Some companies have announced that they are enacting permanent work-from-home policies. The reasons for this should be well understood by now. Not only is it significantly less of a burden on overhead (which should hopefully raise wages long-term), but it also protects employees from disease – something that many companies are keen to avoid.
With this in mind, the onus is now on property owners to adapt or modify their properties to make them suitable for working from home. That’s easier said than done. Creating a home office conducive to actual work is much more challenging than the average person thinks.
By now, many people are adjusting to their new work-from-home lives. It’s become almost normal to wake up in the morning, keep your pajamas on, and start tapping away on your laptop.
But unfortunately, this approach to the working day is missing a trick. Remember, companies have been optimizing the working environment for decades. There are many things that they do to ensure that employees are as productive as possible. The new work-from-home culture is completely changing that. Now everyone who works remotely needs to think carefully about the suitability of their property for the task.
The Need For A Separate Space
When the cloud computing revolution first emerged, people believed that it would mean the end of the office. Computers were getting so connected that there didn’t seem any point in companies paying for expensive city-center offices. Everyone could just access their tasks through the internet and collaborate with colleagues on smart software.
That world, however, didn’t come into being as fast as many imagined. While there was a general shift in the direction of working remotely, it was painfully slow. Most managers preferred the traditional office setup, kettling everyone in the same building.
Part of the reason for this comes down to something most of us understand about our own psychology. You’re much more likely to work hard if you’re around colleagues continually monitoring what you’re doing. Just the act of traveling to the office creates a vital demarcation between work and leisure. Once you are on that train, you prime yourself to get into the working mood. The same does not happen automatically when you work from home (although you might be able to come up with new rituals).
For this reason, architecture firms are seeing a massive boom in business. People want separate office spaces that put them in the mood for work, aside from other areas of their home. They want it to feel as though they’re going to work, even if the space itself is right next door to their actual property.
The Need To Impress
Having a separate office space is also something that many workers are now using as a tool to differentiate them from other candidates for certain roles. If you can show an employer that you have a place where you can go for quiet, uninterrupted work, they might be more willing to employ you.
All of this means big changes to the way that we use our properties. They’re not just a place to crash anymore.
