Some of us used to assume a world where the morning commute was a brief stroll out of your bedroom, the dress code included cozy slippers, and the closest coffee shop was your kitchen. Then working from home became a reality for a lot of through the COVID pandemic, reshaping our work-life balance.
During the early days of the pandemic in 2020, our team was partway through a year-long study examining lifestyle and wellbeing in Australian adults. Our findings, captured through the early COVID period, revealed that folks working from home slept nearly half an hour more and drank barely more alcohol. Dietary habits and mental health indicators were unchanged.
Fast forward to today. Many employees still make money working from home and many more wish to. The Fair Work Commission is reviewing whether it must create basic rights for flexibility, allowing people to make money working from home.
While a number of the health evidence about working from house is mixed, overall it shows giving staff the pliability to decide on to make money working from home will be good for his or her physical and mental health.
It saves time commuting
Before the pandemic, the everyday Australian spent 4.5 hours commuting each week, a grind linked with poorer mental health and lower scores of how we rate our own health.
In Australia, the transition to home offices has given us about an hour and 18 minutes per week of beyond regular time.
Yet, intriguingly, 43% of this newfound time is channelled into more workwith a fraction (9%) to caregiving activities and spare time activities (33%). So are we optimising this shift?
We move and snack more when working from home
With beyond regular time dedicated to leisure when working from home, there may be more opportunity to be physically energetic and fewer sedentary.
In a study from the United States of 108,000 people, work-from-home days were more prone to include significant bouts of walking or cycling.
By having more time available, slower yet energetic transport options grow to be viable for brief trips, resembling cycling to the supermarket or walking to select up children from care.
However, this silver lining is clouded by findings from Japanwhere distant staff reported less movement and more sitting during office hours, hinting at a fancy trade-off between work and leisure-time physical activity.
Dietary habits, too, are evolving with working from home. The convenience of proximity to our kitchen pantries has led to a rise in snacking.
Oleg Krugliak/Shutterstock
However, as we snack more and see an increase in our overall energy intake at home, there’s also a noticeable shift towards a broader selection of healthier food options. Consumption of vegetables, fruits and dairy has gone up, complemented by a surge in preparing meals at home.
In the office, limited by the constraints of a packed communal fridge or the wait to make use of the microwave, choosing a less nutritious but quicker takeaway lunch often seems the better option.
What about mental health and wellbeing?
When considering mental health and wellbeing, the outcomes are nuanced.
Generally, when working from house is compulsory, as was common through the early pandemic lockdowns, mental health and wellbeing are inclined to decline.
Conversely, when people decide to make money working from home, their mental health and wellbeing often improve. This is particularly the case after they’re well supported by colleagues and their organisation, and might manage their isolation level, meaning they’ve flexibility of their work-from-home arrangements.
There are concerns working from home can negatively impact team cohesion and collaboration, feelings of attachment and social ties inside the workplace, and opportunities for promotion.
Priscilla du Preez/Unsplash
While connecting with colleagues is difficult to duplicate remotely, it’s essential to notice job performance and productivity seem like stable or, usually, improved when working from home.
Additionally, those working full time at home or in a hybrid model report job satisfaction and wellbeing to be stable or improved. They also report a discount in work-family conflict – this is especially so for women.
Some people need more flexibility than others
For some people, the pliability to make money working from home alleviates a number of the structural barriers to working.
Women, especially moms and caregivers, report improved wellbeing with the choice to make money working from home. The added flexibility helps to balance paid employment with unpaid caregiving and household duties, which disproportionately fall on women’s shoulders.
Similarly, staff with disabilities are inclined to favour working from homeas an answer to overcoming transportation and accessibility challenges posed by traditional workplaces. Providing alternative working arrangements allows a greater number of individuals living with disabilities to have interaction in paid employment, which is linked to improvements in mental health.
Working from home is just not a one-size-fits-all approach and appears best positioned as one alternative amongst many to support a greater, more inclusive, and versatile work environment. Just as our homes transformed into makeshift offices overnight, our approach to work must evolve, embracing the variety of needs and lifestyles.
Let’s hope a legacy of COVID shall be a healthier, more balanced workforce.