We’ve all heard the phrase positive vibes only. To be honest, it drives me nuts. It’s something meant to reinforce the idea that you should focus on all the good things that are happening instead of dwelling on the bad. Which is good in theory, if you don’t amplify it out of control. However, from a certain point on, it will turn into an ugly monster, also known as toxic positivity.
If you ask 10 different people to define the year that’s coming to an end tomorrow, you’ll get 10 different answers. Same if you ask 1000. Because 2020 was tough, bumpy, and full of unpredictability in all possible areas. And we can all agree that it has forever changed the way we work and interact, both in doing business and in our private lives.
Do you have a coworker who always seems to have their headphones in, tapping along with the beat or mouthing the lyrics? Maybe you are that coworker who can’t get through the day without your favorite playlists. Have you ever thought about why music is so important to your workday, whether you’re only listening to a few songs or a whole opera?
It’s time to get out of the productivity box once again in a search for surprising new elements that can make our days at work better. In the past months, we discovered how coffee influences work efficiency, exercised our way into the flow, and learned to break the mental health paradigm at the workplace. Now, let’s take a deep dive into what nature has to offer.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has become more and more widespread. According to Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work survey, at the beginning of this year, 62 percent of full-time employees in US worked remotely to some degree. By now, more than 65 percent are mostly working from home. And the already fragile work-life balance is once again under great pressure. Therefore, avoiding burnout and caring for the mental health of their employees have become paramount for companies from all over the world.
The current workplace environment looks caught between a rock and a hard place. With 77 percent of full-time US employees working from home, we still have record-high levels of remote workers. Yet, in-spite of distributed locations, leaders want their teams to be highly productive. And all of this on top of a sanitary crisis. So, are you ready to dive headfirst into the mental health paradigm at work? Let’s do it!
Six months into the new Coronavirus pandemic and we still have no clue when this crisis is going to end. Medical experts like Dr. Lisa Maragakis, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins, think that the pandemic’s first wave is gone. Most likely, we are now at the beginning of the second wave. So what does that mean for how people work together and businesses operate?
You’ve heard the phrase being in the flow. It’s commonly used when you work, exercise or even when reading a good book. It turns out, it’s not just a saying, but an actual state of being. And for those who want to better focus and succeed at work, the flow state is the ideal mindset.
Leaders are facing an unparalleled workplace experience. The degree of uncertainty we are now navigating is extraordinary for most businesses everywhere in the world. Nobody knows when this sanitary crisis is going to end or what is going to happen in a couple of months from now. And nobody can predict the impact on employees, customers, even the supply chain.
If your morning routine is never complete without your daily cup of coffee, then you are not alone, not even close. Around the world, it’s a $100 billion industry. A whopping 500 million cups of this caffeinated beverage are consumed each year, according to globalEDGE.
