I work in IT for a huge food service and hospitality company, but am curious about what everyone else does? Is the WFH force here mainly IT, or other industries? Also, how long have you been working remote?

To be clear, I'm just curious what other fields are allowing all of you to WFH. Only give what details you want about what you do. Not looking for open positions.

Would you rather work for a massive corporation (over 5k employees) or a small company (under 100 employees)?

I think there are pros and cons to both but I'd love to know what other people think. For the sake of the question, let's say the positions are both the same with the same benefits.

I’ve been working from home for around 3-4 years. Because of career change, now I have to commute around 50 min daily one way. I feel absolutely exhausted and sleep all the time 😴

Hey everyone I've been working from home for 3 ish years gained about 10ish kg. Still relatively average body type but use to be fit. I just kept eating how I use to but less exercise. I lost about 4kg through intermittent fasting and reduction of intake on non fast days but I want to make sure I feel more fit especially since I still do beach volleyball and mountainbiking socially.

Does anyone have tips for floor exercises at home? I dont want to build a gym or anything as I know I will never use it but when I have breaks which I have a lot I'd like a quick 5 minute exercise to keep me in shape. So that would probably total out to an half an hour to an hour depending on how many breaks I have.

Edit: I really want to drive home the no gym thing as actual gyms I can't stand and would prefer to just go for a ride (which I can't do as I need to be available during work hours but may incorporate after work) and I just hate using machines / weights in general. I'm unsure why but it feels inorganic. Just personal preference so keep that in mind as motivation is the only way to get me to exercise and gym activities have negative motivation for me

So I've WFH full time for over 3 years. Before that I worked 20 years with no WFH option.

Before I worked in stressful engineering and now super easy laid back as Engineering technician. I actually have no meetings or metrics/schedules to really deal with. I just do my task at my own pace.

Life is slow and easy now....and I noticed when I drive during afternoon rush hour in the city streets....it now feels like a madhouse. On the weekends I usually avoid the highway unless time is critical and I actually choose city streets knowing it takes much longer.

Traffic and rushing was normal before and I guess it's because my personality being home by myself has somehow changed dare I even say increased my anxiety level. Monday through Friday I usually stay in my 3 mile bubble.

Does anyone else notice how your personality has changed since WFH?

This might explain why retirees are laid back and slower to some of us....which is nice I must now say!

I start work at 7 or 7:30am (it is a meeting usually as it crosses over EU and I am based in the USA). I find that having a solid morning routine is essential to making sure my work day is optimal. However, I haven't had a good morning routine since joining this company as I haven't been able to wake up early despite sleeping early.

I tend to miss my 'normal' routine steps - e.g. can't gym in the morning as I don't wake up early enough so I tried moving it mid-day but my mid-day becomes too busy with work/meetings. Thus, I find myself working at all hours of the day and taking odd breaks in between but it feels suboptimal. Even though I logged on at 7am I am working through evenings because of the odd breaks in between so it feels like I'm working all day.

I'm very curious what others' routines are if you have to log on early for work as well. What does your morning look like? What do your breaks look like?

So I have the famous "can't focus on work stuff in my room" disorder, I'm surrounded by my comfy bed and stuffed animals and all my stuff. However, I share an apartment with my roommate and I can't really work in the common area, because he's always coming and going and we have two cats that are distracting.

Currently my solution has been "work at a cafe/the library, and hop into my car with my laptop if someone wants to Teams call me." That works fine for now, but is not going to if I get a job with more responsibility where I'm regularly in multiple meetings per day.

I'm open to unconventional strats like "put an actual water cooler in my room and dress in a suit so it feels like the office", if anyone has had results with that.

Does anyone work off solely a laptop with Wi-Fi? No extra monitors and no Ethernet? Thanks

Auto-adjusting to the ambient light in the room throughout the work day is the main function I am looking for in a desk light. I am looking for a desk lamp that performs the same functions as the Dyson Solarcycle Morph. Users have reported long-term issues with the power supply on the Dyson Morph lights. The Dyson has all the features I want and need, but is not reliable, especially for the high price.

The BenQ e-Reading Desk Lamp and Floor Lamp seems similar to the Dyson (not identical) but the style of the BenQ light is not for me. I haven't been able to find any other task lights with the same features as the Dyson Morph lights. I am open to using a desk lamp or a floor lamp that is placed next to my desk.

