While companies have difficulties finding the right balance between face-to-face and remote work, and employees are struggling for their autonomy, the debate on returning to face-to-face work has centered on productivity. If employees are just as productive in remote areas, why ask them to return to the workshop? All things being equal, remote work is cheaper and more comfortable than moving there and from work.
More than productivity
While productivity is important, we have not paid enough attention to the possible negative effects of telecommuting on the health of some people. Eventually, those who have the lujo of working from home can realize that remote work is disadvantageous for their mental and physical well-being.
A recent compilation of evidence-based studies on the mental and physical effects of telecommuting produces contradictory results. Some workers thrived in the remote environment, after mentioning that they had more time for healthy behaviors such as exercising and establishing bonds with the family, while others became less active, gained weight and reported feelings of isolation and depression.
Much of this appears to be related to evolutionary biology. Despite the changes that take place around us, our bodies still feel the same.
we must move
The human body has had its current shape for about 300 thousand years. The human being needs to move. There is solid evidence that correlates a greater movement with a reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension and high cholesterol; chronic illnesses such as diabetes and certain types of cancer, and mental disorders such as depression and anxiety.
The more we move, the more healthy we are. Moving every day on the ground makes us feel better, as it is one of the most effective and far-reaching types of preventive medicine. Furthermore, a sedentary activity is closely related to illnesses. Sitting longer and moving less throughout the day can make a person less healthy. Prolonged inactivity negatively affects both life expectancy (the lifespan) and the health profile (the duration of health).
We move less and less
Despite the incredible technological advances, the human body in essence has needed the same amount of movement for preventive health for more than 100 thousand years.
Unfortunately, technology and convenience a menudo funn en contra de nuestra salud. With each technological victory, from the horse and the carriage to the car, the plane, the computer and now the cell phone, we move less. In today’s world, you can order food, relate to people and even work without taking a single step. Studies of skeletons of similar ages exhumed before the Industrial Revolution—when people moved more—show less rod arthritis than today’s rods.
Less steps
The last three years have rapidly accelerated this trend. The data on the count of steps during the pandemic will show a decrease in NEAT behavior (acronyms in English for thermogenesis by activity without exercise), in the daily steps of everyday life.
These are not exercise steps, they are walking steps to eating, climbing the stairs at work and walking to the metro or to the parking lot. While much attention is paid to exercise as a way to prevent aging and illness, NEAT behaviors are also related to disease prevention.
Los pasos de fondo are summed up over the days, weeks and months. While the daily exercise is part of a healthy movement profile, NEAT activities are the embers that keep the metabolic fire warm.
Y, en esta momento, muchos de nosotros no las hacemos lo sufficient.
mental health
Another important consideration in telecommuting is mental health. The human being is a social animal. As well as the biological imperative to move, we also need to interact.
Despite technological advances, our brains prosper with relationships in person. When we are in front of other people, we learn to read body language, to understand the unspoken nuances of communication and to work more effectively with other people.
The studios have shown an increase in the rates of depression and anxiety during remote work. Even if it is easier, a sense of isolation develops when real communication between people is replaced by a virtual interaction.
Electroencephalographic studies of the brain have revealed that face-to-face interactions produce stronger and more durable psychological connections than virtual ones.
They don’t want to say that everyone who works from home faces a health crisis. There are many people who flourish in the world of remote work.
Fathers with children have more time to be with their families, sometimes even to go to exercise.
El trabajo a trabajo ha llegado para quedarse. If we observe the data of the last three years, there are advantages and disadvantages in working from home. The best way to advance could be a hybrid of face-to-face work and distance work to guarantee socialization and daily movement.
