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Miscellaneous Monday - How close are you to your nearest office?

Andy - PTC Redundant

Destination "Nowhere"

My wife and I recently fulfilled a really long term dream of moving to the east of the Netherlands far away from the busy life of the west. This means that instead of being a 15min drive from the Rotterdam office, I am now a staggering 1h15m. Wooooh!

🚗🤯

It won't be a hassle, what with all the international projects with project team members spread all over the world, I am definitely a virtual worker; but when it comes to a world post Corona lock-downs, a simple quick beer after work with the peeps will have to be a meticulously planned affair!

But it's not all doom and gloom!

I am now only a 40min drive from Eindhoven (sales office with a post box, almost always devoid of people... 😅) and 1h from Ratinger, so it's not like I'm completely disconnected from the physical office life! I have options

Destination "Somewhere"

My situation is neither new nor special in the business world. I know people who work for a company the other side of the world to them; some go their entire careers working in virtual environments, never meeting their peers in person.

As we go back to "normal" post lockdown some of us return to the office, some might venture into a hybrid format, and some will just stay right at home, as always.

So where are YOU living (roughly - data protection, no addresses please!) in regards to the nearest office!?

Maybe it's just a short cycle down the road 🚴‍♀️, or maybe several flights jetting across continents 🛬, or you work for yourself and it's a short trip down the stairs into the basement 🔽!?

Tell us in this week's edition of the Miscellaneous Monday!

Comments

Andy - PTC Redundant

I myself am now officially a "Teleworker" as they call it at PTC and my nearest offices are:

Eindhoven - 41min (41km)

Ratinger - 1h 6min (92km)

Rotterdam - 1h 49min (147km)

Jimmy Seddon

Currently, we are still in a phased approach of lockdown. The only office that is within driving range of me is still closed to all employees.

So for the moment my closest office is my basement

When they start to lift lockdowns, I will be about a 35 - 45 minute drive to the office.

However, I will likely be returning with a hybrid approach. This will allow me to help get our little one starting school in the fall to where he needs to be, while also being in the office a couple of days for any collaborative meetings that need to happen.

Dirk Ronsmans

As a consultant I've always had to work all over Belgium with my shortest drive being 15min and my longest just over 3hrs (with traffic).

Now in these dreadful times we are still doing a hybrid approach. We mainly work from home or the corporate homeoffice which is about a 20min drive without traffic jams and 45-1hr with.

I'm looking forward to re-purposing our attic as a spacious home office just to have the option.

I don't mind a 45-1hr drive but I think we've all learned to appreciate a shorter commute and the fact that virtual also works.

Guess it's one of those perks about living in a "small" country

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

I'm typically about 100-120 minutes from any of the offices I've been based in over the last 25 years - they've all been in London, which is a 20 minute walk to the station in my town, then an hour on the train and then another bit of tube/bus/walk to Shepherd's Bush, the City, Southwark, Canary wharf, and most recently, Waterloo (as a point of reference, the houses of parliament are within rocket-launcher range of that office, which is exactly why I was never allowed on the roof terrace).

However, Adaptavist left our London office in July 2020, as the "work from home because Covid" rule meant we simply didn't need it and it was costing a lot. We're looking at getting another one in London, but I don't know when that might be.

Technically though, there are closer offices to me - we have had one in Leamington Spa for years (a batch of Adaptavists live near the town, so it made sense), which is about 50 miles for me (I'm 70 north of central London). I've been once in the 8 years I've worked here!

Community Manager

I'm about a half hour train ride from the Atlassian New York office — that is, if the trains are running properly!

Thomas Schlegel

My “real” office is about one hour by scooter and train away. But I’ve only been once there this year. Most of us still work from home and additionally, this year I’m not the lucky one - I’m ill for two months now.

In the near future, I think I‘ll work two or three days from home and the other days in the office.

Mikael Sandberg

My office is 36 miles away in downtown Seattle, which equals to about 90 minutes in traffic one way on a good day (40 minutes on weekends). But because of the lockdown and the growth we have had this past year, the office will be over capacity once we open it back up again so I will not going back to the office in the near future.

Dave LIAO

I'm a 7-minute walk to the nearest office that my employer owns.

I have no excuses to be late unless I'm deathly ill. 😅

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Technically, I could say my main office is a few seconds away from home.

When we moved into this house, I took over one of the bedrooms as a "study" and use it for work when I have a "work from home day". Those were once a week when we moved in, but well before Covid, I'd managed to flip it to "go to London once a fortnight". I know my study is "the office" - on the rare times I get sent work stuff, they send it here by default, and I get a small tax break for using it as my main place of work!

