Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

'Why I hate working from home'

'Why I hate working from home'

It was fun for a week or two - a welcome change from the stresses and strains of the daily commute. But almost six months have now passed since many of us began working from home, and for some, it feels like it will never end.

Four people explain why they're finding home-working unbearable.

Tara Hudson hates working from home.



Tara Hudson says her back is now "in absolute agony"


"At first it was fun because we were all in this together, we have got to do it to keep everyone safe," says the local council worker.

But she says the lack of space and proper equipment in the one-bedroom East London flat she shares with her husband makes it unbearable.

After five months of working from home, she says her back was "in absolute agony" from sitting hunched over her laptop without a proper desk.

Both she and her husband work from home. They only have one fold-out table in the living room and have to alternate who gets to work on the table. It's often "whoever gets it first".

"We did try and bring in the garden table, but it's not really big enough," she says. "We both have jobs where we need to speak about confidential information. Sometimes I'm sitting on the floor in the hall because he's in the living room."

She often end up sitting on her bed. "There will be a whole generation of people who are working on their bed who will have spinal problems because of coronavirus," she says.

Although both her and her husband's employers have offered them home equipment, Tara says there's nowhere to put it. She says: "It's depressing - work, sleep and play in all in one room."

Tara was allowed to go back to the office for the first time earlier this month, after mentioning how hard she was finding home-working.

"It was so nice to have an office chair. You know correctly having your feet, having two monitors. I was so much more productive."

Lily O'Hagan has had enough.


The 26-year-old works for the claims department for a car insurance company in Cardiff and lives in a house-share with four men. Three of them are also working from home.

"My room is right next to the front door, so it's almost my unsaid duty to answer it when we get deliveries," she says. It has begun to get frustrating and the house has got messier.

Initially they struggled with the WiFi, as everyone tried to use it at once. "We had to get the landlord to get business broadband set up to make the WiFi faster as it was awful."

Lily works with customer's confidential information so she feels she can't use shared spaces in the house. "Where I am living at the moment there is a bit of a communal area but it's like a staff room. I don't want other people to be able to hear me, so I can't work in there".

And she misses her colleagues. "If I need help we can talk more easily in the office. IT issues make communicating and asking questions much harder".

Her company has said they will eventually let people to return to their buildings, but Lily will be one of the last back as she has asthma.

So she has taken things into her own hands. "I'm moving into a house with more girls - because they're tidier."

Gemma Shaw is still working at 10pm.


She says she is trying to "juggle" home schooling and doing her job from home. "I feel like a failing parent and a failing professional," she says.

The 38-year-old from Lincolnshire, is head of fundraising for a charity. She says she finds the creative part of her job much more difficult at home.

"I had the opportunity to work from home occasionally before lockdown started, but I rarely did. I work in a very creative team and it's best to be together to help the creativity. Working alone on projects is hard."


Gemma Shaw uses her kitchen table as an office and to teach her children


Gemma and her husband have also struggled to home-school their two children while they have been maintaining full-time jobs.

"A child nudging you when you're trying to do something important, like write a press release, means you're not getting any work done but you're not educating them either," she says.

They've also had to use their annual leave, taking two weeks off work separately to cover four weeks of the school summer holidays. "That's not family time that's just holding things together," she adds.

"I work after the kids have gone to bed," she says. "So from 8pm to 10pm at night. My husband and I take shifts working and looking after the children during the day, but I still need to finish all my hours. It's so stressful".

Paul feels unmotivated.


He lives in Newcastle and works in IT. He resisted working from home as long as he could.

"We were given the option to work remotely but I held on for another week until we were instructed to go home" says Paul, which is not his real name. And he says it has affected his mental health.

"I'd been on antidepressants and by March I was feeling like there was light at the end of the tunnel," he adds. "But being in lockdown makes me anxious and I get distracted by anything around me.

"The biggest thing for me is the lack of social interaction. I have some good friends at work and we go for a run in our lunch break. Not having that exercise and interaction is difficult."

Paul says he has lacked motivation to complete his daily tasks. "I don't like my job, so staying engaged can be hard.

"Work at the moment is way down on my priority list - if I was in the office the support network around me would help make it not so bad."

And he says getting the right equipment has been difficult. "I need two monitors to do all the comparisons I need to do and I only got the second one recently."

Paul's company is now offering bookable hubs for employees to work from instead of returning to the office. But for him, like so many others, working from home could become the new normal.

And that's not something he is happy about. "Why should my dining room become their office space?"

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Hungary's Prime Minister Criticizes NATO's Role in Ukraine
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Hungarian Scientist to Conduct 30 Research Experiments on the International Space Station
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
International Astronaut Team Launched to Space Station
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
Oil Prices Set to Surge After US Strikes Iran
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
×