The great escape…or the great rethink?
We’ve longed for fancy meals out, to gaze upon new horizons, to wander further than the streets in our neighbourhood. But what if we’ve really had more freedom than we think?
Less time wasted commuting, inefficient and pointless meetings, the rigid 9-5 working day. The ability to work when we feel most creative, to work around family, rather than family working around work. To go with the flow, rather than feel herded into the Monday morning mayhem.
So will we really be so keen to relinquish the freedoms we’ve found whilst being locked up, to return to the structured world of work and play. •The BBC reported that only 12% of people wanted to return to full time office work and 72% wanted a hybrid remote-office model going forward. And it certainly seems that we’ve been more productive, quashing concerns that HR departments have had for years about more flexibility for staff.
But what about the downside of working from home. Many are actually working longer hours, fearful of losing their jobs or trying to juggle family or caring commitments. The proximity of the home office means we often find it harder to leave, where previously there’s been a real separation between home and work. ••Forbes raised the issue of collaboration and whether remote working could generate ideas and creativity in the same way. The relationships we have with our colleagues are often what helps join the dots, sometimes everyday problems solved over a coffee break or an overheard conversation.
What we need to take from this is a sense of balance, to try not to go back to normal and hang on to some of the things that work better for us. But also fully embrace the benefits of seeing things differently. Whether that be experiencing the culture of a new destination, delighting a new taste or simply being a sponge and absorbing the things we’ve been too busy to notice.
Our minds need to escape the humdrum of the last 12 months as much as we do.
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References :
•• www.forbes.com
