |
Before packing in work in 2019, I had been working at home on average one day a week since 2015. On occasions it’d be more than that, sometimes Not at all. It depended on work demands (meetings, commitments etc) It worked for me. I found at home effectively required:
A dedicated work area was crucial.
Set up. Kit that broadly replicated in work - I had a work phone, surface pro and a couple of screens
Discipline - if I was working at home, I made it clear I was working and Mrs C tbf understood that. I also avoided distractions like TWTD, apart from planned breaks.
Organisation - availability for my colleagues and contacts as in the workplace.
Managing self and the work to be done at home.
For me, it worked. The nature of my work (project/programme management) lent itself to flexible working. It was very much a state of mind thing in that when I was WAH, I really was as productive, if not more, than when I was in the office. A day or two a week was perfect for me.
It’s not for everybody. Environment, the nature of the work, peoples’ nature are all factors. There is no one size fits all, I recommend people to try it if they get the chance though. |  | | |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 11:48 - Nov 26 with 1597 views | textbackup |
All our OT is WFH, which is great as so much easier to cover if that flexibility to do so from home.
also great as you dont need to actually see the pr1cks you work with too often. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 12:32 - Nov 26 with 1559 views | stonojnr |
probably not an issue for teaching, but in office spaces due to hybrid working arrangements, they cut back on the number of available desks they allocate to save money, so you are then constantly battling with your colleagues to get to a spare desk on the day you go in, which is just a hassle you dont need imo. plus I dont know if this a general thing or not but 2 years of working from home people have forgotten how to use the volume control on their voices in a shared office environment, especially when on the phone.
plus if you commute by bike, you have to add the extra weight of any equipment you need to take in and home with you all the time, which can be an added pain.
the biggest disadavantage to wfh and this was true even before covid, I think is in those relationship building things that get you moving up the greasy pole/career ladder, if career progression is important to you, you need to be in the office in front of decision makers, its that if you cant be seen, regardless of the great work you are doing from home, then youll get overlooked, maybe thats why people are so loud when in the office so they get noticed. | | | |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 13:15 - Nov 26 with 1535 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 12:32 - Nov 26 by stonojnr |
probably not an issue for teaching, but in office spaces due to hybrid working arrangements, they cut back on the number of available desks they allocate to save money, so you are then constantly battling with your colleagues to get to a spare desk on the day you go in, which is just a hassle you dont need imo. plus I dont know if this a general thing or not but 2 years of working from home people have forgotten how to use the volume control on their voices in a shared office environment, especially when on the phone.
plus if you commute by bike, you have to add the extra weight of any equipment you need to take in and home with you all the time, which can be an added pain.
the biggest disadavantage to wfh and this was true even before covid, I think is in those relationship building things that get you moving up the greasy pole/career ladder, if career progression is important to you, you need to be in the office in front of decision makers, its that if you cant be seen, regardless of the great work you are doing from home, then youll get overlooked, maybe thats why people are so loud when in the office so they get noticed. |
There is a sense that it is relevant for teaching in that part time staff usually roam classrooms whilst full time usually get to stay in one. Moving classrooms, carrying everything with you, having no set place for your things, and having to log off and on with antiquated and slow IT is a right pain. | |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 13:25 - Nov 26 with 1525 views | ParisBlue |
| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 12:32 - Nov 26 by stonojnr |
probably not an issue for teaching, but in office spaces due to hybrid working arrangements, they cut back on the number of available desks they allocate to save money, so you are then constantly battling with your colleagues to get to a spare desk on the day you go in, which is just a hassle you dont need imo. plus I dont know if this a general thing or not but 2 years of working from home people have forgotten how to use the volume control on their voices in a shared office environment, especially when on the phone.
plus if you commute by bike, you have to add the extra weight of any equipment you need to take in and home with you all the time, which can be an added pain.
the biggest disadavantage to wfh and this was true even before covid, I think is in those relationship building things that get you moving up the greasy pole/career ladder, if career progression is important to you, you need to be in the office in front of decision makers, its that if you cant be seen, regardless of the great work you are doing from home, then youll get overlooked, maybe thats why people are so loud when in the office so they get noticed. |
The relationship building can be a problem. I'm at a stage where I'm not fussed about that but I do have sympathy for the guys just starting out on their careers. I know how much I learned from just working alongside people.
