WFH at the yard

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stangs

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In theory, my work allows me some degree of flexibility in working hours. In practice, it’s difficult to have any flexibility when you’re in Teams calls, that you do actually have to do stuff in, practically all day every day. Certainly not enough flexibility to squeeze in a visit to the yard, which takes up at best 7 hours due to the long train journey and infrequent train service.

So now I’m wondering about working remotely at the yard, do the commute to the yard outside working hours, and then harass the horse in between said Teams calls. Only issue is there’s no wifi, nowhere to charge my computer, and nowhere particularly comfortable to sit, although I could probably set up shop in the tackroom. (I don’t have a car).

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? Any tips on working remotely at the yard?

All advice appreciated. Only being able to see the horse once a week is killing me.
 
I have done but was lucky in that the yard had WiFi and a tack room with a table and chairs etc 😂 it wasn’t ideal though as people kept walking in! That’s the downside to using the tack room. I’ve only done it when I had to be at the yard for something like the farrier, vet etc so worked around that as the times were vague for their arrival!

Can you find a local cafe or office space you can rent within a short distance? That might work out better! You could try a USB internet thing for your phone and hot spot off that? However for teams calls you really do need WiFi or you can’t get video and audio etc.

Have you asked the Yard owner if they can let you use a room if they live on site? Pay them a small amount to rent an office space etc?

But yes moving the horse/house might be easier!
 
Are you guaranteed peace and quiet if you use the tack room? I've worked at the yard, but then I have a comfortable caravan to sit in and am not on Teams calls.

Of course it's doable. You could get mobile internet easy enough and a portable battery to charge the laptop.
 
What kind of yard is it? If it is sole use, I guess you could use the tack room, have wi fi, etc etc.

If it is a shared yard, then as a fellow livery, I would not enjoy someone doing work teams calls in the tack room. The horses would be a place I would go to relax. No issues if someone did it as a one off for the vet etc, but no, not as a regular thing.

Does your work not need some type of confidentiality?
 
I once tried doing this, just because I am at home working and alone all day and fancied a change of scene. Bit different as it's my yard, but I bought a small cheap caravan. It didn't work very well as the signal there isn't good enough, but if there is generally good mobile coverage you could get a dongle from a phone provider to hook up to.

Practicalities though, you'll be interrupted on calls by people coming in and out, or the general yard noise. And as Red-1 said others there may not like it. Could you look locally to see if there is a coworking space you could work from, but be close enough for a lunchtime ride or to spend time with your horse?
 
Seven hours (in one direction?) is crazy. Is it the distance or other factors that are taking so long?

I regularly drive from north Yorkshire to visit friends in the south east and it takes about that!

If you can drive, consider hiring a car? It'd somewhere more private to sit at least!
 
I have done it in lock down, but I have a lorry to sit in with heating and electric. I bought one of those hot spot wifi things which worked fine. It is my own place though so no disruptions. As @Red-1 said I wouldn't be happy with a fellow livery using the tack room and having to be quiet if they were on teams meetings. The horses are my chill out time.

A 7 hour round trip to see your horse is a bit mad IMHO - in your shoes I'd be looking at ways to fix that, moving house or horse or work or all 3.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Would you not also freeze? I wfh and I even find my house freezing indoors in the middle of winter just sitting still for so long.
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Yes I would struggle with this. I don't think you'll be able to get an optimal working setup at the yard - as others have said, can you reassess the whole situation? Or if not, I agree with @Bobthecob15 that a much better idea would be to book a co-working space somewhere closer to the yard.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Would you not also freeze? I wfh and I even find my house freezing indoors in the middle of winter just sitting still for so long.
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I'm running a training course this morning and have just had to put the heating on. It was 13C in here which doesn't sound cold but without moving from the computer I was FROZEN
 
When we were living in the caravan we had no wi-fi and the majority of my work was on Teams calls. There was a reasonable 4G signal so we got an EE mobile internet device, which also had the advantage of being re-chargeable so didn't need to be constantly plugged in. It worked very well. Downside was that it was expensive. If I have to join a Teams call and I'm out on the road, I use my phone as a hotspot and that can work well depending on how good the 4G is.
Renting an office space won't be dirt cheap but it does sound like a good idea in that you'll have dependable wifi and it'll be comfortable. I don't blame you for doing whatever you can to increase and maximise horse time!
 
