We now know that health was impacted by excessive work-at-home pressures, with social and behavioural factors being in the lead.
It turns out there are many measures we can take that would improve previously unmanageable conditions.
Start with the basics, air quality and light, and adjust your interior climate to suit
Air pollution is prevalent in our work environments. 70% of workers are complaining about the air quality of their offices, yet, surveys suggest that when at home, the same percentage, if not more, tend to not pay attention to regulating the interior climate despite the increased control they have over it. Mechanically controlled solutions are not always the best, as they cannot compete with the complex purification system of the outdoors atmosphere. Opening the windows and allowing fresh air to come in periodically ensures the oxygenation of indoor air meets the higher demands of more people in the same space for a more extended period.
Regulate your food intake and exercise
Having meals at regular times instead of letting the day fly by can be enhanced by having those meals together with the rest of your family. Living alone poses the problem of eating while working. Instead, carving out a specific time to eat provides an easy pause necessary for the brain to recharge and keep going.
If breaks are strategically placed along the path of performing a task, productivity is enhanced. When the kitchen is the main workspace, having easy-to-cook meals during the day or healthy snacks limits the disruptive meal prep time. Preparing lunch the night ahead, the way you would do it while going to the office, is also a solution.
Resist spatial dependency
Most people report that they work best in one place or another. Having a space that allows appropriate concentration and does not invite chaos and madness is tantamount. While all tasks we perform require attention, not everyone can concentrate in the same way and not every job requires the same level of concentration. Yet this is the one ingredient that is common to everything we do.
Despite the many benefits of a dedicated workspace that, when you have plenty of home, is easier to allocate, changing location and not being dependent on a particular spot also has its perks. It deflects the build-up of strong dependency ties that may, in the long run, prevent you from working well anywhere else.
This is a fragment from the Land of Dochia Monthly Focus series, first published in Land of Dochia, Issue #2 (monthly digital periodical)