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By Daniel Robinson - Your Apartment's Marketing Manager
Does the idea of heading back to the office excite or blight?
Charlie, Your Apartment’s Co-founder (aka. my boss ) asked me recently my opinion on returning to the office after six months of working from home.
Prior to the lockdown, I was potentially the most reluctant person on our team to change from five days a week in the office, to five days a week from home.
Having worked in previous roles where I've been able to work from home up to 2 or 3 times a week, I had gotten used to going to work and leaving work and I liked it. It is not until you have a never-ending list of things to do that you realise the implications home working has on your day-to-day life.
As many of you home workers know by now, you tend to start shortly after you wake, you swap a lunch hour for a handful of short domestic task-based breaks, you work later, and you never truly switch off. It can like groundhog day sometimes, to say the least.
But as for all-round productivity, I can quite honestly say that I work better when left with a list of to-do’s and to my own devices. What I struggle with is the lack of human contact and the refreshing change of scenery.
Going back to the initial question, does the idea of returning to the office excite me? Quite frankly, it is a mixed bag and I'm going to open it up and show you what's inside...
The Team
No one can deny that if you have a great team, it is lovely to see them on a day-to-day basis. It’s nice to be near enough to help each other out, discuss things that are going on, and of course get a drink nearby once the day is done.
The City Buzz
I personally love seeing everyone from all walks of life buzzing around The Triangle, running errands, and the endless amounts of road rage and oddities which seem to occur on a daily basis. Keeps life interesting.
Time to Reflect
Last August when I joined Your Apartment, I moved into the city ( Old Marketing specifically ) so I could walk to and from work as I was quite frankly tired of traffic jams and road works. The 40 minutes a day of walking gives me time to think, get some fresh air, and prepare for/wind down from the day/evening ahead.
The Ease Dropping
One of the things I love about my desk is not only is it very chic, but I sit between the MD and the Ops Director . While most would probably hate this ( and it has its moments ) I get the pleasure of knowing what is going on and I can use some of the more useful information to get ahead and help them solve problems & issues in real-time.
Ring ring... Hello Your Apartment, Dan speaking
My pet hate in offices is people talking on the phones all day. I like to think I am quite an observant individual and if you’re a marketing professional you’re 24/7 observing the macro and microenvironment around you spotting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ( all hail SWOT ). But in this situation, sometimes being able to block it all out is a more favourable quality to have.
The door
If you pop into Your Apartment HQ, my desk is right in front of the door. Great for our customers as I am the first person they see ( #smooth ). However, not so great given the footfall. Oh, and let's not mention the wind…
The weather
Sadly, there is no way around this one. When you live in the UK, it rains and a lot. I like shiny shoes and rainswept is not a cute look ( especially given how incredibly dodge the pavements are on Park Street - sort it out Bristol City Council ).