I don't use the study all the time though, I quite often work from the sofa - it's nearer the kettle, nearer the front door (for deliveries), has a bigger TV and a lot more cats (we don't let them upstairs as they just fur-up the bed that the cat-allergic people sleep in)

Andy - PTC Redundant

Excellent Jimmy!
I think the hybrid approach is going to become very much the new norm for people who were 100% office pre-Corona.
But good that the office is not too far and you won't suffer any major FOMO 😉

Andy - PTC Redundant

Yup! I hear that. The two hours extra in the day that I have gained by not commuting is worth it's weight in gold!

Sounds so good Dirk. Good luck re-purposing the attic!

Andy - PTC Redundant

That is so interesting Nic... funny you only been to LS once in 8 years.
I reckon many companies are shutting down offices these days. So cost effective. Will be interesting to see the shape and health of the Real Estate industry in 5-7 years time as a result.
Coupled with the housing market, which has gone of its rocker, intersting times are ahead

Andy - PTC Redundant

Hah! I hear that. Classic New Yorker gripe ! 🚆😠🏙

😅

Andy - PTC Redundant

Wow. Two months? That's tough Thomas!
I wish you all the best and hope you can recover asap!

Andy - PTC Redundant

Sounds like the company is promoting WFH post-lockdown which is good. That's a sucky commute... bet you don't miss it Mikael!

Andy - PTC Redundant

Hah hah!
Nice one Dave.

Before Corona, the one colleague that was ALWAYS late and never came in before 09:45am lived the closest to the office and was only a 10min walk away!
Sometimes he'd take the bike. Haha!

Dirk Ronsmans

Haha thanks, gotta start building the house first That's my current "2 next years project"

Andy - PTC Redundant

Nice one Nic
Wish I could work from the sofa but my crappy body and back just don't allow it 😢
It's standing desk all the way for me.

I also need a proper "work" environment, otherwise my ADHD kicks and BOOM... there goes a day

Sucks for the cat-allergic peeps. 🐈 No cuddles at night!

Phill Fox_0rx7av

As another Adaptavist person I have been based at home for over 6 years but do go to different offices London (when we have one), Norwich and Leamington Spa but also Toronto depending on what project(s) I am actively working on. With Adaptavist having a global presence and a work from anywhere policy being tied to a single office is no longer a requirement (nor has there been for some time).

Looking forward to meeting up with our folks in Amsterdam when travel restrictions are released.

Thomas Schlegel

Thank you, @Andy - PTC Redundant

Taranjeet Singh

I have been working from home since last 3 years or so. My last and current employers, are based in California and I am in NJ, so my nearest office is all the way to the West coast. I don't think I will ever get a chance to be in the office in my current job.

John Funk

Thankfully, we were only out of the office for about 5 weeks. I might be one of the strange folks around here that prefers being in the office and not working from home. Although it's nice to be able to that every now and then.

Having said that, it's about a 30-35 minute drive for me into the office in the mornings about 45 minutes home. I live in Nashville and our office is just to the south.

Andy - PTC Redundant

That's quite a distance Taranjeet! Maybe one day.... road trip? 😀🚗🌍🧭

Andy - PTC Redundant

Nashville! Awesome.

Home to many many amazing aspects of life... most notably:

"Marriage or Mortgage?" Love that TV Series, hah hah. I supposed the music and lifestyle there are also somewhat notable 😜😉

I definitely used to be a "I prefer the office". Good for focusing and having a more professional attitude. But I really don't miss the commute.

John Funk

Oh, trust me, I would not miss the commute AT ALL! haha That was the best part when we were home for 5 weeks. But our office has a fantastic environment of collaboration, fellowship and focused work. It is uplifting to be in the midst of that.

Nashville is a great place to live, though I don't watch the TV shows about it. ;-)

Dirk Ronsmans

Ah yes, one of the main reasons I still like to go to the office from time to time.

Co-workers and discussions in real life!

Mikael Sandberg

Yeah, the commute is not something that I have missed at all. The commute anywhere around here is a mess...

Matthew Tutcher

Been a London commuter for many years, but the past 2 years have been working remotely. Normally I ride my motorbike, but my newly assigned office is either 80-100 minute ride, 120 minute public transport (15 min walk, 1 hour overground, 40 minute underground, 10 min walk), or weirdly enough a 40 minute cycle. I guess I'll lose those corona-pounds quite quickly!

Dave LIAO

@Community Manager - been to the new New York office yet? I was supposed to get a tour, then the pandemic hit! 😂

Community Manager

@Dave LIAO I have! We got to enjoy it for a couple of months before COVID.

Andy - PTC Redundant

Nice one Matthew!! Enjoy the cycling and good luck losing the Corona lbs !! 💪🚴‍♀️🌟

unknown

This wasn't on purpose. I was 30 minutes away from my office but then we moved into the closer building and now it's 5 miles down the same street. If I was a biking person, I'd love it. Looking into investing in a one-wheel.

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