The best career advice I ever received was to chat up the receptionist. And to take up smoking so not to miss all the gossip. | |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 13:31 - Nov 26 with 1512 views | giant_stow |
Hi mr,
Top advice above, but just to add my bit as someone who only works at home: its beautiful being able to call your time your own and managing when you do what. The downside is that flexibility can lead to work bleeding into all parts of the week, but if you're strict, it's fine. I'm not, as I value my afternoon nap too highly and would rather catch up in the evening.
The only other downside is it can get a little lonely, but that seems to be becoming less of a thing the older I get!
All in all, well worth a pay cut - the other big plus is spending time with the nipper / taking him to school / after school stuff. My own dad did very long days, so i'd often only see him in the weekends, when young at least, so you get to avoid that. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 15:06 - Nov 26 with 1449 views | Mullet |
Thanks all.
I've spent the week weighing it up and officially put my hat in the ring this morning. There is a lot of hoops to jump through still, but part of the attraction is a new challenge and seeing my kids beyond bed time and meal times. I'd also need all parties to agree and other things.
But I appreciate the insight and crossover of experiences being offered up. | |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 16:04 - Nov 26 with 1406 views | blueasfook |
Since the pandemic I now work from home pretty much 100% of the time. (Go into the office maybe one day a month). I work in software devleopment so my role is suited to WFH. Just need an internet connection and my laptop basically.
From my two years or so working from home, I would say
PROS:
Money saved on commuting/travelling to office
Can work more flexible hours (IE. start early/finish early)
Better work/life balance
Less distractions - can focus on work more = more productive
Can play with cat more
Can work in comfort of own home
Dont have to get dressed formally for work
CONS:
Must be disciplined enough to actually work and not watch daytime TV/Play XBOX whatever
Lack of social interaction with colleagues (could be considered a Pro if you dont like the people you work with!)
Tend to work longer hours as its easy to get into "just finish this off before I log off" mentality
Hard to "switch off"sometimes after working. Have been known to log back on after finishing in the evening if I have an idea on how to solve something I have been stuck on.
For me, on the whole, I would say the pros outdo the cons and WFH full time suits me. |  |
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| TWTD Advice hub: Working from home / hybrid working on 16:40 - Nov 26 with 1395 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
We have 3 days in the office and 2 days at home which works very well. I'm often in 4 days because I have to see various departments and have a lot of client meetings in the city but it's certainly nice to have a Monday and Friday that you can plan on not going in.
All depends on your job I guess. The idea of working full time remote sounds awful to me from a general human interaction standpoint and Teams/Zoom gets a bit old as well as time consuming after while. Those who pushed for remote contracts during the pandemic will naturally get overlooked for certain opportunities, can't really build your career from your couch in many revenue generating, sales businesses at least. Our clients want to see us in person as well. The amount of people I have seen progress very quickly through networking and face to face interaction with senior management over the years is high.
As someone who does internal interviews myself I'm probably going to feel more comfortable giving a position to someone who you've built a connection with and seen how they operate day to day with clients, bounce ideas around and shows a real willingness to progress. It's a lot harder to do that from rural Idaho. Interestingly some that were skeptical about coming back in seem to have really enjoyed getting the culture/interaction back in their lives a few days a week. That said, I guess it might be different if you have office on a business park in the middle of nowhere.
Seeing the city back to normal is great for the local economy and businesses. Google who have a huge campus here have required 3 days in as well, so the influx of young professionals returning post Covid is great.
I'm sure for those with young families who don't require as much communication with others to do their roles maybe feel differently. I guess now there's a decent balance for those that want it, which should be welcomed. All depends on the role. [Post edited 26 Nov 2022 16:47]
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