Impacts of working from home on mental health tracked in study of Australians

I think people should get paid for the time they spend commuting too and from work.

Companies would change their tune on WFH real quick if that were the case.

I've been "work from home" since 2012, mainly because the projects I worked on were actually in overseas cities.

Before COVID, I would go on work trips of 1-2 weeks every 2 months or so, which was more than enough "office time" to get my doses of office chatter, noisy work environments, stupid in-person meetings etc.

Even before the lockdowns (Melbourne had the longest in the world), I made it part of my routine to go outside every day to get coffee/lunch/sit-in-the-park/walk/talk to people.

It's important to have that human contact, but it's better that I get to choose who to have that contact with and when and how. There are numerous friends from my work that I also see out of work, but there are a great majority that I have no interest in being with in person or outside the work context.

I’ve been 100% remote since the Melbourne pandemic shutdowns, and I’ve absolutely loved it for the most part, and hope to be able to continue to work mostly remote going forward.

It definitely has its downsides though, I’ve missed a lot of the incidental chats and socialising, throwing ideas around etc, and it can be a bit mentally draining. I’ve started renting a hot desk at a wework in the city once a month just to be around people and feel part of something bigger. I actually feel less tired after schlepping into the city and back that day than I do on most other days, which is surprising.

I might be in the minority. But I actually like working at an office (or preferably hybrid).

At work, I work. At home, I do home things. When I work and home at the same place i find it very hard to switch into either mode.

This effect is greatly magnified when you have kids.

I worked remote for a bit , and my overall happiness levels increased when I started working at co-working space. Granted my commute is less than 15 min.

My gym schedule has improved since it’s on the way to the coworking space.

I think the best setup is hybrid IMO

Theres also the physical health. I can only get to a doctor easily because when wfh, I can do it in my lunch time. I remember when I would weigh up requesting annual leave vs not going at all.

I used to hate remote, especially being single. But then I started absolutely JAM packing my evenings with dates, run clubs, time left dinners, harassing friends to get drinks with me, playing magic the gathering commander (4 player), music lessons, etc. it has been way better but I do think a day or two in office a week would be amazing for me

Does it also work for people not on the Australian spectrum?

tl;dr: positive impact

Is there anyone having a worse experience working from home? I'm curious to hear some stories.