Productive or Creative: The challenge of WFH

You can finish a pile of work in a day but does it produce a creative output to be proud of or it just ticks the box of the job being completed? One of the dilemmas brought about by the pandemic as employees are working from home, is the ability to work productively and/or creatively. Many people are coming to grips with the concept and practices of working from home but honestly, it is more than just sitting in front of a laptop and video conferencing. In this article, we will try to answer how working from home affects your productivity and creativity performance. 

The Office for National Statistics recorded 49% of workers were working from home at some point in the seven days to 14 June. As response to the contain the spread of the virus and to protect the health of the citizens, staying home as much as possible is the key to end this pandemic. There is a price for everything. For instance, a study found that people performed “dull” tasks better in a controlled cubicle environment than they did in a less-structured remote environment. Meaning, ordinary distractions like binge watching TV or walking your dog might distract people more when they are working from home on “Dull Tasks”. Productivity is also at risk especially when team tasks are brought home. How? Colleagues might contribute less than the other members of the team. This could create the “Free Rider” personality in the team.

In terms of creativity, working from home might affect employees when boredom strikes. Some people have been confined to their rooms for months now, creative juices might be hard to produce. But it is also important to take note that people deal with circumstances differently, not one solution applies to all– because we are all different. The point is, even if we were under quarantine as the world is trying to heal itself slowly, we should know how to adapt ourselves and find other means to channel our inspiration and motivation to work even better at home.