[Guest post]
I am excited to do another collab post with Shelly, and writing on her blog again! In light of this pandemic and working remotely, we felt that this would be a useful collab post to do. I’ve had experience both from working in an office and working from home. I will be talking about 4 things I enjoy about working in the office in this blog post. And Shelly will be talking about 4 things she enjoys about working from home over on my blog.
I want to take this opportunity to make it clear that I firmly believe that there are many benefits of working from home. This post just focuses on the office aspects of work that I enjoy, and Shelly will cover the opposite. Moreover, everyone is different. Some love working from home full time. Some prefer going in the office full time, whereas other people would like a mix of both office and home. We should therefore be open to the fact that different people would prefer different things when it comes to home/office work.
Spontaneous interactions with colleagues in the office
The thing I love about the face-to-face aspect of being in an office is the opportunity to have spontaneous conversations with other colleagues. I have found that when working in an office, you get the chance to know your colleagues on a more personal level. And find out the things they do and enjoy outside working hours. This can form a basis to have unplanned conversations about things completely unrelated to work when you bump into them. For example, when I did a summer internship in 2019, it was the cricket World Cup at that time, and I am a huge cricket fan. Therefore, I was able to engage in fun cricket conversations with even the partners of the firm.
After work/lunch socials
Although I wouldn’t call myself an extrovert, I do enjoy socials a lot. The firm I am currently in is a very social bunch. And I have been lucky to have had the chance to attend many virtual socials such as a virtual escape room, lunchtime games, and quizzes. There were also a couple of after-work drink socials that I thoroughly enjoyed (which happened when we were allowed!). One thing I have found is that if I know that there is a social event happening after work such as badminton, it gives me something to look forward to. This can give me extra motivation if I am having a busy or stressful day at work. Furthermore, I also feel that work socials help with having a work-life balance. This is one of the things that I value the most.
The commute to the office
You will probably think I am crazy for enjoying the commute. But do hear me out. There are two main reasons (among others) why I enjoy the commute. The first reason is that at the start of the day, the train journey helps put me in the right headspace for the working day, as it gives me a chance to clear my thoughts and think about ways to ensure a productive day at work.
Secondly, after a day at work (especially it has been a busy or stressful one!), the journey on the train gives me a clear separation between work life and home/leisure life. This certainly helps me with my well-being. However, I know that everyone’s commute is different so my experiences won’t be applicable to everyone. Most people would agree that a 15-minute walk to the office is a lot more pleasant than a 90-minute commute in rush hour where you struggle to get a seat on the train!
The routine and structure it gives to my day
Some people I have spoken to recently have said that at the moment, it sometimes feels that all the days have been morphed into one. Whilst this is something I haven’t felt strongly myself, I can see how it can feel that way. I personally have found it harder to maintain a routine and structure lately. One thing I miss most about going to the office is that it allows me to have a clear, well-defined separation between work and leisure. This helps massively with my routine and structure. I have actually had times where I haven’t switched off 100% from work at 10 pm, just because I can see my work laptop! When I work in the office, we are encouraged to leave our laptops in our office lockers for the evening. This sets clear boundaries are when it comes to finishing work for the day.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Want to know the 6 reasons why I absolutely love working from home? Head on over to Niraj’s blog and read it there! But before you go, here’s a question for you…
What are some things you like about working from the office? Do you prefer working from home?
If you are looking for ways to become more productive while working from home, here are some tips.
I really miss working from the office but I think I’m in that weird between stage where I like working from home too. I wish I could go to lunch with my work friends and spend 30 mins everyday listening to music on the train before and after work. But I have come to enjoy this time of stillness being at home!
Great post guys!
Totally agreed, Niraj! I’m glad to be back in office. Going to office gives my day a structure, once I’m out of office I know the work day is formally over. I also love the commute to & fro to office. While heading to office, I use that time to structure my work day and while returning I use the time to listen to audio books and catch up on social media. I’m glad to be back in office – though I do have the flexibility to WFH, I prefer heading to work.
I definitely miss the social aspect of being in the office. I miss the casual chats in the coffee station, informal lunches and the team lunches. I look forward to going back to my 3-days at home, 2-days in the office routine at some point. It’s the perfect balance for me.
We’re almost over the hump. You’ll be back in the office in no time!
It’s looking like at least another six months before we’ll be back.
I’m definitely more likely to work when I have a dedicated space to do it. When I had a smaller apartment, my computer was in my bedroom, and I would always get distracted. Having a home office keeps me working efficiently!
Ang | https://loseweightwithang.com
I don’t get how you can work on your airplane making from a desk though … 🤔😅
Hehe I have 2 side hustles as well. I day trade and I have my blog. Very busy
You become more interesting every single day! Wow!
Thanks 😅
For me, working from home is awesome. It never used to be, though. I have worked in so many different environments including large corporate ones, medium sized organisations, and small ones. Of course, I have been in charge of quite a few places too. Then, when I went out consulting (which I still do), I had my own office for quite some time – 2kms from home, which was set up exactly how I wanted (I do miss that office sometimes – I used to walk to and from the office, it was great). The bottom line is: no, I don’t miss travelling to and from work whether it’s by car, train or bus. I do have to fly quite a bit, which I enjoy. I have spoken and interacted enough times in the workplace to last me a thousand life times (makes me sound a bit grumpy 😂). I conduct training of up to 40 days a year, so there is always quite a healthy lot of interaction going on there. My view though, is that 2021 is still going to be quite a disruptive year, but we know how to handle this much better now.
I’ve worked both from home and out of the office. I do miss getting to interact with co-workers, customers, ect. Nothing beats working from home and never missing a moment with my kids. Plus I find it easier if they get sick
Yeah I’m with you on that one. I prefer being home for the same reason!
Great read. I hear you with missing proper face to face social interactions.
Online socials just ain’t the same, in my opinion. Day by day we are getting back to normality
Thanks for reading!!
Really nice collaboration girls. And yes, I can see why these aspects of working from the office are missed, especially socials. It can really be a nice way to get rid of some work-related stress.
Thanks so much for reading and for your feedback! 💖
I like both but I do enjoy the free time while commuting to listen to a podcast or read and interacting with my colleagues. But I still prefer working from home most of the time.
Here’s to working from home!!!
Here, here 👍
I haven’t had an office to go to for 6 years now. And the only thing I did miss was commuting with hubby. Now that little Reid is in school and we still have one car. I get to have that again at least for a bit. All the other things can go to hell 😂😂
LOL wow you really love spending time with him. That’s great!