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RantFor those of you who work in person in an office, HOW?!
freezing cold
harsh migraine-inducing lighting
unless you have your own office (which I’ve noticed most workplaces now reserve only for very high-ups), constantly being perceived and hearing other people talking
SO. DRY. I was in an office for a few days for the first time in awhile and forgot about this aspect, which I now recall from previous offices as well. I’m not a water drinker or a lotion user or a chapstick user at all normally. I drank SO many bottles of water, kept having to use hand cream and chapstick. Constantly. And within a few minutes would be totally dried out again as if I had not done any of those things at all. Insane.
Why are offices so hostile to human life? I know the freezing temperatures are due to men being tyrants, but do men not also get burned out by the horrible cold lights and bone dry air?
How does anyone get anything done in such an anti-human environment? Why don’t they just send us up to the moon without spacesuits? At least we’d die quicker and with less suffering!
Also I have no idea how you gyns handle periods in-office. I have extremely mild periods (BC withdrawal bleeding technically) and I can’t even remember how I did it. I usually have one PMS day of a migraine and body aches/despair, and then a day of medium flow and a couple period poops. Handling that in an office is a NIGHTMARE. How????
Yes!! Especially the dryness, which nobody seems to talk about. Whenever I go into the office I end up with eczema flare ups and super dry eyes from how dry it is, and eye strain and headaches from the lighting. My job can be done entirely from home, as well, so why not let me do that instead of making me drive 45 mins along roads where I am at serious risk of hitting cyclists each morning and evening because cycle lanes aren't a thing here? :(
I only go in a couple of times a month and the first times I went after it was allowed again it was just "WTH is happening to my skin?!" I've got bad skin as it is and it just dies at the office.
And the excessive sitting makes me really bloated and gassy. At home I have a standing desk and move around constantly in a way that's not appropriate in an open plan office, even when I manage to get the only standing desk in the village.
Exactly. Open plan offices are a sensory overload and sent my anxiety sky high. I ended up being one of those people who got in early so I could get my work done! Nowadays my visits are fleeting and I try to get a window seat rather than sit in the thoroughfare.
Blanket
Steamy hot coffee/tea at all times
Blue light glasses
healthy snacks
Tylonol or advil in case of headaches or other issues
This is the best I've got. Sending hugs <3
Good idea. My old workplace was so decrepit that even the men were too cold so we all got space heaters! I also often brought in my heating pad which was humiliating but it was absolutely necessary
God, that sounds miserable. I'm sorry your office is like this.
I'm not higher up by any means. I'm definitely peasant level, but I've got my own office, and I quite like it. I've made it nice and cozy. Our building temperature stays about 69 - 71 degrees year round, but I've got both a space heater and a fan to help with that.
We do hear a lot of complaints about the artificial lighting. I usually keep my florescent lights on, because they don't bother me, but I know they bother others, so we can either dim them or bring in another source of lighting (my migraine prone coworker has string lights all around hers, for example).
For dryness, I keep lotion in my purse. And for my periods, I don't really get them that badly, so I just keep extra pads on me, and I know I can always run home if there's a problem. Guess I lucked out.
I hope your situation improves soon, OP.
I am fulltime WFH with a couple excursions to the office per year. So my in-office times are exacerbated by flying in right before (also an anti-human hostile dry environment) and right after. I also am not into traveling and it takes an enormous toll on me. I know this is true for most people, but it seems to affect me even more than others I’ve met in my life so far. So it is a ROUGH time. Also all the meetings tend to be scheduled in the last week of the month, and that’s when my period falls so
Not all offices are as you described. Mine has the open plan, and the endless noise does bother me. It's not dry and we get loads of natural light.
My main issue with officework is the politics and the people who are good at politics 😒
I must have lucked out with mine. I have no complaints about the temperature or lighting. My co-workers are pretty decent. I would like to have my own office, but yeah, that's reserved for people higher up. I have a desk that's off to the side, so it's not too bad.
As far as my period goes, I keep ibuprofen and extra pads in my desk if I need them. But I don't have bad periods.
For glaring lights, ikea sells some nice leaves you can set up on your desk that can block the light.
Leaves? Not OP, but can you link?
https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/search/?q=canopy
It's the leaf in black but you can pick a different one
LMAO I’m imagining showing up to work and just putting an enormous leaf over my cubicle. That’s hilarious
Ooo I like this idea if the place allows it. You could get a couple of cozy desk lamps and get a fort vibe going.
The third point is what makes me work from home at least twice a week, especially on a Wednesday because that's the day when most of us are in the office while Mondays and Thursdays are relatively "empty" days, and on Fridays, the office supposedly is completely empty.
We have a rather large office with places for up to 20 people. You can imagine the noise 20 people make. One of my colleagues who is sitting directly across from me is especially noisy simply by attacking her keyboard - like me, she learnt typing on an old typewriter, so she hits the keys rather forcefully and quickly. So do I, but while I use my notebook's keyboard, she uses one of the old chunky ones. And that's noisy and distracting. I've tried earplugs, and even though they are really good earplugs (best I've ever had), they are no match for her typing. So I've resorted to wearing headphones and listening to music. It's the only thing that drowns out that typing.
Periods are mostly fine, probably because we're mostly women in that office, so if one of us is a bit down thanks to PMS or needs to stay home, the others are very understanding.
I totally relate to all of your points. After enjoying work from home for three years, my job is making us come back in the office.
My biggest struggle is the time it takes to wake up early, get dressed, pack food, and commute during rush hour, especially after experiencing the convenience of rolling out of bed 10 min before work starts.
I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of it eventually, but damn WFH was so amazingly convenient. Not to mention the amount of money saved on gas and lunches.
It seems like a lot of companies are making people go back to the office and that is so unfortunate. My quality of life is so much better when i can work from home at least a few days/week. From driving alone I get an extra 90 minutes a day when I don't have to go into the office. Then add all of the dressing, packing food and work stuff, etc... I can no longer tolerate losing two hours PER DAY because they decide it is better if I do the same work from a different building.
Some of my work is hands-on, and I go in for that without complaint. But it kills me when I get pressure to go into the office more for desk work. I hope some companies keep some of the COVID flexibility. I hope workers keep pushing back.
That sucks - they aren't even offering a hybrid model for you?
I quit my last job because they tried to pull this. At least that office was very quiet. My new job is fully WFH but in the office people are always walking around and talking. I am barely qualified for my job as is turns out, and need zero distractions to have any hope of doing anything useful