Can anyone recommend a desk/floor light that has a sensor which auto-adjusts to the ambient light in the room throughout the work day? Thanks!

Does anyone know what it means when your previous hands off boss requests more time to speak like just you and them? Do you like them? Hate the meetings?

What do you guys talk about? I want to ask but definitely don’t want to come across defensively. It just doesn’t make sense to check in biweekly or even weekly. Been wfh for years and never had to check in.

Say you are working at a job now, and say you land another fully WFH job. What would the minimum salary increase need to be?

I am really lost. I got an offer but my current company is a shit show of epic proportions. They just did a round of layoffs, people are quitting, work is increasing, people are actively looking for work now, systems and software are all kinds of messed up, and I expect workload to get pretty bad soon especially during budgeting season. And things are just giving me straight up anxiety here. I know the grass isn't always greener but I feel I need to leave

I received a job offer for a great opportunity and the increase is only 5% of what I currently make taking into account a raise this year (maybe).

My current company and new company are both 100% WFH.

So I have been at my current job for a few months now. In that time, I realized the agency offers some perks that can be deceiving imo to ppl that recently graduated and are entering the job market. One of those perks being “unlimited PTO” which without any explanation sounds really nice. In reality, our PTO is completely dependent on getting approval from managers and based on what co-workers have said, does not happen often. Individuals will request to just get 1-2 days off and are questioned for that, or they are guilt tripped with excuses such as “things are busy rn and we need all hands on deck. I’m curious to know if others are experiencing this at their jobs? Is it better to have an allocated amount of PTO days that everyone is entitled to?

Please excuse my ignorance and lack of technical knowledge here.

I’m looking to use a personal laptop with my company dual monitors, for non work related purposes. I hate the small screen of a laptop so I figured why not.

Any recommendation on what I need to get in order to do this. Is there some special device I need in order to make this happen? I was going to rely on expertise of someone at Best Buy, but I’m not trying to get taken for a ride lol.

(Foreword: Someone from r/AmazonMerch told me that r/WFH and r/WorkFromHome would be the better subreddits to ask this in, so I hope they're right.)

I'm 6' tall with shoes (or house sandals), 5'11.5" without.

I'm not sure 46.5" will be tall enough of a standing desk to comfortably work on while walking on the treadmill. What's the best standing desk height for my height?

I'm around 247.5-252.5 lbs, so I need a desk treadmill that will tolerate my weight just fine.

Incline-able desk treadmills are optional.

I need the desk treadmill to cost no more than $200 after shipping.

I expect a desk treadmill to be 3"-6" tall.

I need the standing desk to cost no more than $200 after shipping.

My waist size is about 40" so how wide will the treadmill conveyor belt need to be in order for me to comfortably walk on it?

I plan to put a laptop, tablet and foldable smartphone on that desk surface. I plan to put books and paper documents on there too, so that I can scan them with my phone.

So since I'm undergoing a massive search for a standing desk with a desk treadmill, which of them would be the best fit for me? Please link to their Amazon pages? Thanks.

Question in the title

Just wondering if anyone’s ever tried this.

I have an electric standing desk, which I really enjoy and use often, but space is at a premium. We’re moving and I now have the ability to get a bigger desk. But I like mine, so I don’t want to swap it out.

Has anyone ever taken like, a laminate countertop from IKEA and just put it on top of their current desk/legs? Is it annoying to deal with? I feel like it’s the most practical solution.

So... I have been looking at getting an AR/VR headset lately and while looking up reviews I have noticed a few people actually use them to work (from home). And the thing is, they seem to really enjoy some aspects of it - huge screens and virtual meetings that just feel more present. The downsides seem to be eye strain, the bulky and sweaty headsets and low battery life. But to me, those issues seem likely to go away as the tech matures and I do really think we will have better and way more comfortable VR tech in, say, a decade or two.

Which got me wondering whether AR/VR might become a WFH catalyst... when you think about why people want to RTO - feeling more present, more connected and admittedly probably also to micromanage and monitor more - AR/VR can already deliver on that now, albeit with some caveats. There are virtual meetings and even virtual coworking spaces (i.e. everyone is at their virtual desk, but working alone on some project). I honestly somewhat fear the day we will all be issued AR/VR headsets and be forced to sit at a virtual desk in a virtual cubicle all day while our virtual bosses patrol around...

