A few years ago, working from home was almost a utopia for many of us.
The people I knew, who were doing it, could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
For others, conditions could not come together, and it was time to get going to the office every day.
After many years of office life, I started to experience working from home in 2018. Those who always work like this may not understand, but this was a big change for me.
It was only 5 years ago, but the use of videotelephony was not as widespread as it is today. I worked with my colleagues from my home via phone/voice Skype for long hours. Other times, I read documents and prepared my reports and presentations in the silence of my home.
Working from Home had its challenges.
I was looking for small chit-chats I had with my colleagues during coffee breaks at the office. Sometimes, we would take short walks during lunch breaks, motivating each other. Sometimes, we would get organized quickly and explore the food alternatives around us. In companies that had cafeterias, we would choose among the meals prepared for us.
Working from home meant I had to organize all of this for myself.
Even though it was a great opportunity to organize things the way I like, it was difficult too.
I needed to motivate myself to take walks and explore the surroundings. I had to arrange the environment I needed to socialize. I also had to plan things related to my meals. Not to mention the dark side of getting chores done during breaks:).
All of this may sound good to those who are tired of office life. But other issues await on the other side of the bridge.
Even though it was a way of working that I had previously dreamed of, it took me time to get used to the new format.
Right around that time, the pandemic started. It became “Force Majeure”. The paradigm shifted quickly. The new normal has emerged.
Working from home has increased tremendously and an office network of homes has emerged.
Thus, existing handicaps became the problem of the majority. It was more possible to talk about the situations and produce solutions.
Compared to five years ago, we have crossed a new threshold and have become familiar with almost all aspects of working from home.
We exchanged some aspects with others, like the little mermaid.
Instead of experiencing the diversity of different people’s worlds by chatting about any topic in the flow of the office day, at home, we started talking about the same topics by making phone calls with certain friends and family members.
Our social circle has narrowed.
The fixed place has created losses in our perception of time.
The desire to explore other places has been replaced by the safe environment of the home, which attracts us like a magnet.
In exchange for these; The opportunities for time-location-independent training and programs to benefit from the experiences of different people have opened up to us.
Video calls, which are becoming increasingly normal and widespread, have enabled us to come together on a topic basis with different people that we cannot find around, virtually.
The opportunities to organize our own time and lifestyle have increased. We had more time to get to know ourselves.
How did these experiences strike you?
In fact, we use our social nervous system less than before.
The social nervous system enables behaviors such as making eye contact with the people around us, adjusting our tone of voice according to the situation we are in, and using body language in communication.
While these connect us with our sensations and experiences, they also enable us to get close or communicate with others.
We ensure our own self-regulation.
So, we feel safe and connected.
At home, we often need to organize the activities ourselves that will relax our parasympathetic nervous system. If we don’t do this, we are left with our sympathetic nervous system, which is programmed to constantly protect us.
Should we go back to the Office?
On the other hand, the dynamics there can also be challenging.
In social environments, our nervous system interacts with others. It processes perceptual information from the environment and constantly evaluates the risk.
In other words, a continuous evaluation is made in the primitive parts of the brain with the flow of information compiled from the environment and inside the organism through the senses.
If it perceives the environment and conditions as safe, it calms the structures in the brain that control the “fight, flight, or freeze” responses and initiates positive social behaviors.
However, if our system does not evaluate the environment as safe, it activates the “fight, flight, or freeze” responses.
All these processes occur spontaneously without our conscious awareness or understanding. We only experience the consequences.
That is, nervous systems that are not regulated or resilient may experience the harms rather than the benefits of being social in the office.
Is there a best place to work?
Like many other issues in our lives, here too it fell to lot.
There are now more possibilities to discover what suits us according to our own requirements.
If you are going to the office, you may work to regulate your nervous system. If the environment is not suitable for you, you may consider other alternatives.
If working at home all the time is not good, you may consider alternatives such as shared office spaces, cafes, and libraries.
If you live a busy work life at home, you may take action to join or create social groups that support you and in which you feel good.
You may make a nice cocktail by mixing all these and your own creative solutions in certain proportions.
“We cannot be creative, holistic, and social unless we feel safe.”
Stephen Porges
In the future
Let’s face the fact that in this rapidly changing life, we cannot know what the working patterns will be like in five years.
Perhaps more offices will begin to form for independent employees, where they can exchange interdisciplinary views, or where people doing similar jobs for different companies can work together.
Maybe some of you will take advantage of the available opportunities and play a role in creating environments where you can be together more comfortably and safely in the office.
The best working environment most compatible with human nature may not yet exist.
However, everything is changing.
And you can contribute to this change by continuing to search for what is suitable for you.
