{"id":88,"date":"2020-10-07T12:11:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T12:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/?p=88"},"modified":"2021-03-03T11:07:11","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T11:07:11","slug":"give-me-a-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/2020\/10\/07\/give-me-a-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Give me a break!"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I had four consecutive meetings\u00a0yesterday,\u00a0a new one starting\u00a0sharp\u00a0every hour from nine in the morning. Teams\u2019\u00a0calendar application is easy: you can check your colleagues’ schedules, see if there are any overlaps, and book a joint meeting for even a large group. Meetings click\u00a0nicely\u00a0on the calendar with attachments and additional information.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This kind of\u00a0a\u00a0work day is quite typical for me, and I guess for many others as well: It is common\u00a0that when\u00a0the clock\u00a0is\u00a0approaching the next\u00a0full\u00a0hour,\u00a0some participants write in the meeting chat that they\u00a0have to\u00a0jump\u00a0directly\u00a0to the next meeting. Many colleagues have\u00a0told me\u00a0that the number of meetings has increased dramatically\u00a0in remote work when a meeting time has to be set for each\u00a0small\u00a0thing\u00a0that normally\u00a0would be discussed in the coffee room.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At yesterday\u2019s second meeting, we laughed at various squeaking beeps\u00a0that\u00a0emitted by a colleague\u2019s\u00a0computer;\u00a0she did not know\u00a0what they meant. I told\u00a0her\u00a0that some evening I had watched a movie on the computer, left the browser open, and for some reason the music\u00a0from the movie\u00a0started\u00a0playing in the middle of the next day\u2019s meeting. It took time to figure out where the music was coming from.\u00a0This happens when we\u00a0spend\u00a0both\u00a0our\u00a0work time and leisure by the screens.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At the fourth meeting, another colleague apologized for eating chocolate. I told\u00a0her\u00a0that\u00a0before the meeting\u00a0I had just rushed upstairs to\u00a0grab\u00a0a sandwich\u00a0because\u00a0there was no lunch break on\u00a0my\u00a0calendar. I\u00a0made it\u00a0back a minute before the start of the next meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One\u00a0o\u2019clock\u00a0in the afternoon,\u00a0after four meetings,\u00a0not a single thought moved in my head\u00a0anymore. I hadn\u2019t gotten up from the chair other than rushing to pick up a sandwich.\u00a0All\u00a0the\u00a0meeting\u00a0notes were undone, thoughts and plans\u00a0unfinished. I opened the patio door and tried to look far away, breathe\u00a0the autumn air.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Leave a 15-minute break between each meeting, for both yourself and your colleague.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Remote\u00a0working has been found to be even more effective than office work (1,2) because\u00a0all chatting\u00a0and instantaneous conversations are eliminated. This so-called idle time would, however,\u00a0be useful both for recharging\u00a0our\u00a0brain and for building community. It\u2019s wonderful\u00a0that I don\u2019t\u00a0have to\u00a0run\u00a0to\u00a0the rain and rush hour in the mornings, but when you\u2019re sitting alone at home by\u00a0your computer, no one comes to your doorstep to chat and force\u00a0you to have\u00a0a break.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Digitalisation and\u00a0remote\u00a0working increase employees’ responsibility for their own well-being at work. It is known from research that in\u00a0remote\u00a0work\u00a0we don\u2019t have as much so-called\u00a0empty time\u00a0as\u00a0in the office. Even breaks are easily\u00a0spent\u00a0by\u00a0computer,\u00a0browsing online content. It would be important to take breaks without\u00a0screens\u00a0so that the eyes and brain can rest. Moving yourself\u00a0and stretching during breaks have also been studied to alleviate muscle pain caused by\u00a0sitting in front of the screen\u00a0(3).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Managing your own schedule is hampered by an efficient shared calendar, to which well-meaning colleagues add meetings\u00a0without breaks.\u00a0We can of course ourselves\u00a0mark\u00a0silent\u00a0working hours and lunch breaks\u00a0in the calendar,\u00a0but\u00a0I\u00a0notice\u00a0that\u00a0I\u00a0rather\u00a0take\u00a0breaks organically\u00a0now in the\u00a0remote working times. It feels important to be available when we are physically working in different places.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My friends, I suggest that from now on we book meetings to take 45 minutes instead of one hour whenever possible. Then we get a 15-minute break after each meeting to take notes, go to the fridge or enjoy autumn views on the balcony. After that, we are again focused and ready for a new meeting.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Annamari Huovinen<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

D.Sc.(econ.) Annamari Huovinen works as Communication and Marketing Specialist at Hanken in Helsinki.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sources:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. Choudhury, Larson & Foroughi (2019). Is It Time to Let Employees Work from Anywhere?<\/a> Harvard Business Review<\/em>. Aug.14, 2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2.\u00a0Sutela, P\u00e4rn\u00e4nen & Keyril\u00e4inen (2019). <\/em>Digiajan ty\u00f6el\u00e4m\u00e4 \u2013 ty\u00f6olotutkimuksen tuloksia 1977\u20132018<\/a><\/em>. Tilastokeskus, Helsinki.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

3. Henning et al.\u00a0(2010)\u00a0Frequent short rest breaks from computer work: effects on productivity and well-being at two field sites,\u00a0Ergonomics<\/em>,\u00a040:1,\u00a078-91,\u00a0DOI:\u00a010.1080\/001401397188396<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Photo: Annamari Huovinen<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had four consecutive meetings\u00a0yesterday,\u00a0a new one starting\u00a0sharp\u00a0every hour from nine in the morning. Teams\u2019\u00a0calendar application is easy: you can check your colleagues’ schedules, see if there are any overlaps, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":89,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,23,24,25],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-break","tag-calendar","tag-distance-work","tag-meeting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}