Does an Office Environment Kill Your Soul?
As with many other people around the world I have been working from home for the last couple of weeks and it has really got me thinking, “Does an office environment kill your soul?”.
From the claustrophobic set ups to the drab air and conversation is this really the space in which our minds can thrive or is it just what we have become accustomed to?
A study conducted by Fellowes found that 81% of UK office workers spend between 4 and 9 hours a day sitting at their desk, equating to an average of 67 sedentary days per person per year. When you add this together with the fact that the majority of people will also sit down for their commute be it by car, bus or train our sedentary time can really add up. If you then go home and sit on the sofa watching TV this will be off the charts!
Sure working from home does involve a lot of sitting at a desk but being free from the office environment has also meant being free from watchful judging eyes if I want to get up and move my body, have a stretch and release any tense muscles. When your body feels wound up and tense so does your brain and clearing that brain fog can be challenging meaning you are distant and less productive as your mind is wanting to be somewhere else.
It is as though some of the big corporate companies aim to make their office environments as uninviting as possible as a means of killing your spirit. Here’s your computer, your desk, your just about adequate chair and your walls to block you off from the rest of the world so you can be in corporate jail for the next 8–9 hours. Don’t get me wrong I know not everywhere is like this and there are some nice , light , airy spaces in which some people are able to work in but all the feng-sui and botanicals in an office cannot escape office politics!
Your business can quickly become the property of everyone in that office, colleagues and seniors, and become twisted in the process. Whether you intend to or not you can find yourself in amongst the gossip and politics without even realizing it, “He did this”, “She’s done that”. I mean is it really that important who used Susan’s coffee mug? No, but in an enclosed space like an office small things can soon escalate until the original source of the angst is forgotten. It is as though when you shut the office doors the office becomes your world but sometimes you can’t switch it off, even when you go home.
Working from home and being free of all of that negative, uncertain energy has been a relief, being able to work quietly without interruption about inconsequential matters.
Routine is also more at the forefront of my mind, sticking to my working hours and not working passed what I am actually getting paid to do. How many times are you asked, “Before you leave can you quickly do this?”. Sure, it may only take you an extra 10 minutes but in the course of a year working 48 weeks, this extra 10 minutes every day equates to 2400 minutes, that’s 1.67 days! Imagine what you could learn in those 1.67 days to expand your mind, you could learn to play the ukulele or how to crochet a nice scarf!
The time will come when the world resets and things will return to normal, use this as an opportunity to reframe your office mindset. Try to implement any new working techniques that you have learnt from working at home into your regular office environment. It may not be ideal but positive changes can help stimulate the mind and keep your soul alive!
