They studied teleworking for four years and came to a very clear conclusion: working from home makes us happier.

JVTech News They studied teleworking for four years and came to a very clear conclusion: working from home makes us happier.

Study on time

Our relationship with teleworking has been disrupted by Covid-19. Just four years ago, the third world tasted happiness and it clearly does not want to let go. We might have suspected this intuitively, but now science says: Yes, replacing the hustle and bustle of public transport and office social functions with the prospect of working in underwear does people good.

A very recent study was recently published by the University of South Australia. It concerns, among other things, the impact of teleworking on quality of life. A nice coincidence for the team of researchers: The study began before the pandemic period. When Covid appeared in our daily lives, scientists had been working on the lifestyle and well-being of Australians for a good year. As you can imagine, what was a global disaster was a blessing for this small team.

Preliminary results obtained in the first days of the lockdown revealed that people who worked from home slept almost half an hour more and drank slightly more alcohol.

As we say from the title of this paper, although some of the data on working from home is conflicting, overall, Studies show that giving workers the flexibility to choose to work from home can benefit their physical and mental health.

Healthy life due to saved transport time

Before the pandemic, the average Australian was “wasting” 4.5 hours a week in transport, just to get to work. According to scientists, all those hours spent commuting between home and work go hand in hand with poor mental or physical health. The hours “saved” thanks to teleworking allow you to sleep better, take better care of yourself, your home and your loved ones, or quite simply get more done. In addition, 33% of people surveyed spend their extra time in leisure activities. “Allocating more time for leisure activities while working from home leads to greater opportunities to be physically active and less sedentary,” the study says.

Along with working from home, eating habits have also changed. “The convenience of proximity to our kitchen increased breakfast consumption,” the study’s findings state. Is this a bad thing? Yes and no, because, at the same time, we observe a positive development in the variety of the diet and the quality of the food consumed during meals. Consumption of vegetables, fruits and dairy products has increased, as has home-prepared good food.

Other studies conducted around the world support this data. Recently, a Spanish survey showed that teleworkers get 10 days of extra free time and that this free time makes people happier.

Impact on productivity of teleworkers

Since Covid, more and more people are clearly expressing a desire for flexibility in their workplace. And for good reason: everything suggests that it makes us happier and healthier. Be careful, the word flexibility is important : The main thing is choice! In general, when work from home is mandated, as was the case during early pandemic shutdowns, mental health and well-being decline.

Great, but what about productivity? So most of the timeCompanies have two main arguments Against teleworking:

• 1) Communication and bond with peers weakens.
• 2) Teleworking can reduce productivity (because people are less monitored and more free when they are at home).

Even if the first point is fully understood, it seems contradicted by all the other studies that have addressed it. In the worst cases, the professional performance of people working remotely is stunted. Mostly and on average… they grow. Yes, people like a job well done and not cheated. Teleworking puts us in a better position, and, logically, productivity increases. According to studies, this statement is especially true among people who feel supported by their company.

In short, people who work full-time from home or in a hybrid model report Greater job satisfaction, greater well-being and better productivity. The study concludes that:

Working from home is not a one-size-fits-all approach and appears to be just one option to support a better, more inclusive and flexible work environment. Our approach to work must evolve and take into account the diversity of needs and lifestyles.

Source:
conversation