What are the most effective work from home practices during COVID-19?

A designated work space ensures productivity.

Question: What are the most effective work from home practices during COVID-19?
Position1 of 3›: Behave as though you're going to work
Argument‹2 of 2: A designated work space ensures productivity.

Setting up an organized and separate work space helps one remain focused and productive. It also helps maintain a healthy work-life balance.

The argument

In Environmental psychology ‘Place Identity’ is defined as the relationship one forms with their surroundings. It is developed through everyday experiences in a physical space and has a profound effect on their personal attitudes and social behaviors not only in that particular place but also on the way they perceive other places. ‘Place attachment’ is another such concept which revolves around the way different places can influence the development of identity and behaviors related to it. The global spread of highly infectious and contagious COVID-19 virus has limited our accessibility to such places which form a part of our routine and identity and put into effect working from home. While most of us view homes as a place of comfort and warmth, this very identity and attachment we form with the place can be a hindrance in achieving maximum work potential. A designated workplace helps conquer some challenges which can arise due to this. It acts as a catalyst by giving us a ‘sense of place’ which initiates work mode and helps focus. It fosters a feeling of normalcy also aids in maintenance of a healthy work-life balance which is quite often lost in work from home conditions due to ease of accessibility, especially in such times where it is important to keep ourselves distracted from the pandemic blues.

Premises

[P1]People form psychological attachments to places that shape their attitudes and behaviors within those spaces. [P2] Because home is identified with comfort and rest, working from home blurs the cues needed to enter work mode and maintain work-life balance. [P3] Establishing a designated work space within the home creates a distinct 'sense of place' that triggers focus, normalcy, and separation between work and personal life. [C] Therefore, behaving as though you're going to work by setting up a designated work space is an effective work-from-home practice during COVID-19.

Counter-arguments

While setting up a designated office space may help boost productivity. The ability to spare a space like that may not be possible for many. This could be due to a variety of reasons ranging from compact housing spaces to living with people who fall in age groups more susceptible to the COVID 19 virus.This is also not a viable solution for those having bigger families.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Place identity is well established, but it establishes that surroundings shape behaviour over time. It does not establish that the effect can be manufactured on demand by designating a corner of a room as an office. [Rejecting P2] The association of home with rest is a real obstacle, but the premise assumes everyone experiences it. People who have worked from home for years generally report the opposite once a routine is established, which suggests the difficulty is transitional rather than structural. [Rejecting P3] This is the crux and it is asserted. A desk does not create a distinct sense of place if the space is shared, doubles as where the family eats, or sits in a bedroom — the situation for a large share of workers in compact housing or with children at home. [Rejecting C] 'Ensures productivity' overstates what follows. The advice is sound where space allows, which makes it a recommendation contingent on housing rather than a practice available to everyone working from home.