The thrill is gone. Remote working was a break from the monotony of years in the office, requiring new thinking and new approaches.
But five months into the pandemic Microsoft has done a survey of workers and finds on average the workday for remote workers has increased on average 48 minutes per day. There are more meetings than in the days when people gathered casually around the coffee machine, now mostly on zoom, and one of the few options to get people together for businesses. And without the opportunity for those casual conversations at work, emails are backing up more than ever.
The novelty is gone and with no end in sight, says Mark Feller, Business Strategist and Scaling Up Coach, is easy to lose focus. “Put some work clothes on, and go to the same place every day. Get consistent, so that your trigger your brain to go into work when you go there,” he advises. Without access to the boss, it might be hard to stand out from the crowd if you feel ready for advancement. “Think about ‘what are the biggest problems that my boss or my company is trying to solve’, and then be part of the solution.”
The Microsoft study found a 13% increase in the number of meetings and that more participants are involved in meetings. If there is any comfort, it’s that email volume is only up by 1.4%.
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