Rituals - our needs

Rituals are the most important

Everyone indulges in certain rituals. I, for example, put on headphones in the morning and drink a cup of coffee while listening to music. Rituals allow us to keep the context of the whole situation familiar. This makes it programmable and repeatable - and this is what our "computers", or brains, like best. Today's post refers to specific rituals, namely those of the workplace. The workplace, its appearance, our desk or at least the fact that we get up for work in the morning and leave the house in "full gear" are a kind of program elements that our brain switches to at the right moment. This, in turn, triggers its corresponding activity needed to complete a given task. So how do we maintain rituals while working remotely?

Remote and stationary work

Less than a year ago, this type of work was a dream for many people and applied more to freelancers. This year, on the other hand, we are writing guides for the general public on how to effectively work remotely... and not go crazy. In the spring, when remote work in practically every department of the economy took off, we got a little greedy about the possibility of working "in our pajamas." And what is it like today? Today, many of us dream of returning to the reality we knew well a year ago. We miss the elaborate ritual at stationary work or at least having lunch together with co-workers. Studies and observations confirm that the absence of these elements causes irritability, fatigue and many such unpleasant feelings. We work relatively longer hours in all this, often for less pay which also does not affect us positively.

Rite of passage

Building "rites of passage," that is, moments that firmly separate our work time from our leisure time - especially now - is extremely important. In order to preserve the familiar structure of the day, which was somehow enforced by getting up for work every day, we are forced to build it for ourselves now. Although, as Patryk Wojcik - author of the book "How to work remotely and not go crazy" - points out, the task is not easy. I would say that it is uncomplicated and difficult at the same time. Uncomplicated, in technical terms. Getting up every day, which affects the so-called chronobiology of our body - that is, it sets the body's schedule for the daily intensification or lowering of the "turnover", the appropriate outfit in which we work, creating for ourselves an office nook in the house used only for work, or at least preparing for ourselves meals "for work" are those technical aspects that do not cause much anxiety. By far the more difficult part is to spice it up with the right discipline.

A man like a mouse

I made a controversial thesis. However, let's take a closer look at it. It concerns the so-called Calhoun experiment, in which a scientist studied the development of two populations of mice. One was subjected to life in almost greenhouse conditions, where it was given everything it needed to live under its nose. The other, on the other hand, was given nothing. As in completely natural conditions, these animals had to develop naturally, in the first case, the population degenerated relatively quickly, followed by its self-destruction

Of course, we are not talking about such extreme situations in the case of our species, but he wants to show how too much "ease" in obtaining goods, already affects our well-being, and after a relatively short time of mode shift.