Once upon a time, the average British worker would do anything to put off that harsh moment when he or she had to leave the cosy comfort of their bed and start getting ready for the commute into the office. There, they knew, a pile of work awaited them, emails needed answered, and that coffee wasn’t going to make itself.
But technology has intervened, meaning that with the vast range of smartphones and laptops, we can be online 24/7. And this means anyone who’s keen to get a jump-start on their working day can access their work emails before they even leave the house. TG Escapes, who create eco-friendly, outdoor office buildings, ran a national poll of 1,000 adults to see how many of us are guilty of the above, and found that nearly half of us do it: a whopping 47.2% will check our emails before we get to work.
Even more keen are the 18.5% who check them while they’re still in bed! And nearly half of those are, perhaps unsurprisingly, aged 18-34, who are pretty much surgically attached to their smartphones anyway, so it’s no great stretch – literally – for them to reach out and turn on their iPhones or Blackberries, which are no doubt resting next to their pillows….
Those who are happy to relax, enjoy their morning, maybe have a coffee, and just wait until they get into the office to check their emails, are in the minority: only 18.8% of employees do this, the majority of whom are aged 45 to 65; which makes sense, as this is the way things actually used to be, not so long ago.
Richard Harvey, Managing Director from TG Escapes, says, “These advances in technology and our ability to keep in touch with the office from our homes mean that, theoretically, most of us could save ourselves the commute and just work from home.” But would you be suited to it? To find out, TG Escapes have invented a brilliant online tool which calculates whether you are better suited working from home or the office:
https://www.tgescapes.co.uk/how-well-suited-are-you-working-home
The online tool asks four psychological questions based on four different categories. For example, are you more like a meerkat, or a tiger? Would you prefer to travel in a fighter jet or in a white water raft? Would your ideal job be a writer, or a surgeon? Your overall score tells you how suited you are to working from home, and on your own. If you are, then maybe a beautiful, eco-friendly garden office is just the thing for you. And then you can check your emails any time you like.
