The Third Space® and The New Way of Working
We are all now truly engrained in the work from home ‘pivot’ thrust upon many of us at the beginning of COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. Our survey showed that 88% of workers were in either a work from home or a hybrid work situation. We all were and are affected, no one got away unscathed. For those of us that aren’t essential and frontline workers, who had the opportunity to work from home, the transition out of the office happening in a whirlwind of claiming your end of the dining room table, fending off your partner or housemates for the best position with natural light and enough privacy for your daily Zoom meetings. All the while juggling home schooling, arming up to take on the empty supermarket shelves, becoming an instant software pro, maintaining connection with your loved ones as best we could, mustering motivation to keep up with your workload and staying sane without finding the bottom of the case of wine. Sound familiar? What a time it’s been.
In amongst all of the shift and changes, we’ve noticed the obvious things that we’re missing like moving around freely, physical gathering and overseas holidays to name a salient few. Interestingly and somewhat surprisingly, a research study we conducted with over 400 professionals, showed that the majority of people miss their commute. Well not exactly. They don’t miss the physical process of going to work. They miss what the commute gave them. Specifically, a chance to decompress from the workday, and the ‘me’ time that they used to get. On reflection I missed my 15 minutes of playlist time every afternoon (mostly of the metal, rock out variety), that helped to shake off my workday and get me ready to take on my duties waiting at home. It was my time and now it’s just not there as part of my daily ritual – I’d lost this very important transition time. I’d lost my Third Space. So many of us use this commute time in that big daily shift between work and home to tap into our Third Space, so we are showing up ready for the days next situation… Home Mode!
“65% of people said that they are finding it difficult to separate work and home.”
So, what is the fall out of not having a clear and defined commute between work and home?
Our data shows that:
65% of people said that since moving to working from home they are finding it more difficult to separate work and home.
47% of people said they did not have a specific strategy to switch from work mode into home mode
64% of people said that since working from home, they are thinking about work more in their personal time.
55% of people said that after working from home they're working longer hours. How much longer? Five to ten hours per week.
We have had an extraordinary number of people ask how they can find their Third Space in the new work from home context, where we are working from home or more accurately for many, living at work. So, our curious research brains started to ask, “How is this new norm affecting us and how have people changed their Third Space to suit their new pivot position?” and we have found that those utilising their transition space in a brand-new context have found some widely varied, constructive and in some cases creatively fun ways of finding that space again.
We had one family inform us of how they used the Third Space during an extended lockdown period that involved the most evil of tasks, home schooling. David, Fiona and the kids jump up with their alarm every weekday, pack their bags and set out for ‘work’ and ‘school’. They all take a walk around the block, dressed in their work clothes and school uniforms, arriving back at the front door of the house to commence their schoolwork and work meetings. At the end of the day, you guessed it, they do the 10-minute round trip all over again in reverse. Each member of the family uses the time to make the mental and physical break between their work, school and home life, with the added bonus of exercise to get the blood pumping and the body moving. Everyone gets 10 minutes on their walk to decompress and shed their work mode and transit to the night time routine of dinner, family time, bath, teeth and bed!
As a team, we reflected on what has changed for us. One member of the team’s Third Space at the end of a work day was listening to a storytelling podcast while walking her dog. She said she loves listening to other people’s stories, and during the COVID lockdown, living alone, it allowed her to vicariously travel, indulge a variety of life experiences reminding her that there are all sorts of different people out there in the wider world with their own unique perspective and experiences. She said that as silly as it sounds, it helped her find human connection. Her genius dog worked out how to tell the time through COVID and waited everyday with her lead in her mouth for her owner to finish her days work. We are all convinced that the dog enjoys her Third Space more than she does!
Now as we settle into our new norm of 2021, filled with flexible working locations and a wide spectrum of hybrid working arrangements, what do you do to find your work life balance and stop your workday leaking into your time for you? It could be as simple as separating your spaces physically or changing out of your work clothes, creating a new commute to the coffee shop and back or setting a time to stop work and cook dinner with the family, chatting to a friend on the phone to shift your thinking or dedicating new time to an artistic venture or hobby.
In an uncertain future there are a couple of things we know for sure. Hybrid working is here to stay and working from home will be part of our life for a very long time. Because of that we have to manufacture our own commute to not only benefit our mental health and wellbeing but also our connection to the people that mean the most to us.
How will you change your daily practices to find your Third Space in the new norm?