Confession: I love staying home with my husband and dog, and I kinda dread the pandemic ending. I don’t want to be forced to leave my house. I never want to go to the office again. I don’t really miss socializing with colleagues and friends. I absolutely love staying home and dread the day I’m expected to go into the office even a couple of days a week. I think I’ll be very depressed leaving my husband and dog every day after seeing how nice it is to stay home with them.
I am a partner at a larger Midwest firm and I have no intention of going back full time and will not require any billers I work with to work in office. I may be an oddity but I doubt I am alone. We are even training remotely. It is working well. We are billing more.
Partner 1 what type of law?
Did I write this? Because it feels like I wrote this... haha. I am already feeling major anxiety about getting called back to the office. It doesn’t help that we moved out of the city and closer to my family and have been LOVING our outdoor hobbies being so much more accessible. I’m going to have a mental breakdown when I have to go back. I’m glad to see some of the responses that other firms have been open to WFH permanently though! Great news!
I feel the same way! I love working from home, I never want to go back.
It’s more than just WFH. I love staying home generally haha
100% agree. I love not having to commute everyday. I get so much more work done and have much more time to spend with my family. I’m not looking forward to having to go back to the office.
Not having the soul sucking commute js a huge deal for me. I also love that I have my own little bubble at home. My workspace os away from the rest of the house and I love it.
You are not alone. I am legit terrified about reentry. I have fully adapted to life in my bubble and I am not sure how I’ll deal if/when we’re required to do even some time in the office again.
Same! Thanks for making me feel like less of a weirdo. :)
If I didn’t have kids I’d feel this way too. And yes I love my kids very much but at home school plus work is dregs now
Ditto
Have you asked if you can simply work remotely from now on regardless?
Associate 6 - I’m at a midsize regional firm in the intermountain west, practicing 50/50 in commercial lit and real property permitting. We are known as more of a lifestyle firm, but pre-COVID there was definitely an expectation that my butt was supposed to be in my office chair from at least 9-5. But I figured if ever there was an opening to get some flexibility, this was it, and I tried really hard during WFH to show I could be productive in sweatpants.
Chief
Glad it’s working well for you! I think you’ll find firms are a lot more flexible in the future, even though you’re a junior, now that firms have seen it’s possible. Maybe you can go in once a week on the day you have department meetings etc to get some FaceTime and the after-meeting chatter.
Is that expected where you are? Honestly fridays were a ghost town pre-covid in my office.
WFH was too distracting for me. Too easy to work on house projects that I never could have gotten around to, get caught up making lunch/dinner/breakfast and the inability to print out voluminous docs to read/review made me less efficient. I'm an old millennial, 8+ years out. I started going in to the office regularly and saw a stark uptick in hours and productivity. Probably helps that the office is a ghost town...
Ditto. Elder millennial here. Plus I have kids. I am more productive and happier now that they let me come back in. And with most others still at home, I have less distractions in office than before. If I really need some mask to mask conversation there’s enough folks I can circle around to. And I like the flexibility the pandemic has brought. I enjoy WFH whenever I want/need with no side eye.
I feel the EXACT same way. Planning to request a flexible schedule and continue to WFH most of the time. Hoping it goes well haha
I feel exactly the same way. I was so sad about starting work because I like hanging out with my husband and dog!! I would work from home forever.
No definitely not. I graduated last may (husband and I went to law school together) and thought that 3L was our last opportunity to hang out all the time..... I was very very wrong lol
I absolutely love this post & feel the same way. I’ve heard so many people complain about being cagey, but I’m not. I see staying home as staying safe. I get to hang out with my mom & I’m also productive. I’m probably more productive at home because I have 3 computer screens instead of 1. Also, when I’m at the office, as it gets closer to 5 PM, I get itchy to leave. At home, I’ll work until the task is finished.
I LOVE being at home too. It’s so nice having your dog as company even if they are snoring in the background of your zoom 😂
Find ways to make your voice heard!
I'm in the same boat and have expressed my hope to firm leadership that I hope the firm will be more open to WFH arrangements post covid.
Yesss I love it so much! I like eating my lunch at home, I definitely eat healthier and spend less eating out. I wasted hours each week when colleagues would pop in my office to chat. Sure it was nice, but I’d rather spend that time with my boyfriend/roommate/working out etc. I feel like I don’t get a lot of time talking with my boss/learning from him which is unfortunate, but I’ve been able to do a lot of figuring things out on my own which has also been valuable. Judicial law clerk here.
I feel the same way. My firm just gave up half their real estate because their lease was up so I’m very hopeful this means many people will be allowed to stay home most days if not everyday. But I gotta say I’m a bit annoyed that I had to turn my guest room into an office (I know, quality problem, but still) and that my electric bill is way up. I think I’m a bit resentful that the firm is saving money while I’m spending more to essentially pay for my own office space. But I like it at home. So I’m not sure how to feel! 🤷🏼♀️
Tell the firm you want a toilet paper stipend
Same! I feel seen
100% with you! I also enjoy eating my meals at home... hated wasting time packing meals or going out of the office midday to pick something up. The only negative thing about WFH is the weight I’ve been putting on due to the lack of physical activity. Guess those commutes counted! But then again, I’m working on establishing a workout routine so hopefully this won’t be an issue anymore
Change jobs when required
I just hired a new associate. He needs to be in the office on Wednesdays and I told him to work from home the rest of the week. I go in 2-3 days a week. Remote is the new wave and it helps us be more productive on a daily basis. I admit face time is nice, but we have Zoom for that. Happy people means less turnover and more production. Keep your team happy.