Gaming is all fun and, well, games. And while it is true that time spent playing video games on your computer definitely should be an enjoyable escape, it also has the potential to lead to some injuries and/or ailments if proper ergonomics is not involved. You’d never let your in-game character suffer unnecessarily. So why let your body? During a marathon gaming session, how long are you sitting down? Human beings were not designed to be in one position for such long periods of time, so sitting for too long can cause a variety of health problems. Did you know that the best sitting position fo ..read more

We’ve heard so much lately about the benefits of remote or hybrid working.   How it improves work-life balance because it saves on all those hours wasted commuting. Over lockdown, some believed they’d woken up to a utopia of family-time flexibility and quiet space to work from home. Others, in circumstances unconducive to concentration and productivity, felt stuck in a modern dystopia.    Are we really achieving a better work-life balance, or are we just blurring the lines between work and home in a way that could lead to some harmful unintended outcomes? The answer lies somewh ..read more

The pandemic changed work forever. ‘Work’ is no longer a place we go. It’s a thing we do. Our attitude to work-life balance has been fundamentally changed by the pandemic.  Hybrid work has become a bargaining chip in the workplace. Employees want it, and they’re prepared to leave to get it, as illustrated when recently an executive from tech giant Apple has left the company allegedly for its return-to-work policy, according to reports. A lot of employees feel hesitant about returning to the workplace after spending all this time at home working and figuring out their routines. Beyond the ..read more

Soft couch cushions and a cute vintage chair here. Dim lighting and blackout curtains there. Ah, there’s nothing like the comforts of home. Except during a pandemic. Across the nation, new work-from-home and distance learning routines amid the COVID-19 outbreak have many people — and their strained necks, backs, and eyes — wishing they could trade those home comforts for the comforts of the office. From flexible working hours to better work-life balance, the benefits of remote work for employees are numerous. Companies can also benefit from a more engaged and productive workforce and reduced ..read more

Biophilia is obviously not a new concept. The term biophilia was used by German-born American psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), which described biophilia as “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive.”  The term was later used by American biologist Edward O. Wilson in his work Biophilia (1984), which proposed that the tendency of humans to focus on and to affiliate with nature and other life-forms has, in part, a genetic basis. And that the relatively recent forces of urbanization and industrialization have led to a profound disconnection ..read more

In a world that appears to be in a constant state of flux– perhaps more than ever – we crave stability, confidence and certainty.  The ongoing global pandemic stopping the whole world in its tracks, headlines of climate disasters, political crises or the ongoing threat of cyber attacks – is shaking up the most stable part of our minds. In a world of constant change, is being completely stable a myth? Then again, what exactly is being stable? However, we can focus on things we can affect to thrive in an environment defined by constant transformation. Including fostering resilience on an in ..read more

While office space evolves for a mobile workforce’s changing needs and companies continue to embrace open-plan office design, recognising the requirement for office acoustics is becoming increasingly critical. The need for ease of communication, privacy and freedom from annoyance determine the acoustic requirements for an office. In particular, they lead to the control of the background noise. Open plan office acoustics For facilities managers, understanding the basic structure of open office acoustics and understanding the way the physical elements of the office environment impact sound tran ..read more

Nowadays, it seems it’s not such an outlandish idea to have a pet at the office — there are actually quite a few advantages. For example, a few years ago, research by Virginia Commonwealth University showed that people experience less stress when a dog is around.   Researchers took saliva samples from factory employees and looked at how much of the stress hormone cortisol was in it. The results showed that only the employees who had had a dog in their vicinity had low cortisol levels by the end of the day. Bosses across the UK are being encouraged to allow their staff to bring their pets ..read more

Agility and the home office – are these the ‘new normal’ of Level 2 life? And is it a tilt or a re-levelling of the workplace playing field? Nigel Young of AEDIS LTD explores these themes in a 4 part series. Part 3: Tilting at the loom? This establishment of a ‘new normal’ doesn’t stand on its own, rather it is one of three trends that are converging. I like the image of the 3-legged stool as a minimum required to sit on, and in this case, working from home is just one of the legs. The other two are: The nature of employment The measure of employment   1. The nature of employment. For ..read more

Agility and the home office – are these the ‘new normal’ of Level 2 life? And is it a tilt or a re-levelling of the workplace playing field? Nigel Young of AEDIS LTD explores these themes in a 4 part series. Part 4: Tilting – or cheating? When a pinball machine is nudged a little too hard, it reacts with a ‘tilt’ message – the player is using the machine unfairly and the game is being compromised in their favour. Is this an appropriate metaphor – or do we now have a foreign embassy with a loom, sitting on sovereign territory and subject to a host-driven and localised earthquake? That reminds ..read more