If you work from home, how many hours do you actually work?

[Anonymous]

I truly do not have 8 hours of work every day. I'm pretty efficient and I never miss a deadline. Maybe 5 hours of work per day?

[Anonymous]

I'm equally productive home and at office, but if I were given 6-hour workdays, I'd get same amount of work done in less time. (But, it's actual work, not sitting in meetings.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Millennials seem to have gotten used to full time work from home jobs where they actually only work a couple hours per day. No one actually works the full 8 hours.

My friends have various mouse shakers, spouses checking emails to see if an unscheduled call or meeting is scheduled when worker is out and not home.

How many hours do you actually work in a day?

I mean, boomers and genxers didn't exaclty work the full 8 hours a day in an office, either. Is it your contention people didn't take long lunches, smoke breaks, engage in water cooler gossip, surf the web, etc. back in the day?

My work gets done. I don't watch the clock. I typically start at about 0700 and finish around 1900. And sometimes there are times in the day when I run an errand or whatever.

What's this fixation with romanticizing the past? How we work has fundamentally changed forever. Thank technology for that, which made us more efficient and mobile. There's no really good way to answer this without granting the premise that working in an office meant more "working." No, it just meant more "looking busy."

[Anonymous]

Another one of these posts?

Acting like people going into the office can’t just surf the internet all day or take a long lunch and 3 coffee breaks a day. Sitting in an office is not a job.

[Anonymous]

I work from home and I work 6.5-7.5 hours per day most days, but sometimes I work later or have to finish things up after my kids are asleep.

I have a lot of meetings where I listen and then make decisions - but we are a low video / no video culture. That allows me to sign documents, approve timesheets, and other mundane tasks while I listen and wait for my part of the agenda. When I am in person, I have to sit there and listen - and spend time later doing mindless admin tasks.

[Anonymous]

It differs by the day and my workload. I have days I work 6-7 hours and days I work 12+.
It generally all equals out. When I have a lot going on and deadlines, I may go weeks working 10-12 hours a day. Not everyone is a slacker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The full 40 I have no choice, I supervise 15 and have deadlines and meetings all the time. I envy the people who can get their job down in a shorter amount of time. I've tried to delegate more but it hasn't helped too much.

Time to find a new job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say I average about 3-4 hours of solid work a day.

Keep in mind - even before WFH was common, there was a lot of research out there that knowledge/desk workers topped out at about 5-6 hours of solid work a day no matter how many hours they were in the office. So comparing this to 8 hours is a bit silly.

I'm not doing anything weird like a mouse mover or having my spouse check my email. If I'm actually going to be off Slack for more than an hour, I let people know (like if I have a doctor's appointment or have to run an errand or something), but otherwise, I'm always responsive. My bosses are happy with my output and deadlines are getting met. But yeah, I take frequent breaks, and I do thinks like unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, sort laundry, etc during my work hours. And that's average - if it's a busy week, it's a busy week, I'll get my stuff done and hit my deadlines. On the other hand, if it's a slow week, I might take a nap.

OP here. I’m a SAHM wanting to go back to work. My youngest is now in elementary but my older kids seem to require more rides than ever. Before I stopped working I used to have a part time job that was 30 hours per week in the office. My boss was ok with me part time because I did more work than people who actually worked full time. I had to cram all this work in the hours I was at the office and I often finished at home because I left to pick up my kids. I definitely got the short end of the stick on that job.

Now it seems like WFH culture is here to stay. I’m hoping I can work full time work from home and work around 25-30 hours per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say I average about 3-4 hours of solid work a day.

Keep in mind - even before WFH was common, there was a lot of research out there that knowledge/desk workers topped out at about 5-6 hours of solid work a day no matter how many hours they were in the office. So comparing this to 8 hours is a bit silly.

I'm not doing anything weird like a mouse mover or having my spouse check my email. If I'm actually going to be off Slack for more than an hour, I let people know (like if I have a doctor's appointment or have to run an errand or something), but otherwise, I'm always responsive. My bosses are happy with my output and deadlines are getting met. But yeah, I take frequent breaks, and I do thinks like unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, sort laundry, etc during my work hours. And that's average - if it's a busy week, it's a busy week, I'll get my stuff done and hit my deadlines. On the other hand, if it's a slow week, I might take a nap.

OP here. I’m a SAHM wanting to go back to work. My youngest is now in elementary but my older kids seem to require more rides than ever. Before I stopped working I used to have a part time job that was 30 hours per week in the office. My boss was ok with me part time because I did more work than people who actually worked full time. I had to cram all this work in the hours I was at the office and I often finished at home because I left to pick up my kids. I definitely got the short end of the stick on that job.

Now it seems like WFH culture is here to stay. I’m hoping I can work full time work from home and work around 25-30 hours per week.

Yeah, if you can find one, it’s a game changer as far as being able to pop out to pick up/drop off kids. If the hiring manager has school-aged kids, that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say I average about 3-4 hours of solid work a day.

Keep in mind - even before WFH was common, there was a lot of research out there that knowledge/desk workers topped out at about 5-6 hours of solid work a day no matter how many hours they were in the office. So comparing this to 8 hours is a bit silly.

