The sun gives us life, it keeps the plants growing and can give us a great tan. However, in the winter months, sun light is a precious commodity and unfortunately for British workers a new report by Get More Vitamin Drinks has found that the average office worker is only expected to get 52 minutes of daylight a week.
According to the research many people will leave for the office before the sun comes up around 7:45am and leave after it goes down at about 4pm in the afternoon. It seems us Brits just can’t catch a break; in the summer, we are plagued by hay fever and in the winter, we get no sunlight at all.
It has also been found that workers can’t be bothered to go outdoors to stretch their legs at lunch saying the weather and gloomy outlook puts them off. Whilst we may feel that staying indoors is good for us at the time, in the long run it appears to have the opposite effect. The findings indicate that due to not getting out at lunch afternoons are often spent with people feeling lethargic and unproductive. This means even if the weather is off-putting at lunch time it’s important for Brits to force themselves out in to fresh air.
Being lethargic and unproductive aren’t the only issues we have to worry about, 36 per cent will also feel grumpy and 34 per cent feel unmotivated. Being unmotivated in the workplace is not a great position to be in and this is something the report highlighted as a cause for concern.
The strain on productivity
No matter the season Brits still have work to complete, so how is the dark sky effecting our productivity in the office? According to the research if we have been sat at our desk all day four in 10 find themselves day dreaming while 24 per cent start to make lots of mistakes. This is worrying, in the current situation the UK finds itself in as we negotiate Brexit we need everyone to be bringing their A game, especially in the office.
It seems we need to remember to manage our time better and realise that outside of all the emails, meetings and deadlines we are all still organic beings and environmental factors affect us greatly. Staying at our desk all day may not actually be the best option presented to us. As with everything else, it appears to come down to quality over quantity.
To fight or embrace?
Outside of the office things don’t appear to get any brighter. The report found that 28 per cent of people will socialise less and 18 per cent won’t bother popping in on friends. Instead, Brits will eat more food, drink more alcohol and lead an altogether unhealthier lifestyle. In all it appears as if the UK truly live a mole existence when it comes to the winter months. But should we feel bad about this? Should we force ourselves in to the cold and make more of an effort in the winter? In the UK especially we seem to have an emphasis on being the most productive we can be, gong to cultural events, exercising, eating well, managing finances – perhaps it would be nice to take the winter off? Apparently, some Brits do embrace the excuse to take it easy. The study indicates two thirds of people will watch more movies in winter, 14 per cent will play more computer games and four in 10 people will spend longer in their pyjamas.
When it comes to the office we do need to find a way we keep productivity up in the winter months but past home time I’d advise us to all take it easy and make the most out of having an excuse to do nothing.
