The new normal - offices and work-life balance

On Friday, I wrote about how I don’t see the end of commercial real estate and offices in general. In summary, while I don’t see offices completely going away, I do see most companies downsizing offices and likely cutting benefits such as free lunch. Things will be different, but I’m not convinced as some that most startups will just go full remote. Not yet at least.

As someone who is currently searching for an office for my startup, I have been doing a lot of thinking and planning for the “new normal” after lockdown ends. For better or worse, people will develop new habits due to being forced to work from home. Whenever the dust settles, people will start to go back to offices and coworking spaces with a new outlook and preferences for work style.

One habit that I’ve noticed that myself and others on the team have been taking advantage of is the flexibility in work hours. Without commutes or standard hours where we’re all expected in the office, people are taking advantage of the day more to do things such as workout, go to the grocery store, or just enjoying the outdoors.

It was a gorgeous day outside today so I wanted to take advantage of the weather and get some Vitamin D. I did an hour of yoga on my roof from 11-12. Took calls from 12-2. And then relaxed on my roof from 2-3. Of course, I’ll need to make up the hours lost with more hours in the evening, but this lifestyle largely suits how I like to work.

I suspect I am not the only one here. People are going to start realizing that going to the gym or picking up groceries at 3pm is much more desirable than during the 5pm rush. So my prediction here in the new normal: offices will not go away, but office/work hours as we know it will largely disappear. It will be much more acceptable for people to step out of the office for errands and even leisure during the day as people start demanding more flexibility to fit their work styles.