I'm not doing anything weird like a mouse mover or having my spouse check my email. If I'm actually going to be off Slack for more than an hour, I let people know (like if I have a doctor's appointment or have to run an errand or something), but otherwise, I'm always responsive. My bosses are happy with my output and deadlines are getting met. But yeah, I take frequent breaks, and I do thinks like unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, sort laundry, etc during my work hours. And that's average - if it's a busy week, it's a busy week, I'll get my stuff done and hit my deadlines. On the other hand, if it's a slow week, I might take a nap.

OP here. I’m a SAHM wanting to go back to work. My youngest is now in elementary but my older kids seem to require more rides than ever. Before I stopped working I used to have a part time job that was 30 hours per week in the office. My boss was ok with me part time because I did more work than people who actually worked full time. I had to cram all this work in the hours I was at the office and I often finished at home because I left to pick up my kids. I definitely got the short end of the stick on that job.

Now it seems like WFH culture is here to stay. I’m hoping I can work full time work from home and work around 25-30 hours per week.

Yeah, if you can find one, it’s a game changer as far as being able to pop out to pick up/drop off kids. If the hiring manager has school-aged kids, that helps.

I have had 2 jobs that were pretty flexible like this. Technically full time but I can do everything in fewer hours. The hard part is that you can’t always tell how it’s going to be before you start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say I average about 3-4 hours of solid work a day.

Keep in mind - even before WFH was common, there was a lot of research out there that knowledge/desk workers topped out at about 5-6 hours of solid work a day no matter how many hours they were in the office. So comparing this to 8 hours is a bit silly.

I'm not doing anything weird like a mouse mover or having my spouse check my email. If I'm actually going to be off Slack for more than an hour, I let people know (like if I have a doctor's appointment or have to run an errand or something), but otherwise, I'm always responsive. My bosses are happy with my output and deadlines are getting met. But yeah, I take frequent breaks, and I do thinks like unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, sort laundry, etc during my work hours. And that's average - if it's a busy week, it's a busy week, I'll get my stuff done and hit my deadlines. On the other hand, if it's a slow week, I might take a nap.

OP here. I’m a SAHM wanting to go back to work. My youngest is now in elementary but my older kids seem to require more rides than ever. Before I stopped working I used to have a part time job that was 30 hours per week in the office. My boss was ok with me part time because I did more work than people who actually worked full time. I had to cram all this work in the hours I was at the office and I often finished at home because I left to pick up my kids. I definitely got the short end of the stick on that job.

Now it seems like WFH culture is here to stay. I’m hoping I can work full time work from home and work around 25-30 hours per week.

Yeah, if you can find one, it’s a game changer as far as being able to pop out to pick up/drop off kids. If the hiring manager has school-aged kids, that helps.

I have had 2 jobs that were pretty flexible like this. Technically full time but I can do everything in fewer hours. The hard part is that you can’t always tell how it’s going to be before you start.

PP here and that is true. I’m about to switch to a new fully remote job and the hiring manager told me in my interview that she is out everyday for a bit around 3pm to pick up her kid from school, so you can tease it out with general questions about core works hours and flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say I average about 3-4 hours of solid work a day.

Keep in mind - even before WFH was common, there was a lot of research out there that knowledge/desk workers topped out at about 5-6 hours of solid work a day no matter how many hours they were in the office. So comparing this to 8 hours is a bit silly.

I'm not doing anything weird like a mouse mover or having my spouse check my email. If I'm actually going to be off Slack for more than an hour, I let people know (like if I have a doctor's appointment or have to run an errand or something), but otherwise, I'm always responsive. My bosses are happy with my output and deadlines are getting met. But yeah, I take frequent breaks, and I do thinks like unload the dishwasher, clean the kitchen, sort laundry, etc during my work hours. And that's average - if it's a busy week, it's a busy week, I'll get my stuff done and hit my deadlines. On the other hand, if it's a slow week, I might take a nap.

OP here. I’m a SAHM wanting to go back to work. My youngest is now in elementary but my older kids seem to require more rides than ever. Before I stopped working I used to have a part time job that was 30 hours per week in the office. My boss was ok with me part time because I did more work than people who actually worked full time. I had to cram all this work in the hours I was at the office and I often finished at home because I left to pick up my kids. I definitely got the short end of the stick on that job.

Now it seems like WFH culture is here to stay. I’m hoping I can work full time work from home and work around 25-30 hours per week.

That’s the problem with “30/hour a week jobs.” I’ve never actually seen anyone in those jobs get 25% less work than a 40 hour a week person. Sounds like you were doing as much as your 40/hour a week colleagues. Even though they were “in the office working 40 hours,” they probably weren’t really doing that much extra work in the extra hours they were in the office were they?

[Anonymous]

I've been wfh for about 8 years, so pre-pandemic.

Sometimes I work 8+ hours/day when I'm really busy and have deadlines. I've done this a lot. I don't get extra compensation for it.

Other times, when I'm not busy, don't have a project I'm working on, I work way less than 8 hours.

I figure it all evens out. I don't feel guilty over it because I'm still a high performer and valued in my team. I take the down time when I can get it.

And I'm an older Gen Xer.

[Anonymous]

I’m a 1099 and bill by the hour. If I am not working I am not billing and if I’m not billing I don’t get paid. I’m part time so anywhere from 20-30 hrs of real work.

[Anonymous]

10-12 hours a day and lately about 10 hours over the weekend. Trial-related and exhausted.