I first wrote about this in my blog back in March 2018 recharging-my-brain-s-capacity – a long time before COVID hit us bringing with it the varying degrees of lockdowns that has changed all our lives over the last 2 years - and perhaps instigated a new work model of where and how we work in the future.
Extracting yourself away from the desk, getting outside, moving and walking in nature to recharge your brain’s capacity is now even more poignant and important than ever before.
What has the research told us about about staff working from home?
Many companies recorded an increase in productivity when their employees were working from home during the pandemic. Research was undertaken from 65 countries. The time when a worker logged into the system and the time when the worker logged out increased by at least 30 minutes a day, and many workers began working on the weekends where they had not done so before the pandemic. So, even if the threat of COVID was gone tomorrow, many companies are embracing a work from home policy. 2 days in the office, 3 days working from home. This model will save the employer heaps of money. No need to build the multi-million-dollar office building in the heart of the city now! Staff working from home will also save money on travel, and presumably they will be able to claim back tax on their home office expenses. And, this model is good news for the environment, too. Less cars on the roads, less pollution, less noise. Road infrastructure will last longer because of less traffic.
Why are we working harder when we work from home than we did when we were working at the office?
Why are we working more hours than we are paid to do each day - and working weekends?! I know why I do it, it’s because I have my own business and I am committed to providing the best possible service to my clients and sometimes I have to work long hours. That is all good for me – I’m happy to do it because I’m doing it for me and my clients. But what about workers in large corporate companies? I think there are a couple of things at play here.
Firstly, we feel as though we must justify the work we’ve been doing while we are working from home. For some reason, we feel we need to work harder if we’re working from home than we do in the office. In the office, everyone can see how hard we’re working but when we’re in the home office by ourselves, our output is the only way we can show we’ve been working hard. The pandemic has made us fearful about job security and worried about the economy, so showing that we’ve been working hard at home is important.
Secondly, working from home requires us to develop ‘work time’ and ‘home time’ boundaries. I must admit, I find this quite difficult. I want to complete the task I’m working on – even if I’ve been working on it since 7am and it’s now 10pm. So much for following my own advice! Haha! Ideally, the start and end of a workday when working from home should be the same start and end time as when working at the office in town. It’s a hard rule to follow, but you’ll benefit from it in the long run and your work will too.
Take your breaks – go outside – recharge your brain’s capacity
Whenever possible, I do always try to go for a walk in my lunch break.
It really is important to take time away from your desk, especially now as more and more of us are working from home. Make a point to get outside and go for a walk and ‘Recharge your Brain’s Capacity’!
Keep safe, wear a mask where required and adhere to your local restrictions.
Comments