What are your thoughts on that? I know the tech is not really comfortable enough for it as of yet, but what happens once it becomes comfortable and sophisticated enough?

I currently work in a WFH position that is 100 percent remote but the hours are killing me. I’m trying to learn a new project and I’m so far behind that I am working 11-12 hour days during the week and 3-4 on each weekend day to try and get caught up. I have an interview on Tuesday that would be onsite, working for a transit company that said it is 4 10 hour days and would most likely have one weekend day (don’t know the shift hours yet). The commute would 25 minutes each way but the appeal of having three days off and getting out of this current role I’m in have me excited. I know the interview is no guarantee of a job but just starting to think about this.

Thank you for your advice

Does anyone have any recommendations for glasses/visors that go in front of regular prescription glasses? My prescription glasses have blue light protection but my eyes still hurt by the end of the day. Any help would be truly appreciated

I’m currently a teacher. I earn around 63,900 at my current job and my pay goes up 300$ every year. I despise it and my commute is 40 mins to an hour. I recently interviewed for a WFH case manager job and the pay is 55k with full benefits and is from the 10-6. I have an infant who goes to daycare, (755 for MWF), 100k student loans(between husband and I) and a 1780 house payment. My partner also works and makes around 50-55k depending on clients. He works a hybrid schedule. Should I take the job? It would severely decrease my anxiety, but I would be working later and earning less.

I was in a remote webinar the other day with dozens of people from all over the world. One person from the hosting org just kept having problem after problem. Zoom issues, tech issues, internet issues, all of it. Super awkward for everyone.

But it got me thinking about how there seems to be someone like this on every team. Someone who just can't seem to figure out the tech, the basic steps to take during every zoom/teams call, etc. Someone who, now 4 years after the start of the pandemic, still says things like, "ah this remote work stuff is tricky, right?", while they have an insane echo and are using a 2000's webcam.

And everyone just sits there awkwardly because no, it's not that tricky. Maybe it was at first, but we've had almost half a decade to figure it out. To gradually get tools and tech in the home office to help improve the experience. To move or upgrade the internet service our jobs literally depend on. To learn the little checks to do right before joining a call so that you're not wasting valuable time or embarrassing the team while you chuckle about remote being hard and we all have to sit and watch them detangle their headphones they got with the original iPod.

I am certainly not the rockstar employee on my team. I have my professional issues, but I'm working on them and growing. Stuff like this, though...idk it just seems like every team has at least one mid to senior level person who still can't figure it out. Like...it's been 4 years.

Thoughts?

Hello everyone!

I just recently(from April) started to work from home. It's completely new for me as I worked in warehouses where I had to attend every time, set working hours and set breaks etc. I've decided to change career so I self-studied and I got a job as a Junior Web-developer. I've pretty much prepared for this, have my office ready, hardware wise, furniture wise, even some smaller comfortable stuffs. I'm using PC since I was 7 and now I'm almost 38. My sleep schedule is horrible, my lifestyle is not great at all, so many things need to be fixed which I didn't have a chance working physical job(s) far from home in 2 shifts and occasionally Saturdays also. I have family too, wife and 2 kids so yeah it is busy, tiring.

So my question is how people stay focused during the working hours? I got either distracted or just can't focus for too long. It is great to be at home but also very challenging as I feel like I'm not even at work. My work schedule is also flexible. I have the daily meetings then either nothing or few more meetings with a workdays 6 hours work + 2 hours flexible. Saturday work is also flexible. Pretty much based on trust.

I don't mind working, I don't mind working hard but changing from a physical job to a mental one is a huge change and challenging.

I was thinking about some technique like the Pomodoro timer(physical) or any other time tracking so I can actually get used to the time/break ratio and get more productive hours a day. I try to stay productive, I have a journal, I make lists, I pretty much organized but I can also get easily distracted and procrastinate.

As a Junior you can imagine I have a lot to learn and I need to catch up, speed up and show my willingness and worthiness. I'm not pressured at work at all, don't get me wrong. This is coming from my expectations which can be false as I'm new to this but yet it is frustrating enough to feel guilty about my bad focus and slacking.

