What are you missing most about office life? After four months of incarceration at home, I’m dying to get back to the office.  Ennui has set in and I’m completely over working from home.  Pining for the stimulation of my former life, I have compiled my top 14 things that I miss most about office life. Here’s hoping for a vaccine soon!

1) Sharing the milestones in people’s lives: office life is all about relationships and I really miss sharing the milestones (big and small) in my team mate’s lives. From completing a 5K run to having your first child, sharing these milestones fosters a strong connection with others which simply can’t be achieved when working at a distance.

2) Reading free newspapers on the way to work: I love reading newspapers.  Rising at dawn to catch the early tube, there’s no greater pleasure than catching up on the news on the way into work.  By the time I reach the office I feel fully up to date with what’s going on in the world and have no need to scour the internet as I do now when working from home.

3) Getting dressed to go to work: after four months of slopping around in casual gear, I stare forlornly at the rows of work dresses hanging redundant in my wardrobe.  Will they ever have an outing again I wonder? Dressing smartly makes me feel more confident and self-assured. It gives me a different persona and makes me feel part of the working world.  It also separates what I wear during the working week from what I wear during the weekend.  I want my old wardrobe back.

4) Having somewhere to go every day: Going to work gives you somewhere to go every day.  It gets you out of the house and moves you into a much wider and more stimulating world.  Spending my day in the office means that my home becomes a comforting sanctuary to return to.  Familiarity breeds contempt as they say particularly when you’re in the same four walls all day every day.

5) Decent broadband: While we’ve all made the technological leap into the virtual world, my broadband connection is the bane of my life at present.  Too many painful meetings with videos alternately freezing and echoing at the most inopportune times.  Nothing can replace face to face meetings.

6) The office life Friday buzz: There’s a special feel to Fridays in the office.  Laughter and camaraderie fizzing like champagne bubbles as the offices eases down into weekend mode.  You just don’t get the Friday feeling while working from home.

7) Air conditioning: High thirties temperatures in August – need I say more?  Just wait until the heating bills start arriving in a few months’ time.

8) Leaving parties: a bit like funerals, there’s something elemental about the office leaving party. And there’s nothing sadder than moving on to a new job without saying goodbye to those you’re leaving behind.

9) The office canteen: much maligned, the office canteen is frequently the butt of jokes but also provides an important social hub. While the food may not be up to Gordon Ramsey standards, it at least provides respite from having to make it yourself.

10) Birthday celebrations: birthdays are another one of those important office rituals that everyone can share in particularly when there’s cake involved!

11) Walking past iconic sights: as a country girl from the sticks, there is always something magical about walking past London’s great icons.   My daily walk past St Paul’s Cathedral never fails to raise my spirits and remind me that I have come a long way from my roots in rural Scotland.

12) Impromptu lunches out: One of the things that I love most being in the office is the prospect of an impromptu lunch out.  The spontaneity of these outings adds a real spark to the day and provides more opportunities for team bonding.

13) Lunchtime ping pong: There’s nothing I love move than a bit of ping pong at lunchtime while in the office.  Table tennis is just one of a wide array of different activities that are available to the staff at my workplace.  Now my options are limited to online yoga or a walk into town – both of which are feeling stale.  Nothing beats the swipe of a ping pong ball amidst colleagues.

14.) My commute: probably the most surprising one of all!  I miss the structure that my commute brings to my daily life.  My little bit of me time where I can relax with a newspaper (I normally start and finish early) and not worry about the legions of things on my to do list.  By the time I arrive at home, I’ve left the office world and all its stresses behind.

Whether I enjoy office life post covid remains to be seen.  But one thing’s for sure, it can’t be worse than my own company in my own four walls.  What do you miss about office life?  Write your comments below.