Read-Connect-Reflect #28
Read
This new hybrid work study could help reconcile the war over work from home (Forbes)
A new article published in Nature is the most rigorous study to date on remote work, and it found:
“for those [workers] with hybrid schedules, attrition rates dropped by one-third over the six-month experiment period—and were even greater for non-managers, female employees and those with long commutes—while work satisfaction scores improved. The hybrid group also did not have significant differences on performance reviews or promotion rates, even for up to two years after the start of the experiment, and there were not significant differences in the lines of code submitted by the software engineers between the two groups.”
TL; DR: hybrid work increased job satisfaction and decreased attrition, while maintaining productivity. What more could an organization ask for?? If you’re interested in the original research article, you can find it here.
The loneliness of the American worker (Wall Street Journal)
The first sentence of this article says it all: “More Americans are profoundly lonely, and the way they work—more digitally linked but less personally connected—is deepening that sense of isolation.”
Here are some grim statistics pulled from this important article:
More than 40% of working parents who work fully remote said they go days without leaving the house.
In-office workers spend nearly a quarter of their time in virtual meetings, while face-to-face meetings account for only 8% of their time.
Americans have tripled the time spent in meetings since 2020—leaving less time for the casual interactions that social scientists say foster happiness at work.
According to one survey, 58% of Americans call themselves “lonely”, up from 46% in 2018.
Our culture of nonstop meetings doesn’t foster a sense of connection—it erodes it. We need to start seriously rethinking how we engage workers.
9 questions to help you figure out why you’re burned out (HBR)
So many people are struggling with burn out, but it can be harder to pinpoint why. The author of this article recommends asking yourself the following questions (under three larger umbrella issues) to help pinpoint what the problems are:
Sustained Feelings of Exhaustion
What one or two things have been most exhausting or stressful for me?
What has been stopping me from getting adequate rest or taking regular breaks?
What energizes me that has been missing from my work or my life?
Personal inefficacy
Where do I feel the most ineffective?
What is most frustrating to me or getting in my way?
What is taking significantly more energy than it should?
Increased mental distance
What is making me feel negative or cynical?
What did I previously enjoy about work that I no longer do?
When did this shift occur and what prompted it?
Dad brain is real, and it’s a good thing (NY Times)
According to article author and psychology professor Darby Saxbe, men experience neurological changes when they become fathers. Previous research found similar changes in mothers, but additional studies have shown that new fathers experience a reduction in gray matter in brain regions associated with social cognition and daydreaming. This adaptation is believed to help fathers focus more on their newborns, enhancing their ability to care for and bond with their babies. This is further evidence of the importance of extended paternity leave to support new fathers during this critical period.
The stigma of the stay-at-home-dad (BBC)
Speaking of dads… this article, written for a UK audience, is most interesting to me because the majority of the fathers featured are American. The author notes that stay-at-home fatherhood is very rare across the globe, but five times more common in the US than in the EU. Across countries, these stay-at-home dads note feeling under-supported in their role (i.e., they feel isolated around stay-at-home moms and judged by working parents).
BONUS: Tips for planning your return to work after parental leave (The Bump)
Yes, I’m quoted in this article, but it’s not why I’m including it. It’s a really great, concise primer for moms returning to work after parental leave. If your preggo days are over, pass it along to a friend or colleague who might find it useful.
Connect
This month’s “connect” is exceedingly practical. We all know that managing logistics with two working parents can be a nightmare, so try implementing a regular Sunday night check-in with your partner to go over scheduling and planning considerations for the upcoming week. Make sure you discuss:
What's happening? Ensure all important events from personal calendars are on your family/shared calendar. Identify and prioritize the week's key events and to-dos and adjust time spent on less critical activities. Highlight any one-off events that might impact regular commitments and list key reminders.
What's the plan? Plan for logistics like childcare, pickups/drop-offs, and meals. Decide who will cover which days and notify any additional help (grandparents, babysitters, neighbors) in advance to avoid last-minute chaos.
What's the back-up plan? Identify potential tricky moments and create back-up plans.
Reflect
“In what ways have you yet to accept the fact that you are who you are, not the person you think you ought to be?”
I read these words in Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks and thought they were widely applicable. So much about the transition to middle age is making peace with the paths not taken and the selves not realized. I would encourage you to engage in some introspection about the ways in which you may be clinging to an idealized version of yourself, whether it’s shaped by external expectations of internal (and possibly outdated) aspirations. How can you move past the regrets and “should haves” and, as Burkeman suggests, accept the fact that you are who you are, not the person you think you ought to be?
Interesting WFH / hybrid study! I always thought the promotion opportunities working remote were not quite the same - and a big reason salaries stall - but the evidence appears to be otherwise