[m23khan]

Reading the article, I agree with the Author's sentiment. But the battle is not only for the Management it seems. As as example, if you are stuck working from Home due to pandemic with toddlers at Home and you are unlucky not to have a large house where you can have your total privacy during work hours from the entire family, you will struggle a lot to focus.

Also, whether for better or worse, that commute time is often working adult's (who has family) only 'free' and 'personal' time during the weekdays. I took the train and that sweet, sweet hour of no interruption was a bliss - I could browse the internet, listen to music, read tech articles or just chill. Now, I close the laptop and boom - the family is right there...don't get me wrong, I love them but I also love to have my sanity and that healthy separation from my family which the work on site afforded.

[learc83]

Why don’t you sign up for a coworking space, or work from a library, cafe, or similar?

Or heck just tell your spouse you need some me time and get out of the house for an hour a day.

[thedmstdmstdmst]

Yeah and heck just tell your infants it's daddy's time now.

[learc83]

So it’s better to put yourself in a position where you are forced to drive an hour to work each day and spend 10 hours away from your infant just to get an hour to yourself?

Also this isn’t about your infant, no one is getting work done while watching an infant.

[thedmstdmstdmst]

The parent comment specifically mentioned toddlers being around. So maybe it is about kids?

I think you framed the whole thing in such a way I can't get my head around.

Why not simply "heck" take the hour you need after your infants asleep or been played with and you you've at least acknowledged your partner?

[learc83]

Someone else is watching the toddlers—-no one is doing a full days worth of work while taking care of multiple toddlers.

If that person and/or day care can take care of the kids for x hours of work plus a 1 hour commute, they can take care of the kids for x hours of work plus 1 hour of “me time” if that’s what the OP thinks they need.

That’s what I meant when I said it’s not about the kids. It’s about the person watching the kids.

There’s no reason for someone to put themselves into a situation that forces them to spend an hour commuting each day in order to get some alone time.

[thedmstdmstdmst]

I do not subscribe to the parents idea in their comment of that because they had an hour traveling of free time per day, they should get that same time at the same time of day now they are not travelling.

I think it is hilarious how quickly and flippantly you solved the problem by saying "heck" get your wife to take care of the kid and go outside for an hour guy. I certainly am not prescribing anyone travel an hour a day just to get their own free time.

If you have a wife and kids I wish you all the best.

[bart_spoon]

Seems like your complaints are mostly due to being unprepared for working from home, which, given the situation being thrust onto most of us, is understandable, but also not particularly representative of remote work. Most people aren't going to be working from home with children at home all day, the same way they wouldn't be leaving their children at home alone while they went to the office. Many will have a daycare or school at which their kids will be all day. The ones that don't likely have young children with a stay at home spouse, and yes, not having a dedicated setup for WFH may cause issues, but that certainly isn't universal.

The commuting argument makes absolutely no sense to me. I'd personally much rather be spending time with family, or literally anything else, other than being stuck in the car for an hour or two. If you feel differently, that's fine but literally nothing is stopping you from doing the same thing when working from home. If you drive to and from work, and you miss the solitude so much, then take the same amount of time to take a drive. If you take the train to and from work, and you simply need it, then do it. Requiring working in person however forces those who don't want the commute to participate. That's a though-process I simply can't understand.

[grillvogel]

>I'd personally much rather be spending time with family, or literally anything else, other than being stuck in the car for an hour or two. If you feel differently, that's fine but literally nothing is stopping you from doing the same thing when working from home

i take it you don't have kids? the commute provided me with some time to unwind and transition from work mode to dad mode. im a lot more irritable if i just go immediately from closing my laptop to dealing with the kids, and telling them that dad needs to go sit somewhere by himself for an hour after i finish work isnt gonna work for them.

[learc83]

If you don’t have at least a small office where you can shut the door, I have no idea how you’re getting anything done with small kids running around.

But that’s really a requirement for WFH and companies should start offering some kind of stipend to support that.

Assuming you do though, why can’t you stop work and then spend 30 minutes reading something, or working on a side project? My wife would be fine with me doing that, and she doesn’t keep track of when I finish work that accurately anyway.

[edem]

I don't get this. We have an arrangement with my wife that I take the kid for a few hours right after work (we usually go to the park) so she gets her uninterrupted free time, then I also get mine at night when she goes to sleep (I usually go 1-2 hours later). Why would I choose a commute instead of this?