Home offices, online working are starting to be a well-known way of working, however they also cause many controversies. Are they really maintaining workers well-being and productivity? Or on the contrary, they are leading to many issues in companies development and well-being of individuals? In this essay I will discuss the topic of work-life balance and social life, proving that standard work is a better option.
First and foremost, if history is any indication, people for centuries, had separate places of work and living space. Whether they worked in the fields, taking care of animals, in government or as a shop runner, the place of work and their personal life was in two different places. That had very important cause, like James Clear proved in his blockbuster titled “Atomic Habits”. Humans brain connects action and feeling of: peace, comfort, stress, focus or creativity with an environment such as: home, park, church, work etc. Having that in mind, it is needless to say, that by choosing working from home our mind starts to connect work and personal life in one space. Following author’s research, by having everything organized in one place, our brain will want to multitask and do home duties, work tasks and family responsibilities at the same time. That can lead to a serious problem with concentration, relaxation and feeling of having everything in control, which can take a heavy toll on our work-life balance.
Individuals life satisfaction consider not only work-life balance, family life and feeling of fulfilment, but also friendships. As antique philosophers stated, humans are social beings. No matter if they are introverts or extraverts, having someone around who they can trust and feel comfortable with is one of the most significant element of their well-being. Regarding to work life, almost every job contains high level of interpersonal contacts, whether is group working with coworkers or connection with people as waiter or shop assistant. Unfortunately, if we choose to work from home we tend to neglect relationships, going out and maintaining relationships. . Not without a reason, nowadays scientist are calling the 21st century as ,, A century of loneliness epidemic”. We close ourselves at in our four walls, focusing on job and the spare time. Humanity, forgets to stay in touch with people on a deeper level, connecting only by text messages, social media posts or conversations, which are not focusing on deeper topics or food for thought discussions. People seek contacts that matters, nevertheless life reality, such as working from home, can easily stand in their way.
To sum it up, today in reality of fast changes and technology development, people start to discuss if working from home is really beneficial for employees mental health and social life. As research has proven, this work conditions can lead to a harmful problems such as multitasking, feeling of overwhelmed and forsaking relationships. As far as I’m concerned, the work-life balance is the most significant part of our life, as it is the builder of our identity and feeling of having everything put together. We should always ask ourselves does our work reality advantage us and our company or not?