It is sunny. It is hot. It is summer! And you don’t want to work.
Want to know why?
It isn’t just because you are distracted by those golden beams of light shooting through your window… the thought of the tan you could be getting… or the reoccurring vision of the cold beer you could be drinking.
As it turns out it, hot summer weather fundamentally affects our mood—and this shift in mood changes everything.
Most critically, it causes a reduction in analytical thought. A better mood, caused by nicer weather, is linked to heuristic, relatively mindless thinking. This is different than a good mood because you just got a promotion or found £20 in your pocket. A good-weather-mood = brain switching to mush.
Not surprisingly, on the flip side, research shows that a bad mood tends to stimulate more rigorous analytical thought. Weather-related mood effects can therefore have a big impact in our decision making process, even really important decisions. In a recent project, the psychologist Uri Simonsohn found that students were more likely to enrol in a university that was famous for its academic rigour if they visited on days that were cloudy. When the weather was bad, he concluded, the value they placed on academics increased.
How do you outsmart this hot weather effect on your mood and motivation?
1. Make it darker. You would be a crazy to close the shades half way on the nicest day of the year, right? You may never see sun again! The truth is you will see more sun today if you close the blinds partly for the morning, turn on a fan, get an ice water, and knock out your list in a few hours than if you sit there for 8 hours looking out those big windows while getting uncomfortably hot with the tea you have just brewed for caffeinated motivation.
2. Use technology to your advantage. Not everyone has an awesome IP office phone system, but for those that do—you can work from the beach! Or from your garden, yacht, bench… wherever. With an IP phone system from VTSL for example, you can use any device as your office phone. Yes—receive and make calls from your iPad by the pool!
3. Make it quiet. The windows are open, and all you can hear is the plane overhead, the lawn mower, the kids outside, the massive truck driving by. No wonder you can’t concentrate! Put your ear plugs in and don’t let anyone make fun of you. Your proposal will be done far before theirs. Or if you have an oh so summer cool VTSL IP phone system, you can put your calls on to divert (to a colleague, the receptionist or voicemail) with one little press of one little button.
4. Play music you don’t know. If you can’t make it quiet, trying playing some music. Studies have shown that playing relaxing music that you haven’t heard before increases concentration levels.
5. Start earlier, finish earlier. The sun wakes you up at 5am, but you had one too many Pimms last night and you reaaaally need those two more hours of sleep. Well, maybe you do but they won’t really help your day. Get up earlier, finish earlier. Studies show most people’s prime hours of concentration are in the morning.
6. Get an IP office phone system. If you haven’t already purchased one, replace whatever you are currently using for office phones with a VTSL IP phone system. Set-up is quick (this is not like a BT traditional phone line), service is cheap (£8 per user, per month), voice quality perfect (guaranteed with VTSL), and you really can use your office phone through any device (iPhone, laptop, etc).
7. Wiggle your toes. If you aren’t listening, aren’t concentrating and simply can’t get with the programme, wiggle your toes. The small amount of brain power required will help you not to daydream. It works!
Interested in learning more about a VTSL office phone system for your business and outsmarting summer laziness?
Find out how much money it can save you here
Author: Audra Oliver
