Dragging ourselves out of bed, facing a commute filled with other people who also want to still be asleep, and cramming ourselves into a small kitchen to try and get hold of our second cup of coffee is not many people’s idea of fun, especially when we have lived in our pajamas for over a year!
It is going to be a hard sell for many of us to get back into the office, and here are just a few of the reasons why.
We Have Had Time To Re-evaluate Our Time
When we have our freedom taken away from us, it might just be that the first things we think about are the ones that are the most important to us. This is also true when we have a break away from something that is our “norm” – we are then given the time to actually think about how we really want to spend that time rather than what we have done out of habit.
Well, when you mix a pandemic lockdown and a work from home sanction, surprise, surprise – you get both.
This combo has given everyone the chance to re-evaluate what they actually want to do from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep, and what they are missing out on when they are confined to somewhere that does not need to be an essential place to be. In this case, the office.
It is now much harder to convince employees that they all need to be in the same room, at the same time, for the same amount of time, after proving for two years that for many sectors, it does not make any kind of negative difference. For some businesses, it’s on the contrary!
Less Productive
It can be really hard to concentrate in a place you are not comfortable in, or where there is a ton of noise or too many things going on, and for many of us, that is the office. Being able to relax in your own home, set your own ideal temperature, and wear what you want can mean that working from home can be as productive as working from the office – if not more so!
Emotionally Draining
Unless you are a full-time extrovert who loves all of your colleagues, who of which make up a fair and positive work environment, then the likelihood is you will end up becoming wiped out by having to be around others, especially if the environment is toxic, competitive, and there is active favoritism. It is one thing to know it exists; it is another to have to witness it every single day and have to wait until the kettle or toilet is free. It’s the little things!
Of course, this will depend on what field you are in as to how beneficial it will be to be able to interact with others on a constant basis. That being said, unplugging benefits everyone, and being distracted regularly is useless for productivity.
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