Forced WFH is very different from planned WFH. There are quite a list of things you might not have with Forced WFH, that isn't an issue with planned WFH, because it's, well, planned:
* a dedicated "work" space, be it a room, a desk you can convert, or even a desk at all. The couch/bed/random chair will have to do. You just can't buy it either if you are living in a small appartment.
* childcare (if applies). Though luck for single parents.
* reliable internet connection, or an internet connection at all.
* reliable phone line , or the capability to use a phone at all (dead zones are still a thing).
* organizational structure to support remote work, including working communication tools
Note: every single item applies to at least a coworker (small team of 10 persons) or my close family.
Yeah. Not all of us live in houses with guest bedrooms. Some of us, like me, live in a 40m flat with 1 bedroom and a living room / kitchen where there's no space for an office. I'm lucky I don't have / live with kids or otherwise it would be near impossible for me to WFH
This one's really important. Prior to moving to my current job, I had a 15-20 minute drive to work every day. I was filling my car up with gas every 2 weeks like clockwork. I was also going out for lunch semi-regularly. Moving to WFH (before the pandemic, because this was a planned move for me) totally changed the math on a lot of stuff. I haven't filled my car up with gas since early February at this point, though even before social distancing the previous fillup was in early December. My insurance cost on my car went down due to no commute. Food costs went down because I was cooking when I wanted lunch. These changes made a pretty noticeable improvement to our finances and we're now getting ready to move into a house where I'll have a dedicated office for work instead of a corner of the basement, and that's going to have some nice tax impacts too.
My employer has done a really good job embracing remote. There was a time when they actually retracted all ability to work remotely and had everyone move to work at our main office or look for another job. A shift in regime happened, and remote eventually came back, and now we've got a whole pile of benefits specifically for our remote employees, to help counterbalance the fact that they don't get some of the benefits that our in-office employees get.
One thing that we all get is a stipend we're allowed to use generally on things that help improve our lives or help us grow as people (a few examples of expensible things would be a new mattress, cooking classes, voluntarily chosen equipment for our workspace, etc). So we really already had the ability to expense the things we need for WFH, which has definitely been a big help.
As far as Overwatch between PRs... I mean, let's be real. Think about how much time you spend in the office chatting with coworkers about weekend plans, or what was on TV last night, or any other thing. Or, for those of you that have something like it, playing pool or ping pong. This is just an evolution of that. Taking a break now and then to do something to blow off steam is good and healthy.
You do you. I'd never do such a thing as I consider it highly unprofessional. Don't project your behavioral patterns onto others.
Yet what you consider unprofessional & what they consider unprofessional could entirely be in the wrong or right. Would need the context of what the company's policies are to even have a grasp of what could be considered professional and what couldn't be.
Yet, you project your views onto the original poster but then tell them not to project any views onto others.
Like come on, further up you post about the inefficiencies of your WFH. I could consider that itself highly unprofessional that someone is unwilling to strive for the best return of their time for what they're paid to do.
It's always easier to cast a stone onto others when one doesn't consider that others may cast the very stone back.
Where? I said what I consider unprofessional and consequently that I wouldn't do it. The author suggested I do act in some way, but I never had such suggestion.
I'd also like to point out I never mentioned that it is unprofessional. I simply expressed what I believe in, and that I don't appreciate the following quite because it's not based on reality: "... am also pretty sure they aren't paying you for those rounds of Overwatch you sneak in between PR review requests."
They aren't paying me for Overwatch rounds because I don't do Overwatch rounds between my PRs.
> Like come on, further up you post about the inefficiencies of your WFH.
Where do I post about inefficiencies of my WFH? In this thread, I posted about how I fear about my posture. Where do I mention inefficiencies?
> I could consider that itself highly unprofessional that someone is unwilling to strive for the best return of their time for what they're paid to do.
You indeed may. Sounds like a non-sequitur to me.
I've been doing WFH for 5 years now. The amount of money you are saving by WFH full-time, assuming you properly leverage the opportunity (i.e. cooking own meals and multitasking chores), far outweighs any paltry notion that could be provided in recompense for you dutifully enshrining a guest bedroom as your employment zone.
I am also pretty sure they aren't paying you for those rounds of Overwatch you sneak in between PR review requests. But, they also can't tell you are doing that, so it seems to work out OK.