Weeknote #676: Trust me, I’m working.
Truly powerful words for the upcoming looooong autumn remote-working period will be TRUST and HONESTY! Those will help you toddle thru the dark side of the year and piles of work.
Hybrid life
I feel that the boundary between off and on work is somewhat difficult, because of the pandemic and remote working from home. It was even in the springtime when the days were getting longer and the waited summer holidays were getting closer day by day. I tried all kinds of tricks and rituals to make clear to myself, when I’m on duty and when off — changing clothes, setting alarms to clocks, schedules, packing my laptop out of sight when ending work. But quite often I still had the feeling, I did not work enough, the full 7,5 hours that I was supposed to. Constant disturbance by the kids, who were also “remote schooling” from home, did not help the situation. Work was getting done in small periods during the day, instead of a continuous flow of 7,5 hours. But what was important, most of the things got done in the end somehow, even before the deadline.
But quite often I still had the feeling, I did not work enough, the full 7,5 hours that I was supposed to.
Deja vu
Now, when it seems that there will be another remote working period, and this time there are no summer vacations or long flights to the sun either as an endpoint, I’m personally a bit afraid, how will I manage the next 4 months without exhausting myself.
Be honest with yourself
But if we are honest, no one can work 7,5 hours effectively every day, no one. And it does not matter if you are working at the office or home or summer cottage by the lake. According to studies, brains can concentrate max. 1,5 hours at a time, without a break. Longer continuous periods increase mistakes and productivity drops dramatically. Brains start to do their things, no matter what you do, thoughts start to drift after too many focused minutes. Some studies have found out, that the most productive people work 52 minutes and then take 17 minutes break. Those people do not do longer days either. Brains need brakes to work effectively. Some say that the optimal period for concentration is only 15–20 minutes!
But if we are honest, no one can work 7,5 hours effectively every day, no one. And it does not matter if you are working at the office or home or summer cottage by the lake.
Sincere ways of working
What I have learned during the springs remote working period, taking breaks during the remote workdays are far more important than normal, when working at the office. In an office environment, there is often the social pressure of pretending that one is working. We even fool ourselves, that we are focusing on work while surfing thru social media sites, blogs, etc.
At home, we do not have that theater of working going on. We take breaks when our mind says so, even without noticing it. Someone even might take a nap during the day knowing that this sort of break charges the brain and gives you an extra boost for the next short periods of work. There is also an interesting study (made by STT, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health), that in general work satisfaction in Finland has increased during the springs remote work period. One assumption is, that the reason for that is that when working remotely we do not have to pretend to anybody that we are working and we can follow better our normal working rhythm, which makes us more effective and satisfied. We get things done, but not at the same pace as in the office.
Another perception is that people are working only when they are by the laptop or in meetings (with laptop). The magic of thinking seems to happen only, when “playing the Hammond” (or pretending to play). I think most of the good ideas or solutions to a given challenge comes somewhere else than by the computer. Brains just work that way. They seem to be working outside and inside of office hours, even while sleeping if they have space, capacity, and energy to do so: freedom of doing when it naturally happens.
So to be honest, I do not think that there is returning to the normal, sitting by the laptop at the office 7,5 hours daily type of work. I hope that the whole society starts the conversation of working hours: length and timing. It is a matter of trust and honesty. People do their jobs unique ways and pace, but they do it better, under the ethos of trust.
People do their jobs unique ways and pace, but they do it better, under the ethos of trust.
What else happened this week?
Topias is happy to see the colleagues face to face at the Summer Party on Friday!
Satu has been busy with sales and business development this week. Waiting for the summer party and hoping to see many colleagues live instead of video calls.
Mika L has been getting back to full speed by supporting our client to get a new direction for their digital strategy and helping the rest of the Nordkappians with a couple of new pitches while awaiting to meet fellow Nordkappians at the summer party.
Matti has been busy with so many things that he has no time to write a summary.
Like a lot of her colleagues, Sari’s really happy to see other Nordkappians at our summer party.
Shakti’s been happy with the good progress on the ongoing projects and looking forward to a summer party with colleagues in the wilderness!
Eero came back from the summer vacation and continued working on two familiar projects.
This week has been all about full voltage, deep thinking, and finding opportunities for growth by reframing old structures. Intense but fun! Thinks Sami
Five things we read this week:
- Corona made us Finns feel happier about their work from Finnish Institute of occupational health — But only among us lucky ones that are able to do most of their work remotely.
- How to concentrate: scientist have discovered the exact length of break you need for maximum productivity from Chartered Management Institute — To be effective is a matter of self-recognition and metacognition.
- Brains can concentrate only 1,5 hours without breaks from tivi — And that is the maximum, not average or even optimal time of cotinous working period. (in Finnish)
- App stores, trust and anti-trust from Ben Evans — Apple is navy, not the pirates.
- Invest your values. https://www.asyousow.org/invest-your-values. Tools for investing that help you align those with your own values.
Weeknotes are what happened at our studio this week. This week’s weeknote was curated by Heikki.
Heikki is a remote-work enthusiast at Nordkapp, who is not going to go back to normal office routines. Korona has made some mild adjustments to his habitus.
