Diary of hybrid working - Week 4

For my final week of this diary, I wanted to try and draw a few conclusions from my experiences:

Organisation - over the weeks, I have had to organise myself so that I have what I need where I need it. This means I have to think ahead a little more on the tasks I will be doing in each location. It is more effort, but there are benefits on sifting through my week on a Sunday night and working out what I will be doing.

Environment - I have invested in setting up my office space, duplicating things that are now the norm because the money saved in not buying two headphones or two printers is far outweighed by the annoyance of not having them. Taking time to ensure the basics of office life are also near to hand has made me feel settled and I think has reinforced the message that I am at a place of work.

People - I know the neuroscience between social connection and mental health, so this should not be a surprise, but informal contact in the office, seeing others when I buy a coffee have created a feeling of connection and normality that I did not know was missing until I got it back. One of the things that helped me a lot this week was a brief conversation with someone struggling with a similar deadline issue to myself. We exchanged a couple of ideas at the coffee machine (masks on) and went on our separate ways, but it was a powerful reminder that my problem was not unique, which reduced its power over me.

Balance - splitting my time enables me to have the best of both worlds. My split week gives me the benefits of a professional working environment, which I am sure has increased my work rate. Being at home some days gives me the benefits of being able to manage household issues. I can brief the electrician on the rewiring, I can drop my Dad at the pharmacy. These small fixes have lessened the pervasive stress that I am never where I should be. I cannot quantify what that stress was doing to me, but I am pretty sure it diminished my mental health.

In the future, we may look back at this period of home-working and then adoption of a hybrid approach as anomalies as we return to full-time 9-5, Monday to Friday but I really hope not.