Avoiding Co-workers At Office Helps In Releasing Stress Says This Study. Okay, But How To Avoid The Boss?
Before I stepped into the world of journalism and publishing houses, I was working as a hot shot auditor at one of the Big 4’s in India and secretly hating every minute of it. From the taxing work (pun intended) to the obscenely annoying co-workers, there was nothing that did not make my eye balls roll to the far reaches of my skull. But conforming to the societal and corporate guidelines of having to be cordial with co-workers always used to get the best of me. But looks like not anymore! For the first time, we have a study that works in all of our favour and suggests that avoiding co-workers in office actually releases stress. And we couldn’t agree more!
Health expert psychologist Ulrika Leons revealed, “If someone distracts you, it can take somewhere between five and 25 minutes for you to fully focus your attention on your task again. It takes energy to switch between tasks all the time.” And to that we nod our heads enthusiastically, giving ourselves a workout. The study further said that talking to your co-workers can not just exhaust you and burn you out, but also make you lose all concentration on the task at hand. Therefore suggesting that you shut yourself from your colleagues.
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Ulrika Leons also said, “Together with your employer, you could visually block work stations in your office from communal or social spaces, for example, so you don’t end up seeing everyone going for coffee. You can arrange for people to go into a meeting room if they want to make a phone call, so they don’t disturb others.” And her words seem like a soothing lullaby. I could avoid all the extra information about my boss’s sister’s son (imagine not having to look at pictures and squeal at their baby being cute) and go back to my seat from the water cooler without being blindsided into some office gossip. I am already giddy with excitement.
And don’t get us wrong here, we do enjoy the occasional catch-up over our chai and sutta breaks, but when you have to sit through conversations that turn into slow narrations very quickly, we’d rather plug in our headphones and pretend to not hear them. Because let’s face it, even the most social of us sometimes are done in by these forced office interactions.
So for all the ones who have been running out of excuses to skip office parties and cringing on the inside for the longest time can immediately forward the study to the HR and cc all the fellow co-workers. Yes, work in peace friends.
