REMOVAL. OFFICE OR REMOTE: FLOUR OF CHOICE AFTER SELF-INSULATION FROM CORONAVIRUS

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Remote or office. Self-isolation from the coronavirus for many working citizens turned out to be the door to a new world of remote work, “remote work”. Not everyone aspired to this, not everyone dreamed about it, but in fact they tried and tasted. In organizations where it was possible to effectively establish work, the leadership was tempted to maintain this format of interaction even after the recession of the pandemic. By eliminating office space, thereby reducing costs and increasing profits. From here, some of the employees received a direct proposal: to decide how they want to work from June 1, 2020: to return back to the offices, or continue in the "remote" mode. And many of those who have experienced “dizziness from success at a distance, when you are the master of your life”, were tempted to choose the latter option. Fortunately, it successfully combines a family, a sofa, a TV, a refrigerator, saving time on logistics before work, and even the ability to secretly take additional jobs from the boss. Or even start your own business.

Not being a conservative and retrograde at all, advocating progress and informatization as a psychologist, I still want to honestly inform my readers about some very serious consequences of systematic work in remote mode. Maybe this will help someone make a more informed decision. Or he will show you how to properly arrange your life in the "remote" mode in order to minimize some of its negative nuances. These observations were made by psychologists in those advanced countries of the world where, thanks to the Internet, “digital nomads” have been traveling around cities and towns for more than a decade. And some of them have already rubbed serious psychological "calluses" from their computer saddle. It's time for the Russians to understand this topic.

Analyzing the world experience and my practice as a psychologist, I share the following:

Ten cons of working in remote mode, which are important to know:

1) Lack of Competition Leads to Loss of Personal Performance … The team is always an explicit or hidden struggle that pushes out of the comfort zone and forces you to develop. Leaving the team for years of self-isolation, a person gradually slows down the pace of his professional growth and development. Moreover, for the individual himself, this happens imperceptibly, since there are no reference points, there is no possibility of self-critical comparison with others. Therefore, the proposal of the management to lay off an employee who slowed down in relation to others, but failed to realize this in time, then comes unexpectedly and unpleasantly.

2. Lack of control leads to personal degradation. As proud as we are of our high self-discipline, most people need external pressure or threat to constantly mobilize. The bosses are just what you need. It has always "got the position undeservedly and does not understand anything", however it encourages us to be in good shape, and for this "Thank you!"

The disappearance of systemic control also begins to destroy a person systemically.

And he gradually begins to be rude, rude, do something "carelessly", become selfish, consider himself the smartest, be imbued with the confidence that everyone around him depends on him and pays him with black ingratitude, etc. Then he goes into the mode of eternal self-justification, after which personal degradation begins to affect his work functions and results. As a result - dismissal, decreased income, scandals in the family, alcohol and depression. The saddest thing is that this also happens imperceptibly, because criticism from family members is usually not adequately perceived, they simply stop communicating with criticizing friends. And only linear leadership, like an annoying fly, makes at least sometimes flinch and improve something.

3. Lack of a rigid life schedule worsens physical health. With all the initial disposition to “live and work remotely as usual,” only 10% of people succeed in doing this. The majority gradually relaxes and changes the schedule of life towards "vacation": we wake up late, go to bed deep at night, overeat, do not sleep enough, do not go outside, lack of exercise, etc. A logical consequence of improperly organized "remoteness": depression, anxiety disorders of the psyche, obesity, diabetes mellitus, skin diseases, osteochandrosis, rheumatism, arthritis and arthrosis, hemorrhoids, conjunctivitis, asthma, chronic bronchitis, rhinitis and sinusitis, high blood pressure, gout and others " delights ". The average accumulation of health problems is about three years.

4. Lack of live communication worsens mental health. The human psyche is "sharpened" for communication, because all our personal development always occurs as a reaction to that external stimulus, which for us is always living people. Their unpredictability or even uncomfortableness for us makes the brain work with great stress: to calculate the scenarios for the development of events, to conduct the audit itself, to identify our deficiencies and compensate them with something else, etc. But only constant development not only makes a person interesting to those around him, but also protects him from those imperceptible age-related or personal changes that gradually negatively affect his psyche.

To remain yourself, you need to regularly update yourself.

Lack of systemic live communication with different people, especially with strangers, first reduces our cognitive abilities, and then worsens our contact with loved ones, family. Paradoxical, but true:

Communicating only with close people, a person runs the risk of gradually moving away from them and turning into a "stranger about" for them.

Even if not in such a monster as in the famous science fiction movie saga, but no less personally unpleasant. Scheme: “at first I was a cheerful IT specialist - then I went to work“remotely”- then I believed in astrology, a world conspiracy and aliens - then I began to rigidly impose my views on life and conflict with everyone - then it became completely impossible to communicate and live with him - then a psychiatrist and antidepressants”, has long become relevant for many millions of people. Do not rush to join her. The cost of going out is thousands of times more expensive than going in.

