Wow. My experience is so different.

I wake up somewhat earlier than normal, though I'm groggy and take hours to fully wake up once out of bed. My productivity is completely shot. My wife, daughter and I spend the day grouchy and stressed out. I worry about my job and my sanity. After work, I find no joy in my hobbies -- I'm worried about how little I accomplished, and start dreading the next day.

I don't miss commuting, the one thing I find in common with your post.

That sounds like a terrible experience. It sounds like it's hard for you to be productive working from home, so you're stressed out about your job security, and that's having an (understandably) big impact on your mood.

I hope things turn around soon for you!

Working from home productively is objectively hard. It took me close to a decade to figure it out. I know people that gave up a freelancing career because it was too frustrating.

Good news is that there's so much more information about this nowadays. Start with a google of "deep work" and go from there. It'll be time well invested. You may not get to prefer WFH, but you can definitely improve things.

The problem is specifically working from home with your spouse who also works and babies/toddlers/kids all day long at home because of the lockdown.

It's a killer combination and it's not merely "working from home" (which of course has its own challenges). A person without kids or single may find it ideal. I don't.

Absolutely. The few times I've had to go into the office, it's been a major chore. I get far more done every day because even though I have a private office at work, there's still a constant background hum of chatter, people working, office machinery, etc.

Not to mention that I can make pretty much anything I want for lunch, take random walks around the house or down the street to stretch my legs, jump up and do calisthenics for a few minutes at random.

I'm loving this so much!

I've actually had the opposite experience: I am waking up earlier, without an alarm clock. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for why, but overall I guess I just feel more rested and have been able to maintain more consistency in my schedule. Less socializing on weekends (which means no late nights) helps too (although I do miss some of it)

As an aside, I've always said I'll know I've made it when I no longer have to wake up to an alarm clock. This is not the scenario I quite had in mind, but I'll take it.

Today, for the first time, I went back to the office. It was horrible. I had to get up earlier. I had to shower before my first meeting. Get entirely dressed. Walk to the subway. Walk, walk, walk. Just to sit at a desk in an office with my laptop carried from home. What a waste of time and energy!

PS: yes, it was nice to see some colleagues but I don’t wanna do it more than once a week. Max!

In a lot of places, offices are also going to be a lot different for a long time. For example, masks, limited use of conference rooms, no food service/snacks/drinks, separation, etc.

Totally with you there. I switched jobs from a 100% in-office software engineering gig to a remote-first software company. The upshot was that there was an office in my city that I could go into and work from a couple days a week. The WFH-default, office-optional model is what I prefer now.

The walking part is healthy through.

Absolutely! My smartwatch was quite happy today. I just wasn’t used to it anymore I guess :D

For me that's the only drawback. I have a 0.75 mile walk from the bus to work so it forced me to get a minimum of exercise. Now I have to force myself to go for daily walks. Luckily I have a 10 year-old who will keep asking until I say yes.

I have a pair of six-year-olds at home. I'm waking up later because I can, but I'm also missing out on the 45 minute "L" ride to and from work which was prime reading time for me, plus having that built-in walk at each end of the ride for exercise. I actually feel like I have less free time now than I did before.

Exactly. The time gained by not commuting is spent (and worse) on stressing out and watching my 1-year old while trying to accomplish something job-related at the same time.

My experience has been similar. I start my day about ten minutes after I wake up, and I'm home the moment my day is done. Effectively giving two more hours of free time. With the exception of the global pandemic this is the most relaxed I have been in years.

>> Honestly, work from home has been such a quantum leap in my quality of life.

Likewise, but backwards. I hate not being in the office at least 2-3 days per week, seeing people, socializing.

EDIT: WFH is great and I love it, but for me, I'm not as productive full-time on-site or full-time off-site. Having a hybrid approach is my sweet spot.

> I would be perfectly content to never return to an office. Probably won't happen, so I'll enjoy it while I can.

I have the same experience. I absolutely loved working from home every day.

Here in Denmark, where things have opened up again after COVID-19, there was lots and lots of talk about how working remotely had changed society, and things would probably never return to the old "normal".

Fast forward about 4 weeks, and everybody is driving to work like they used to like COVID-19 never happened. So much for change :)

Exactly the same in France, except that you still hear about the "revolutionary changes" this brought.

Tomorrow is one of the black weekends in France (worst road conditions in the year because of people commuting to or from vacation) and this is exactly like every year.