Many employees, when they started WFH, started by being in their night suits, sweatpants, other types of nightwear or home wear. gradually they realized that it does not work out and hinders proper focus on official work.
There is actual science to back up this feeling. Researchers have found that dressing up for work improves your productivity, brain activity and performance. This research is being used now to identify factors that would help improve work from home.
The rise of WFH and the video calls has made it more complex to another area of research called enclothed cognition namely what signals the clothes that you wear send to your brain. Clothes make a bigger impact as we can see what clothes we wear and that has a symbolic value in our consciousness.
Research has shown that the combination of wearing certain clothes and their symbolic meaning led to more focussed attention. This has led to experiments wearing something official above the waist and sweat pants below screen level for WFH video calls.
Is there an inauthenticity cost for the fact that we often have a dualist outfit and how does it affect people? It can make people feel inauthentic.
The research also found that wearing formal clothes lead to higher levels of abstract, big picture thinking associated with leaders. Just dressing up a bit more formally than you would normally at home makes you much more productive at work.
Many employees have proven very productive in casual clothing. Just putting on formal clothes don't matter as much if one is confident when wearing casual clothes and feel like it can work just as well that way. However, it is recommended that one changes into clothing associated with work at the beginning of the day to send a cue to our brain of being in serious work mode. One feels physically different, clothes are different that tells the brain that it is work time.
At the same time, casual has evolved and is more accepted at work today.
It has become quite acceptable to wear clothes that one tends to wear to the office on weekends. It can be more casual but more professional as that would help you perform at work better.
On the other side, dressing up formally for WFH may feel out of place, be self-conscious and feel out of place at home. it may seem ridiculous ta times and be considered as play-acting and impact the performance at work.
Another point to keep in mind. What you wear will determine when it is time to wind down. Putting on your at-home clothes would make your brain relax, shift gears and not having to perform at a high level of alert.
Remaining in your informal clothes, during office timings hinders the work as you are mentally not attuned to the office environment and do not fully focus on your work. In sum, wear clothes that you would wear to the office on informal days to trigger the change in your brain to switch to office mode, as the clothes have a direct impact on the work you do.
The Science Behind WFH Dressing for Zoom
By Ray A Smith WSJ 2020/09
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