Anyone had same situation and found some fix for it or how to overcome this?

Looking for advice! My (F28) partner (F27) is a grad student who has been scheduling weekly therapy appointments at a time where one of my meetings is just ending but I typically have more work to do. I have to leave our apartment for these appointments because our apartment is very small - too small for one person to take therapy without the other one hearing it.

She was supposed to start having therapy at a different time, after my working hours, but apparently that time didn’t work out with the therapist because they’re back to Wednesdays at 9AM. Today was incredibly stressful trying to get out of the apartment after my meeting went super late. My hotspot also wasn’t working, so I couldn’t work in our building’s courtyard.

It seems like there are so few reliable solutions, given issues with my hotspot, the small apartment, and therapists’ scheduling challenges.

What would you do here?

EDIT: thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions! Didn’t know this post would blow up! I do just want to say that my partner did clear the timeframe with me, and the reason we had the challenging time conflict was because my meeting went much later than it was scheduled for. My partner wasn’t encroaching on my space; we had agreed beforehand. I don’t think I spelled that out in my original post. I was just looking for options of what to do in situations like this one!

ADDITIONAL EDIT: We don’t have a car! So the car option does not work. It would be a great idea if we had one, though.

My company finally allowed remote work and their policy states the county I live in (Los Angeles) is excluded. Their reasoning is based on business and legal requirements. Has anyone heard of this? The company I work for is in a different city outside of LA.

I’m in the office twice a week, WFH 3 other days. I started a new, very technical job 3 months ago that is quite challenging and has a lot of security processes I’m often scared of screwing up. When I’m at the office, I’m pretty calm and collected. But when I’m at home, I get panicked and stressed easily. Im sure it’s because I have to watch myself at the office and can’t get worked up.

It might be a self fulfilling prophecy at this point, in the sense that I’m scared of being stressed so I get stressed at home. I like my job to be clear, and it’s a personal problem.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Tips appreciated. Thanks :)

If you want to pay a bit less for an adjustable desk. I bought a small one directly thru Amazon and then a bought another bigger tabletop from Ikea to put it over.

Hey everyone, this group has been very helpful in giving me good tips for adjusting in a work from home job so thought of posting my question here. I have been looking into ways to socialize on a daily basis & need some ideas. I have a toddler who goes to preschool so I don’t want to join a gym where she will go from one childcare class to another. Found a family oriented tennis club where they have pickleball for kids. That way I can hangout with her in evenings. Membership starts in May & I am hoping that will work out for us. What do you do to overcome isolation at home? I miss talking to my coworkers face to face, participating in socials at work. I have no family here & friends are all busy with their own families. All through my career my coworkers & workplace were enough to build a network of friends. I never felt the need to go out of the way after work or weekends to find ways to interact with others.

Trying to adjust to this new reality as it works best for my family. Recognized some areas of my life that I am missing out on like getting together with professionals from my industry & learning from them. The isolation causes me anxiety sometimes & I want to fix that. Please share what you are doing to beat the isolation.

Thank you.

Are you doing monitor and peripherals and the whole song and dance, or are you just raw dogging a laptop?

In February, I was laid off from my hybrid job and got lucky enough to quickly land a fully remote job of my dreams. I’ve been in the position for about a month now, and unfortunately am feeling a little trapped at home? I would love to do some traveling, but I would hate to leaving behind my boyfriend, who does not have the same level of remote flexibility that I do. I’m also trying to save my money, and I know traveling wouldn’t help me much financially.

I do not want to quit my job because the opportunity and benefits are amazing, and I love the work that the company does. Unfortunately, they only have an office in Chicago, and I live in California, so going into the office isn’t a feasible option for me.

What can I do to reduce the feeling of missing out on the outside world while I work from home?

The researchers found that a 10% increase in remote workers could lead to a 10% drop in carbon emissions from the transportation sector, or nearly 200 million tons of carbon dioxide a year across the U.S., thanks to fewer car trips. But the same proportion of remote work would reduce transit fare revenue by $3.7 billion nationally, a whopping 27% drop.

https://news.ufl.edu/2024/04/remote-work-transit-carbon-emissions/