The only adjustment that data analyst Zijlstra made was to move the workplace from his living room to the bedroom. “Not ideal yet, but on 35 square meters the best option to have a leisure part as well.” He sometimes misses colleagues, but he especially likes working efficiently from home. “I get more done in less time. In the office I was often asked something and then it took me a while to get the hang of concentration. Now I can continue, and I can also stop earlier. Do some laundry in between or go for a bike ride. “
In the summer Darouei started a new job as assistant professor at the Free University, also from home. She was allowed to go to her new job for a few days, but that has now been scaled back. “I am outgoing and I like to talk to people. That clashes, you don’t see anyone at home.” Darouei lives with her boyfriend on 50 square meters in Amsterdam. They work alternately in their garden shed. Darouei has no shortage of concentration or motivation. “I have deadlines, the work has to be finished. That keeps me on track. I especially miss coming home, which is important for a work-life balance. Now the threshold to do something for work is very low.”
Future
Darouei’s PhD research shows that before the corona pandemic, homeworkers were seen as less engaged and less hardworking. “After this year that will be less. I think and hope that in the future we will work more hybrid, with the office becoming the social hub and the home where you can be productive.”
Rolsma also hopes for a combination of the two, but with an emphasis on office life. “I worked for Corona in an open-plan office in an old church, which is quite echoing. At the time, I sometimes thought: how busy it is here. But now I come back from that: just give me those incentives.”
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