> With that out of the way I just want to say that in decades I've never had a "quick call" which wasn't a humongous waste of my time.
I don't know about that. I tend to find that incoming "quick calls" with peers, even where they've turned out to be anything but quick, tend to be at least reasonably useful. People do always ask first as well, rather than calling out of the blue.
Overall though, I find working as an engineer at home to be an isolating, and increasingly depressing experience. I really like team I'm working with at the moment but we're scattered to the four winds and barely get to spend any time together, so I'm keeping half an eye out for any roles that are local and might involve a bit more facetime.
When I left my last role for the last 3 - 4 months I was going in 2 - 3 times/week after a handful of us made a pledge to do so and, honestly, it's the happiest I've been at work since the beginning of the pandemic.
I wouldn't say I regret leaving - it was definitely time to move on to something new - but I think that experience, versus how I feel at the moment, is somewhat telling.
I'm almost always in the office. I basically only work from home when I'm going to do something that isn't work where it would be inconvenient for me to leave the office. Like if I have a dentist appointment at 11 am, or the daycare has some event at 2pm... That sort of stuff. It's not that I mind working from home, it's that I prefer working with people. That doesn't mean I don't get "quick calls" though. Even from people in the building... I guess that maybe some of the "quick calls" from people who work from home may actually be because they're a tad lonely now that I think about it.
It takes 15 minutes on a bike to get to my office though. When it took me an hour I worked from home quite a lot.
I don't know about that. I tend to find that incoming "quick calls" with peers, even where they've turned out to be anything but quick, tend to be at least reasonably useful. People do always ask first as well, rather than calling out of the blue.
Overall though, I find working as an engineer at home to be an isolating, and increasingly depressing experience. I really like team I'm working with at the moment but we're scattered to the four winds and barely get to spend any time together, so I'm keeping half an eye out for any roles that are local and might involve a bit more facetime.
When I left my last role for the last 3 - 4 months I was going in 2 - 3 times/week after a handful of us made a pledge to do so and, honestly, it's the happiest I've been at work since the beginning of the pandemic.
I wouldn't say I regret leaving - it was definitely time to move on to something new - but I think that experience, versus how I feel at the moment, is somewhat telling.