poiuytrewq said:
Its funny, I can go outside in cold temps, do horses, come back in where its obviously a lot warmer, sit down and am cold to my bones in no time at all!
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Yes....I end up wearing piles of clothing to sit at the computer, then stripping it (almost!) all off to go outside. Feels very silly
 
Widgeon said:
Yes....I end up wearing piles of clothing to sit at the computer, then stripping it (almost!) all off to go outside. Feels very silly
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I am the same - currently sitting at my laptop with three layers on. When I go out at lunchtime to muck out I will be down to just my t-shirt but then I am moving around a lot doing manual work.
 
i've done it, but i sat in my horses locker on a bale of shavings, using my phones hotspot. we had the option for being able to plug devices in etc (in the old disused office, on the yard) so i'd generally do that on my breaks for charging

could you work in a nearby coffee shop instead, that would be warmer and at least you would be able to charge your devices?
 
I've done the occasional call from the car whilst waiting for vet etc. Mobile signal is good enough but they could hear the occasional horse neigh and I wouldn't be able to have camera on so no way would I be pretending to be working professionally.

I wouldn't rule it out if you can get a decent working environment and can concentrate and work properly.
 
All the above plus, I don't know where you are, but I have to inform my work where I am working from for insurance purposes, and they have to check that it is "safe" in terms of facilities and also that the setup is ok in terms of health and safety. I know that a tack room would not pass :). But if you could find something more structured it would be great to be able to work from the yard (or very near to). Good luck!
 
I've done it at my last yard but in summer. Plonked the laptop on a big bale in the hay barn opposite my horses' stables so out of everyone's way.

Someone else used to do work calls hacking with Bluetooth earbuds.

Current yard has a terrible signal in the stables/barn, I have to walk round to the manege to do anything but the lorries are parked there and someone works from their horsebox.

Would someone let you use the living in their horsebox.
 
I've done short meetings from the yard tack room. I have a stool and use the coffee area worktop and blur the background . There's no wifi so I use my work phone as a hotspot and I regularly answer phone calls and emails because I do have a degree of flexibility and am expected to be available for my boss outside office hours so I don't feel bad about working from the yard if I need to be there later in the morning or during the day for some reason mostly the yard is quiet after 9, and most of the other liveries if they are there are just doing their thing. It is freezing in the winter though, not gonna lie. However, I think your situation sounds pretty hard- the yard sounds a long distance from home, and having tried to do back to back meetings where you're participating (I am mostly just taking notes/minutes) I think it could be a challenge.
 
I have no idea how you can all concentrate enough to take work calls at the yard! I can't do it without at least two screens, my notebook of scribbles, and several supporting files open to reference when the client inevitably asks a really difficult and specific question. Although obviously I realise this is somewhat job dependent.
 
I'm a remote worker but the signal at the yard is awful. EE say the increase in properties in the local villages & towns shouldn't affect the signal but over 3 years its gone from adequate to non existent. Teams calls wouldn't be possible, but I don't think my work would care.

Trouble with trying to work on a livery yard is you cant really tell everyone else to shut up!

Is there a reason you're so far from your horse?
 
HopOnTrot said:
Also, I am my boss so no one to answer to.

I did some work from the car at the vets this morning.
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I worked in the reception area at the RVC, they gave me their WiFi password. It was one of those long workups where you're there most of the day and was a good use of the time. I'm self employed so would only bill for hours used.

I travelled for work so you end up working at airports, hotel rooms, the hotel bar if that's where the free WiFi was or by the pool.
 
sarcasm_queen said:
Depends entirely on your job and company, but mine would be seriously unimpressed if they found out I was hanging out with the horses during my work day.
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Exactly. Mine would be the same, and theyre pretty flexible if you need it. Im mainly office based but can wfh if I need something (e.g. when had to wait in for the Internet to be fixed) but no way if I had a horse would I think about working from the yard unless one off e.g. vet visit

Feels like the fact you'd be dealing with the horse during working hours (presumably youre still working when not in meetings unless you have flexi working hours) is massively taking the p, and potentially ruins it for those who want to wfh to work, and cant because trust has been ruined by those taking the p and not working

Can understand taking a longer lunchbreak to ride of something then working later but not just doing horse related stuff in work hours id be extremely resentful as a colleague if someone was doing that while I was working honestly especially if it made them crack down on wfh

Also what about confidentiality?
 
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