Bookmarks: 5 Interesting Articles That May Help You This Week

Each week, I select a few articles that rise above the fray and hopefully help you on your journey in the CRE world. They pull from one of four "corners:" corporate real estate, technology, management science and anything positive. I welcome your comments on these articles.

1. Practically Positive

Yes, the black swan happened, and the entire world changed in a matter of a few weeks. Yes, there is fear and terrible sickness in our land. Yes, the markets are a mess. Let’s not even talk about our investments. It’s just a desperate and weird time.

As a result, mental health is front and center and something millions are dealing with now. This component of health is a major crisis that you and I are going to have to deal with head on and soon.

I’m going to make the hopeful assumption that you and your family are physically healthy or on the mend. Based on statistical probability you are likely healthy, for now. If not, prayers for your recovery.

2. How Rituals and Focus Can Turn Isolation Into a Time for Growth

These harrowing times are taking an emotional toll, even on those of us lucky enough to be hunkering down in our own homes. Our new reality—disrupted lives, fears of infection, worries about loved ones, the loneliness that can come with prolonged isolation—brings to the surface disorganizing feelings, from panic to despair, that a busy life might keep at bay. But there are ways to make this period of self-quarantine not only endurable but rewarding.

William James, the great philosopher and psychologist, observed that people are collections of habits but that we can rid ourselves of those that don’t serve us well. He counseled us not to “sit all day in a moping posture, sigh and reply to everything with a dismal voice.”

New habits can carry us ahead in an organized way, letting us heighten our sense of control over our days and nights and keep disabling feelings in check. We can focus more on the small moments that comprise our lives, becoming more present and endowing ordinary routine with deep emotional investment.

I had the opportunity—which, at the time, felt like a horrendous misfortune—to put that wisdom to the test as the primary family caregiver during my wife Joan’s 10-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. The long decline brought by a neurodegenerative disease creates a kind of slow-motion calamity. Life loses rhythm, direction, definition.

3. What Will Tomorrow’s Workplace Bring? More Elbow Room, for Starters

Many Americans are weeks, if not months, from returning to their offices and regaining a semblance of a normal workday. Given the recent layoff and furlough announcements, many are wondering whether they will even have a job after the dust settles.

But building owners and company leaders — and those who help them manage properties and design workplaces — have begun to anticipate the time when the shelter-in-place orders are lifted and people start heading back to the office. Those in the midst of planning suggest that the post-pandemic office might look radically different.

Returning workers can expect stepped-up cleaning and a reinforcement of social distancing. Hand sanitizer stands will probably be positioned in lobbies. Maintenance staff will swab door handles. There may be limits on the number of people allowed in an elevator.

4. What Happens When We Return to the Workplace?

The coronavirus has turned everything upside down. But, now that we’re starting to get the hang of working from home, our clients are beginning to wonder how they can prepare to bring people back into the office when the crisis subsides.

We know from new Gensler Research Institute workplace data that a well-designed workplace is still the place that people want to be. In the U.S. Workplace Survey 2020, we asked that very question – posing the options between home, the company’s workplace, a coworking space, or coffee shop. Unquestionably, the office was people’s preferred place to work, as long as it’s designed to support their work.

However, before we can ask people to return to the office, we’ve got to make sure they feel safe, healthy, and valued in their workplace. And, while it’s too early to understand the full extent of the new skills and habits we’re developing while working en masse from home, it’s not too early to start planning for how we can return hundreds of thousands of people to the workplace once the quarantines end. Here are some thoughts on the first steps companies can take in the short term.

5. How to Transition Between Work Time and Personal Time

Physical presence doesn’t always equate to mental presence. You could be sitting at your desk but more preoccupied about a home repair than the assignment at hand, or you could be at the kitchen table thinking more about the proposal you have to finish than the people eating dinner with you.

That’s why transitions from work mode to personal mode are so essential. And you have to make an especially intentional effort on these transitions when you work from home because you don’t have the natural change of context cues.

In my experience as a time management coach, here are some of the ways to be less distracted and more present whether you’re working or enjoying personal time.

Your success blesses others. I wish you a great a hugely impactful week!

Ken Ashley