Pandemics, viruses, quarantines. Smart working, Zoom meeting, stress.
These are some of the keywords that have been accompanying us for 2 years and from which we would like to move away at great speed in favor of a renewed lifestyle.
What, however, does the search for a new normal mean?
Covid-19, a cause of possible long-term side effects from a clinical point of view, does not seem to be outdone in terms of its impact on People’s well-being.
Indeed, the experience of this long pandemic period teaches us that the unprepared response to an event of global proportions has contributed to the increased stress levels that still require us to make strong efforts to re-establish a good work-life balance.
There is no denying that, at first, the possibility of working directly from home was a pleasant novelty: the ability to rest longer in the morning, the convenience of not having to deal with city traffic, the apparent feeling of being able to enjoy familiar space and reconcile personal and professional needs.
In this way, the living room has become the office, the kitchen the coffee corner, family members the moments of leisure and distraction from work, and conversely, work the escape from daily headaches.
This new habit, imposed by the health crisis, soon gave way to the total absence of boundaries: when does the workday end if there is a lack of detachment from the office and the work environment?
Let’s talk about a situation experienced by most: the e-mail request to be answered after dinner, supporting the children with homework during the day, and putting off that important document to be finished at a time when, generally, one used to relax.
Slowly, without real awareness, the exception has become the rule and has led us to a situation where personal life has become confused with professional life and vice versa.
Stress levels, issues related to the absence of sociability and the lost freedom to move have increased and, with them, a new awareness: has begun to emerge: the ability to set boundaries and separate personal and professional life is the most powerful means of renewed balance.
Balance that has to be sought and found consistently with the current and upcoming situation, in which Organizations will probably increasingly have to manage a hybrid scenario.
It is evident, in fact, that the new life-work balance requires the integration of the benefits that smart work management has brought associated with the undeniable need for social relations that each of us strongly needs.
We need to work on balanced formulas that support People and are bearers of a good climate within Organizations, that promote flexibility and a goal orientation: the care and development of Human Capital are the beacon to face the new scenario and make ourselves distinctive in the market.
We have, today, the opportunity to write a new story and observe a better landscape, strengthened by the experience we have gained and the knowledge that every moment should be seized in the instant in which we live it.
The pandemic has taken much from us, yet it has also taught us as much: being able to grasp and analyze what we have experienced is the key to building renewed wellbeing.
