Miriam says she is fortunate to be able to work from home part of the week, which allows her to spend more time with her children. (Source: Provided)
I am one of the lucky ones who has benefited from a hybrid work arrangement, and what it has taught me, and others around the world, is that depending on the nature of your job, you can meet the demands of your job no matter where you are.
What freedom! The flexibility gives me two extra hours a day to spend with my family.
It also gives me the opportunity to try and juggle a full-time job with full-time motherhood and actually catch some balls instead of dropping them all.
Being able to meet the demands of all my responsibilities while still enjoying the benefits of working in an office has been significantly beneficial to my mental and physical health.
Why would we abandon this globalized approach to work?
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I enjoy the luxury of the office.
The joy of coming into the office in my role as Media and Communications Manager for Shine Lawyers is something I will never forget.
When you work in an office, you have the luxury of getting changed in the morning, and for moms who tend to wear leggings and slouchy knits on their work-from-home days, this can feel like a necessary act of self-care.
You can enjoy a podcast on the train, walk to the office with a cup of barista-brewed coffee (still warm (referencing motherhood)), and have an uplifting conversation with a colleague to get energized.
But ask any working mother and most would choose to spend time with their baby over time spent commuting.
The benefit of working from home days is that you can get some extra sleep, which in turn gives you the mental energy and perseverance to get more done at work.
I also have enough time to finish work so I can enjoy picking up my child from daycare.
Plus, I can be the mom who can sometimes stay calm and be patient while my kids fuss over what to wear to daycare or what to eat for breakfast.
The story continues
I don’t believe we can have it all at once (although I do believe we can have it all at different times in our lives), but I believe hybrid working is the closest thing to balance that workplaces can offer their employees, and I’m not alone in that belief.
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Miriam said she also enjoys the benefits of working in an office every day. (Source: Provided)
Working from home has proven to be more efficient
Nick Bloom is an economist at Stanford University who has made hybrid work his life’s work since 2010.
At the time, his research found that people who worked entirely from home were 13% more productive, took fewer breaks, worked harder and were less likely to quit than their full-time office colleagues.
The coronavirus has presented Bloom with the opportunity to turn the world into his biggest test yet.
The pandemic has provided an opportunity to test productivity, happiness and success in a hybrid work environment.
The results were not surprising.
Although remote workers report greater job satisfaction, less burnout (despite increased productivity) and a sometimes illusory work-life balance, CEOs and senior executives continue to push for a return to the office-working model.
Bloom calls these leaders “flat Earthers” who, by clinging to disproven theories, are halting progress and pushing us back to standards accepted by a few.
The best workplaces strive to meet our needs
Many people would say that connecting with colleagues and physically attending meetings is crucial to their personal and professional growth.
So, in the workplace, you can set up office days for everyone, creating an environment where everyone can attend and benefit equally from interacting with their colleagues.
Others will say that generations before us have been doing it for years without complaint, but most employees don’t want to go back.
Just because something was done a certain way decades ago doesn’t mean it’s the best way going forward.
Working in an office also has its advantages, Miriam writes. (Source: Provided)
But when we apply for a job, it is called “work” and not “play,” and among its contractual obligations is a promise to abide by the rules and regulations of the workplace.
If you don’t like it, you don’t have to be there, that’s the simple truth.
Not every workplace will make rules to cater to each of our individual needs, but the better ones will, and that’s where we should all be looking for jobs.
Working from home isn’t something I’ll stick to until the day I die, but it’s a perk that I’ve enjoyed and hope to continue to have until my kids are in school.
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