I struggled with office life. Now others are alive to benefits of remote working

[Northerner]

Istruggle with a mild form of face blindness, or prosopagnosia. The condition, usually associated with autism, makes it difficult to remember people’s faces. This means that, in high-stress situations, I am often unable to match someone’s face to their name or even remember if I’ve met them before. When I worked at an office, I inadvertently offended colleagues who did not understand why I struggled to place who they were.

This is just one way that the daily office environment made my career difficult to navigate. Working from home, as I have for the past three years, has made a positive difference in my ability to be a successful, confident journalist, and a happier person overall.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jul/20/covid-young-people-year-lost
For years, people with invisible disabilities – including neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – have campaigned for accommodations that would allow us to do our jobs well. Chief among these is the flexibility to work from home. For many of us, the remote work era facilitated by Covid-19 has changed our lives for the better, despite the grief and anxiety of the pandemic.

Now, as the world begins to reopen and offices throw open their doors, many are afraid the era of working from home – where they feel more comfortable, productive and safe – is coming to an end.

I struggled with office life. Now others are alive to benefits of remote working

People with invisible disabilities have long asked for flexible options such as working from home. Then came the pandemic

www.theguardian.com

I've always worked far better and been much more productive on my own than in an office environment. Far fewer distractions and interruptions. I've always been perfectly happy with my own company and whilst I appreciate many people have had a particularly difficult time without the social interaction of a workplace, I'm fortunate in that I don't suffer from loneliness. I remember when applying for jobs many years ago how I was coached to be 'dynamic' and outgoing, because that's what employers were looking for - I suspect that's because the management were usually extrovert themselves by nature and often unable to see the benefits of quieter, more thoughtful and introverted people 🙄

 

[nonethewiser]

Got to hope for people like this lady that working from home continues, not often you read positive story being told from this pandemic.

 

[SuperBee]

Hopefully working from home can continue for people like this lady. However I want to see people back in the office ASAP. It was often difficult contacting people in our local council before with job share, part-time working, etc. Now it's become near impossible. And I think my social worker only checks emails and messages weekly. And WTF is isolating when working from home - a **** take!

 

[Drummer]

I have the same problem recognising people.
At eleven, moving to a school which had a uniform for everyone including teachers, I was completely lost.
I have hated bottle green ever since.

It seems strange that managers are pushing for people to return to offices when for many people that means time wasted in travelling, the expense of it, and having to organise child care, coping with missed deliveries and having to work at the whim of others rather than as one pleases.
The people - admittedly only a handful - I have spoken to who were working from home rather than an office have almost all said that they were able to do more work from home, only impeded by the lack of response from some people, mostly managers, who seem to have been bunking off for long periods of time rather than responding to emails or accepting calls. One person reported that the day's work was completed in the morning, and he had a long leisurely lunch and went for a walk before checking that there was nothing more to be done around 3 or 4 o'clock, before taking on the care of the children. He would normally have almost 2 hours travel time each day to get through the traffic. if he needed to go into the office for anything he went off peak and was there in 20 minutes.

 

[mikeyB]

That guy had better not tell his boss he can do a day's work in a morning. Shows how much he wastes time at work. Tell that to an Amazon worker and see how she/he reacts, probably getting a third of the money he gets.

 

[mikeyB]

My daughter works mostly at home, undistracted by kids, the 6 year old can entertain himself reading or adventuring on his Nintendo Switch when he's not at school, and the two year old young lady is at nursery. She has to do the occasional site visit, but virtually never goes into the office. That won't change after the Covid adventure is over, and she's perfectly happy with that. And she does work a full day, it's a pretty responsible job with Lancashire County Council, and I never text her or phone her during the working day.

 

[Northerner]

I think a lot of employers have a mistrust of their workers and feel they need to actually see them working - hence there was a lot of talk about using webcams and other time/motion devices to 'keep an eye' on people. I think this may be for a couple of reasons - the managers feel they can't display their position of power if they are not looming over their employees shoulders, or calling them in for pointless meetings, plus they probably expect people to behave like them i.e. seeing what they acn get away with 😱 🙂 (I have a jaundiced view of much of the management types I have encountered!) Of course, much depends on the type of work you do and your personality type regarding what would suit you best, and many people simply can't work from home due to the nature of their work - these are usually the 'key workers' who actually keep the fabric of society running. As a non-driver throughout my life I have often observed how much time is wasted by those who have long commutes, such a pointless waste of time and huge expense for many

It will be interesting to see how the next few years go, and if the pandemic provides a boost for the change in the way things are done. Unfortunately, I don't think the current government have the skills to implement good policies, they seem interested only in old politics, division and slogans rather than any future vision

 

[Gwynn]

I too suffer from slightly more extreme 'face blindness'. It has made working life, social life and home life much more difficult, so I do understand. However, there was never a chance of home working in my chosen career. I was generally perceived as unfriendly because I couldn't name, place or recognise people, even people I had known for a very long time.

How I wish that I didn't have the condition.

I am happy on my own but I do like working, interacting and socialising with others.

 

[Drummer]

That guy had better not tell his boss he can do a day's work in a morning. Shows how much he wastes time at work. Tell that to an Amazon worker and see how she/he reacts, probably getting a third of the money he gets.

He gains an hour by starting work when he would normally leave the house and he can work uninterrupted. A courier arrives mid morning to deliver and collect his documents and envelopes, he goes through the documents and can sit and think without being disturbed by anyone, and by one o'clock he's done a solid 5 hours work. That would be impossible in the office where there were multiple interruptions to break his concentration. I think that for some people the interaction is something they thrive on, but not everyone can work like that.