5. Refusal from career and socially significant goals. The lack of constant live communication gradually takes a person out of the framework of his labor or other other collective. He ceases to be a “colleague”, turning into a “human-application”, “human-function” or even a “service”. This greatly reduces a person's chances of career advancement in his system. After all, to be honest, then:

Success in a career 50% depends on personal acquaintance with the management, 30% on a person's temperament and activity, only 20% on professional results.

And when there is no opportunity to personally and often communicate with management and prove their activity, the chances of climbing the ladder of positions are reduced by five times.

Without being at the place of work, you also lose the chances of creating your own business. After all, statistics show that successful business start-ups usually begin as a logical continuation of the existing work and right during this work. "Remote", in this sense, is a bit like the side of the road: you can stand on it comfortably, but it is bad to move along it!

It doesn't matter who pushed you to the sidelines of life:

life circumstances or your own decision.

It is important that you are already on the sidelines, and others are driving towards their goals.

The curb may be well developed, but it is still not a highway.

Falling out of their careers, "remote workers" are gradually losing other socially significant goals: to become a great leader, expert and respected public figure, scientist, deputy, political or public figure, to go down in history, etc. As a result, there is work and money, but there is no happiness! And life flies by like cars - past the one standing on the side of the road!

6. The removal of one of the spouses increases the number of domestic conflicts. Most working men and women have families. When someone is at a remote work, someone is on the live, this inevitably leads to the fact that their life schedules begin to differ greatly. Hence, there are many conflicts on various topics: who brings children to schools and kindergartens; who cooks lunch and dinner, cleans and does laundry, goes to the grocery store; how to spend free evenings; who is full of energy in the evening and ready for sex, and who is already tired during the day; who can call whom during working hours, etc. If the husband is at home and does not help his wife with the housework, having no excuse in the form of visiting work, he causes fair criticism, etc. But since the “remote” man still feels like he is working, he may try to resist and evade the help of his wife. And a wife who has switched to a "remote" job, according to her husband, is generally deprived of the moral right to ask for help in household matters, because she "rests at home all day." Here the spouses quarrel more often!

7. The spouses' interest and respect for each other decreases. If the transition to "remote work" and the decrease in career chances and social recognition are not

compensated by a significant increase in family income (leisure, vacation, freedom of movement, etc.), this gradually reduces the value of the husband / wife in the eyes of the other half. When a business suit is replaced by warm slippers and tights with fleece, the aura and charisma of the marriage partner fade over the years, but interest in other members of the opposite sex increases. From here, not far from betrayal and divorce.

8. There may be disagreements about where to live. In many families with “remote” workers, it is tempting to move out of town and into the countryside. This is especially true for men. Women are usually against it, since the social infrastructure for children is very important to them: kindergartens, development centers, schools, gyms, clinics, hospitals, antenatal clinics, shops, cafes, etc. Hence, in families, serious disputes and resentments arise.

9. Decreased social contact with parents can affect children. When "remote workers" gradually narrow the circle of their live communication, if they do not compensate for this with their active external interests (museums, theaters, etc.) and bright hobbies (alpine skiing, diving, mountaineering, cycling, etc.) a reclusive image adult life affects children by impairing their communication skills. This can form the isolation of children, prevent them from adapting in a team, and making a career. Narrowing parental bonds can also further reduce the ability of children to be comfortable with their lives.

10. Single men and women find it more difficult to arrange their personal lives. Dating at work now gives about 30% of marriages. Another 30% are acquaintances in that general circle of friends, where they also often get through work. Hence, it is more difficult for those who work remotely to get to know each other: all they have to do is the Internet, the gym, resorts and random opportunities. In general, before working remotely, it is more correct to first create a family: then it will be difficult.

Actually, that's all. This I have listed only the brightest and most obvious disadvantages of the remote mode. It is important to understand that each person has his own certain "power reserve", his positive inertia of movement through life. If, after going to a “remote job”, a person does not make special efforts so as not to slow down the pace of his personal and professional development, unfortunately, he may first face stagnation and depression, and then the loss of work and living standards. And there it is already not far before the loss of the family. All in all:

Telecommuting can become a telecommuting life.

Living remotely can lead to distance from life.

Of course, withdrawal from life does not equal the departure from life, however, it can also have the very unpleasant consequences that I described.

Nevertheless, I am not at all against the "removal"! As a psychologist, I am only opposed to the "hats" and the lack of realism in planning my life. Against repeating other people's mistakes in life. If a person has an iron willpower, the ability to control his personal and professional development, the ability to competently combine work and leisure, to find compromises in the family - I sincerely wish you success in the "remote" mode. They will succeed!

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