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.
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.
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.
The Coronavirus pandemic has forever altered the workplace. Not only did unemployment skyrocket to 14.4 percent in April, but those with jobs have significantly adjusted their workflow and daily lives. Companies shifted to completely remote offices in a matter of days. Employees suddenly faced work from home challenges having to learn new technologies, navigate work with kids in the next room, and become a teacher (homeschooling) all at the same time. Now, as many countries around the world start to shift into the new normal, here are a few predictions about the future of work after the Coronavirus pandemic.
More than a decade ago, open floor plans were heralded as the future of workplace design. The drab walls and cubicles that conjured images from the movie Office Space were no longer the norm. By then, companies could look and feel like hip, young startups with open space plans and team members sitting right next to each other.
The digital workplace is rapidly evolving. With new tools, greater demand from users, and a focus on productivity and efficiency, technology is changing the way we work for the better. As we look ahead to the trends that are shaping the modern workplace, we notice that flexible work and the availability of the right digital tools will continue to become more and more important.
No matter how hard we’re trying, we can’t be or seem to be happy all the time. We all have good moments and bad moments, good days and bad days, but sometimes life happens and depression can get ahold of even the best of us. Most professionals will try their best to keep their real feelings hidden while at the office and not let it affect their jobs. But not everyone will manage to keep that up forever. This is when swift management over difficult conversations is a necessary skill.
