That's certainly an argument but it's just one bullet point in a supportive 5 paragraph essay. How many employees actually have better equipment and spaces at home? Is your espresso machine improving your productivity, or is it a hobby to fiddle with throughout the day? What other distractions are at home that aren't at the office?
I've never liked the framing of RTO vs WFH in terms of distractions because 1) every setup is so unique and 2) one person's "distraction" is another person's motivation/recharge strategy. For me, personally, things at my home like my dog and good coffee can keep me working for 10-12 hours easily, racking up unpaid overtime for my company. My office by comparison is a depressing space and I am motivated to put in the bare minimum time there so I can go home and log back in and actually get things done. Of course on the other hand are people who find the office campus fun and engaging and they hate their home life because of kids or no real office at home. I don't think distractions can be framed in any meaningful way due to these variances. My work slack is full of wars between the WFH faction and the RTO faction, seemingly split 50/50.
Imagine referring to good coffee, the substance that built modern America and industrialized the world, as a “distraction” and arguing that it doesn’t improve productivity. Can you imagine?
> Is your espresso machine improving your productivity, or is it a hobby to fiddle with throughout the day? What other distractions are at home that aren't at the office?
Let me respond fully to your comment. Full disclosure: remote for 8y, on the same and different tz. in office for 5y,
The espresso makes most people more productive. Absolutely.
If not the espresso, some other thing one might enjoy degusting daily.
For the espresso case. Your office is likely too far for one sitting at his desk to suddenly head over 20 mins a few blocks away to appreciate a delicious sip for 5 minutes. What if on Thursday what I really need is a delicous espresso but in total peace with nobody interrupting that moment between me and my cup?
Maybe I'm going too far with what espresso might mean to people but
Your office shaping the way I want to live my life without a doubt is going way too far.
It makes me far less productive to have to adapt my life to the office schedule, location, and the many uncontrollable distractions taking place throughout the day.
It's on me to make my work environment most productive and if I'm unable to do that then just fire me.
You will likely object, so let me introduce to you, Bud, the pug. See Bud needs to go out for a walk even more than I do. I love my dog so I take him out 4 times each day.
It makes me less productive to have to run at 5pm everyday to take the dog out the least late I possibly can. I have to stop whatever I'm doing and get back into the zone.
It also makes me less productive to go home at 5 o'clock.
See, I don't have much respect for people requiring butts on seats to appease their own insecurities. You can be damn sure that I won't give them a minute of my time unless I have to.
Also, I'm best to do work from morning to midnight in bursts. I gladly do extra hours that way, because: productivity.
I could go on and on, air is to dry as office buildings would not consider people's health unless illegal if they can save a few hundred bucks on the monthly energy bill. Lights are too blue/white/cold they hurt my eyes after a couple of hours.
All that being said, it depends on the job, for most jobs my arguments would stand the productivity tests with everyone once they've adapted to remote settings. Wouldn't apply to members of a music band, circus jugglers working in duo, dolphin trainers, nor salsa dancers. People who do these jobs are more productive on site, and the reason they never complain like me and my kind do is simple: they don't actually work in an office.
