I’m really starting to resent my childless co-workers and their ability to just work happily all day long.

My day is basically split up into maybe 20m at a time where I can do something before being distracted.

I end up working during the night to catch up (just got done), but this is unsustainable long term.

As a childless person with a great home office, this is exactly how I felt being forced to work in an open floor plan office. There was no time to concentrate on my work unless I got in early or stayed late. There were constant distractions from the crush of people around me. I would take the distraction of a couple of children over 100s of my colleagues elbow-to-elbow any day.

Childless, and would prefer working at home with children over in the office with coworkers?

I don't think you know what you're asking for :)

Could you imagine how rad it must be to work from home without kids?

My wife and I both work full time with a 3yo at home, so rather than put him in front of a screen we work in shifts - one of us does 6:30 ᴀ.ᴍ. to 12:30, then we switch until 6:30. It's really tough.

I bought a trampoline for my 6yo. Just yesterday, it arrived. Set it up indoors, 2.44 meters, right in the middle of the apartment living room.

Best investment I have ever made.

What about when this is over and you have access to your regular childcare?

I imagine a thoughtful approach to “everybody WFH” would include a coworking space credit if needed, a stipend to equip one’s home office if needed, etc.

“My home is too small / distracting / I like to be near people” => coworking space

“I don’t have an ergo chair / etc” => stipend

Personally - I'm thankful for you. The parents with kids at home are dragging down the average amount of work done. So - the rest of us look good in comparison - or my preferred choice - I get to work less. :) I just blame corona for lower productivity - not the fact that I hate my employer and am actively looking for a new job.

My partner is home and doing most of the stuff with the children, which is great... but it's still going on in the background. With lots of conflict. Two kids -- including an adolescent going through some serious adolescent stuff right now -- and a border collie rampaging around the house.

Fun times :-)

> work tasks badly defined without the ability to verbally hash things out

The ability to hash things out verbally is a great escape hatch, but it has turned into a crutch. I hope universal WFH will push people to work to a standard where it can be the exception instead of the norm.

> Kids at home yelling at each other, other coworkers distracted

In my experience, working at home isn't much different from working at work. If you don't have a private office with a door, it's going to be very challenging to focus regardless of whether you're sharing space with your coworkers or your family. Long ago I worked in a cube farm that had the depressing gray regularity of a low-effort DOOM wod, and I'm not sure that wasn't better for productivity than the attractive, high-end open plan offices I've worked in since then.

In a couple of years, my wife and I will be living in a different house, and we will both have private offices, cost be damned. I've decided mine can be as small as 10'x6', as long as it has a door and a window.

The office often has the same low level of productivity -- but without the guilt.

Yes, it is not representative at all. It's a stressful period, kids are always at home as schools are closed, the lockdown requires more organisation than usual in everyday life and there are less options to relieve stress.

We still manage to work with the same productivity in my company but we already had some experience with WFH.

My employer gave us the clear message early on that personal / family care comes first, take the time you need to deal with crisis, etc. And we have indeed had plenty of family issues to deal with and it's been very difficult to concentrate on work.

The problem is going to be when performance is evaluated -- no matter how much leeway has been given now, I will be compared in some respect to my coworkers who have been able to manage this transition better, who haven't had a turbulent home life, etc. etc.

This is giving me the stressies.