The words’ working from home’ inspire images of long days spent lounging around in pyjamas and sweatpants, seated in that fluffy chair with your legs up with a kitchen full of snacks. While this seems like a tempting idea, considering the prospect that telecommuting could be the new normal, at least for the next couple of months-it could cause a decline in performance and productivity.
Why Shed Your Pyjamas? Effects Of Dressing Up On Productivity
The most considerable appeal for telecommuting has always been less regulated work hours. In such an environment, employee performance and productivity ought to be top-notch.
Here are the top reasons why shedding those pyjamas in the morning will help you boost your productivity:
1. It boosts your productivity
A 2012 study from Kellogg School of Management coined the term ‘enclothed cognition’ to describe the influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychology depending on the symbolic meaning of the cloth and the physical experience of wearing them.
If you associate your work attire with being productive (that well-fitting blazer or the feeling of a watch on your wrist) then putting it on will influence your performance positively. On the other hand, if you associate pyjamas or sweats with slacking off, then you may find yourself working with less effort. So keep off the jammies, get yourself voucher codes from stores, and stock up your work wardrobe.
2. It signals a shift in your day
When you are working from home and not leaving the house, the lines between work time and leisure mode can be a bit blurred. Getting dressed into your work attire can signal your mind to shift to work-mode and help you pay attention to the work that you are doing.
In contrast, staying in your jammies could have your mind wandering to that wrestling match you watched on your sports channel, and your focus on work will start fleeting.
3. Improves your mental wellness
Productivity and performance have strong links with our mental and physical well-being, and routine is an integral part of maintaining our mental health. Keeping your daily routine of waking up, having a shower, and dressing up for work helps you feel good, and as a result, allows you to approach your day with confidence and purpose.
4. No more scrambling!
As this Wall Street Journal article ascertains, working from home does not make us invisible. Imagine this; you are typing away on your laptop when you receive an impromptu video call from a client or your boss. Or you hear the doorbell, and you still have unkempt hair and are still in some severely wrinkled pajamas.
You will immediately start scrambling around the house trying to look presentable- or just not like someone who just rolled out of bed. You then struggle to catch up with your original train of thought, and the whole day becomes a disaster. Save yourself the unnecessary effort by investing in affordable work clothes using online coupons.
Tips on what to wear when working from home
You are probably saying to yourself, “Fine, I get it. Dress up for work. But what do I wear?”. Well, dressing up doesn’t imply that you put on that suit and tie which gets you hot and bothered all day. You need to strike a balance between presentability and comfort, and here are some expert tips to help you with just that.
1. Choose clothes you can be comfortable in when leaving the house
Before assembling an outfit, ask yourself, ‘Can I leave the house wearing this?’ If you don’t feel comfortable running to the store in your fleece-lined bunny slippers and underwear, then you probably shouldn’t wear them when working. This period could be an excellent opportunity for you to fill the holes in your wardrobe by doing some online shopping using voucher codes to get great outfits at a discount.
2. Wear soft, loose-fitting garments
Tight-fitting clothes can often leave us feeling restrained and uncomfortable, even more so with scratchy garments. That’s why people remove their jeans when they get home no matter how good they make you look. Try some tailored jogger pants or a cable knit sweater. Make sure you look presentable and not too dressed down. You can find great deals using an H&M promo code for some fantastic semi-casual clothes.
3. Give yourself a work-uniform
Decide on the kind of outfits you’ll put on daily to save yourself the time and mental energy it would take to choose clothes every day. Look for some affordable business casuals from online marketplaces using online coupons.
Things you should avoid at all costs when working from home
The road to being entirely productive when you work from home is filled with pitfalls that will trip even the most experienced telecommuter. Here are some handy tips on what you should avoid at all costs.
- Pressing the snooze button or- Having a movie “in the background”- this will distract you from your work and lower your productivity.
- Wrapping yourself in a cocoon of blankets on the sofa- it sounds like the dream, but it’s a slippery slope to having a snooze fest.
