From WFH to WTF: Why Full-Time Office Life Feels Impossible

How did anyone used to do it?

Five days a week in the office.
School drop-offs. Dog walks. Hour-long commutes.
Dinner on the table, footy training, homework supervision, laundry, groceries, deliveries, tradies, life admin… all somehow done before falling asleep in front of the 9:30 news.

And now some leaders want us to “get back” to that?

I’m not sure if it’s nostalgia or selective memory, but either way — it doesn’t add up.

The Romanticised Past

We tend to look back on pre-pandemic life as structured, steady, and simpler.
And in some ways, it was. But that system only worked because life was organised differently:

One salary could often carry the household
One partner (usually the woman) stayed home or worked part-time
Kids walked to school and sport was seasonal
There weren’t five school apps, colour-coded family calendars, or WhatsApp groups for every extracurricular

The “balance” was only possible because someone was doing the invisible labour behind the scenes.

Then Life Crept Up on Us

Over time, the load increased. Quietly, gradually.
The cost of living soared.
Dual incomes became a necessity, not a choice.
Our lives became more complex — more scheduled, more tech-heavy, more demanding.

And just when everything felt stretched to the breaking point… COVID hit.

Enter: WFH

WFH wasn’t perfect. But for many, it revealed a truth we’d forgotten:
The way we were working wasn’t working.

We got time back.
Time to think. To pick up the kids. To eat lunch without a desk.
Time to realise that constant motion didn’t always equal productivity — and that flexibility could actually deliver better outcomes, not worse.

Now, as some employers and politicians push for a full return to the office, it feels less like WFH… and more like WTF.

It’s Not Just You

Let’s ground this in facts:

68% of Australian households with children now have both parents working full-time
Mortgage repayments are up more than 50% in some cities in just a few years
Women still do the majority of unpaid labour, including childcare, even when employed full-time

So no, it’s not just in your head.
Life has become more complex.
And asking people to “go back” doesn’t just mean returning to a desk — it means giving up the fragile, hard-won rhythm that finally made modern life feel just manageable.

Who Gets Left Behind When We Go Back?

This isn’t just about parents, either.

Hybrid and remote work have been game-changers for people traditionally excluded or sidelined by rigid office norms:

Women and single parents, especially in caregiving roles
People with disabilities and chronic health issues
Neurodivergent professionals who thrive in low-sensory environments
People of colour, often navigating workplace cultures that haven’t always been inclusive
Workers outside major cities — no longer penalised by postcode

For many, flexible work has levelled the playing field.
Rolling that back risks snapping back to a system that only ever really worked for a privileged few.

What About Connection?

Of course, some roles need face time.
And for many of us, in-person collaboration brings energy, creativity, and connection that’s hard to replicate online.

So let’s not throw that out.

But if we’re serious about returning to the office, we need to make it worth it.

How to Make Hybrid Actually Work

Here’s what better looks like:

Make office time meaningful: Focus on collaboration, planning, mentoring, team culture — not sitting in a different chair on the same Zoom calls.
Prioritise outcomes, not optics: Trust people to deliver. Don’t confuse presence with performance.
Flex with intention: Hybrid doesn’t mean “3 days in for everyone.” It means adapting to role, season, and need.
Lead with empathy: Not everyone starts from the same baseline. Flexibility is inclusion. Period.

This isn’t about choosing between office and remote.
It’s about designing work in a way that reflects life as it actually is — not how it looked in 1997.

Let’s Be Honest

The old model was barely working for a lot of people.
It required a full-time employee and a full-time support act behind the curtain.

But today?
We’re asking two full-time workers to perform both roles… while managing increased complexity and constant digital load.

It’s not lazy to want flexibility — it’s realistic.
And it’s time we stopped framing modern work needs as entitlement, and started treating them as design challenges.

We’re not going back.
And maybe that’s a good thing.

P.S.
If this resonated, you might enjoy a piece I wrote a while ago on harmony over balance — a gentler take on work and life when everything feels stretched:
👉 Striking Harmony on Medium