Days have become longer with increasing distractions. Let’s find out with Dreamy Nation to see if the workplace has got better or worse because of remote working! 

All workers have their unique experiences of how a typical working day has changed for better or for worse. During the past 2 years, another peak of the working day was created: 10am, 3pm, and 10pm, according to Microsoft. The switch to virtual working has enabled us to spread our responsibilities throughout the day. Positively speaking, we are allowed a lot more flexibility during the day. On the flip side, it’s very likely that we are still working at 10pm. 

Another research by Asana revealed that employees now find themselves wasting time not on work, but on “work about work” (i.e., switching between apps and following updates). This is one of the new, unexpected characteristics of the new world of work, making it more and more challenging for staff to get things done. 

Owen Hughes from ZDNet notes about Asana’s study that excessive notifications are stopping workers’ focus by ceaselessly competing for their attention, putting them in a state of constant multitasking and wasting their days on futile micro-tasks and admin duties. 

While online tools have helped solve some problems spread out teams have, they have created others. For instance, people are eager to jump on any updates to prove they are working and taking notice. Thus, the blizzard of notifications keeps distracting us! 

One explanation for the issue is that the teamwork applications we use are usually inspired by social networking sites. It is evident that social media can effectively connect strangers and build communities. That said, these platforms are designed to be addictive and to keep us scrolling forever.

That’s okay if you have the spare time to look through your friends’ and families’ updates, but not so much if you are trying to search for information in a corporate team-working tool.

Especially if you then find yourself agonizing over whether to “react to” a colleague’s project updates or which emoji to show your approval of the sales forecast.  

In brief, these are some examples of how you can spend half of your working day on ‘work about work’ rather than your actual job. 

Another danger is that real-world office politics is being substituted by online one. This means one’s position and possibly promotion opportunities are decided by who can produce the funniest caption or use the right GIF to reply to the boss online. 

In this scenario, your actual work efficiency might become less critical than crafting your workplace digital identity. More competent teams and managers will probably be able to recognize your actual work. Nevertheless, it’s maybe a good idea to update your social media skills, just in case. 

If you are interested in more content like this, or are looking for freelancers in Vietnamese interpretation, SEO, and translation, feel free to contact us at contact@dreamynation.com!