The ‘Pandemic Workday’ Is Three Hours Longer than Normal
If it feels like you're working MORE from home than you did in the office, you're probably right.
It's been about a month-and-a-half since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States and, during that time, millions of Americans are working from home for the first time.
Don't even lie - when it first started, you were like the rest of us. "OMG I'll have so much time for activities!"
I started a list of projects that I wanted to get done during the quarantine - things that I've been putting off for years around the house.
And then, I got into my "work-from-home" routine...and realized that I had less free time than I did when I was working out of the house.
According to NordVPN, which is a private internet service provider that gives you extra online security, people are logging on earlier in the day and logging off later. Hours later, in fact.
They're able to track when their users are on the internet and, according to their data, Americans are working at least three hours more from home than they were previously. And this is a worldwide problem - in Europe, people are working two hours more every day.
So what is it? Is it guilt? I know that I feel guilty working from home; like I've gotta prove that I can be productive without being "in the office." So my laptop is attached to my hip - almost literally. I keep it next to my bed so I can log in whenever needed.
Some of it is that there's nothing else too do right now, and there's no escape. Basically, we have no excuse to NOT be available.
What about you? Are you working more from home now than you were before the pandemic? Or have you set boundaries?
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