August 9, 2024 • 8 mins
“Older” employees, Gen X and Boomers, those who are over 45years, are sometimes accused of not being as skilled at utilising the benefits of tech in their work. Whilst that might be true for some, new research shows that these older workers tend to be more effective in setting clear work and nonwork boundaries when working from home and in managing their time.
The research found this age group were more likely to use good work practices such as:
- Setting strict start, break and end times
- Having a dedicated space at home for only work
- Creating new routines and dressing for work
- Informing others about their availability
Benefits of setting these boundaries include:
- Fewer unfinished work tasks
- Having better work-life balance.
- Higher productivity
Perhaps old dogs can learn new tricks!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from news Talks that'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Clinical psychologists, Doogle Sutherln from Umbrella Well Being as well.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I say, Google, hey, Jack, how's it going. I must
say I'm a little bit concerned about your screen habits
and about how many screams you're going to be watching
to life and them the damage that might be doing
to your attention.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I know this is the problem because there are only
I was debating this with Darcy Waldergrave this morning. There
are some sports that I feel you can you can
watch simultaneously, in some that you can't. And the men's
marathon is a good example of a sport that you
can I think, have on while watching other things at
the same time. So you can have the rugby on
one screen and then you can have the marathon on
(00:48):
another screen. And I reckon that's the that's the way
to go. But there are other there are other sports
that don't end themselves quite so well to watching at
the same time. Like if you're trying to watch the
one hundred meters relay and watch the rugby at the
same time, that's that's going to be tricking, you know, Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, nothing fast is going to happen in the marathon.
Really no, No, in about ten minutes, somebody might overtake
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So we'll have a lot, Yeah, exactly for the last
you know, the last k. Maybe you focus on the marathon,
you know, and you give place attention to it or something. Anyway,
it's only for this weekend. I promised Google, you know,
but this time next week I'm going to be right
back to just just normal screen kind of normal screen time. Anyway,
this morning, we want to talk about older employees because
(01:31):
you've got a fascinating bit of research looking at some
of the benefits of having slightly older employees and the
works we talk about, you know, some of the generational
differences in workplaces these days, and the different things that
people from different generations typically bring. And often we think
of young employees as being digital natives, so having really
developed digital skills that perhaps older employees don't necessarily automatically have.
(01:55):
But actually there are some real benefits. Eh.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah, No, it's when you talk about sort of people.
When we say older, let's be clear, we're talking about,
you know, people in the over forty five bracket, So
anyone to get hardly ancient nothing, but yeah, I think
it often conjures up sort of images of people kind
of staring at the screen, you know, over the top
of their glasses and stabbing at it with their finger
(02:20):
and not really knowing how this thing works, while younger
people are kind of, you know, their hands are flying
and they've got several different screens on at once. But yeah,
this new reset showed that actually, people over the age
of forty five tended to be much more effective in
using technology at home and about setting really good limits
(02:41):
and boundaries around working from home, which which was better
for their overall well being and productivity. So it was
it was like, oh man, maybe maybe people that are
over forty five can do things.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Okay, that's interesting, So what are the what are the
benefits of actually setting those boundaries?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Look, well, what this research showed was firstly that you
had fewer unfinished tasks, so actually they got more things completed,
which is and you know what that's like. If you
don't finish a task, it sort of hangs over you
like a like a sort of a small sort of
dagger waiting to force I've just got to finish that.
So fewer of those they had a better work life balance,
(03:20):
so they you know, reported saying, yeah, I think my
life there's actually you know, I can do I can
do my work, but I can I can do my recreation,
do my play, do whatever I want to do. And
they were more productive as well, which and from a
business perspective, that's always you know, that's always important. There's
always those concerns I think still lingering around that. Oh
(03:40):
maybe when people are at home, maybe they're others productive,
maybe they're just sitting around watching TV. Certainly, this study
showed that actually there's people over forty five were more
productive than younger Cohort.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, that is just that's really interesting. Do you think
there's like an attitude thing or do you think that
comes down to the to the work practices that they've introduced.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Well, well, look a bit of both. I mean you
touched on it earlier when you talked about digital natives
and digital mind and in some ways, I think if
you haven't grown up with technology, perhaps it's not quite
as fused together in your world as it is if
you were a digital native. So it's like, oh no,
you do make a distinction in your head between work
(04:23):
and play, and it's not all sort of melded together,
and I think that's probably helpful some of the research. Though.
Some of the things I really like, the practical things
out of this research was one of the things was
older people are better about having a routine for their
work and getting dressed for work. And it reminded me
of somebody I was talking to who'd been doing this
(04:44):
for a while and they said, look what they do
is they get up in the morning, they get dressed
for work, so you know, they get dressed as if
they're going into the office, and they have breakfast, et cetera.
They leave the front door, walk out the front door,
they walk down to the bus stop, they walk back
from the bus stop into the front door again and go, yes,
here I am at work. And then they do that
(05:06):
whole reverse at the end of the day though, o
from the door, they walk down to the bus stop,
and there's all the good things about you know, getting
out in the fresh air and environment, et cetera. They
come back and their home and then they get changed
out of their work clothes into their home clothes. Seems
sort of artist.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, no, I totally I'm into this. I think this
is really significant.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Keep going, Yeah, It's a really nice little routine that
that just because I think one of the difficulties when
you're working from home is making that mental break, you know,
from work, and so doing some having that small routine
I think can be really helpful about giving your brain
the message we are no longer at work, we are
(05:47):
at home. Yeah. And the other thing that was useful
I thought too was the real when it's possible having
a workspace that you can kind of in your in
your home, that you can clearly mark out as for work,
and then when you've finished work, you put it. You
pack that away. You know, you put if you've got
laptop or whatever, you pack that away. If you've got
(06:08):
pen and paper or whatever you're doing, you physically pack
that away. And that space is no longer work. So
it mentally gets that reminder away from you, so you're
not reminded of work all the time. And there are
clever ways around us. I was talking to at a workshop.
I was talking to a teacher about this and they said, oh, yeah,
what I do is I try to put a limit
(06:30):
around my work. I take my laptop home for the weekend,
but I don't take my cord with me. My recharge acord,
so I know I've only got about three hours work
there because then the battery is going to run out.
I thought that was a really clever way of imposing
some limits and some boundaries around that working from home space.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, that's interesting, just being able to distinguish between those
kind of mindsets. A. Actually it's quite significant for you, well,
being liked to be able to say this is work time.
I'm focused on this. Yeah, I'm going to be as
productive as possible. And now this isn't work time and
turning into a binary thing because I'm the absolute opposite,
Like my work kind of just leads into my existence,
you know, And I'm not sure that's necessarily the best
(07:09):
for me or for my work.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
No. When we sometimes talk about segregationalists versus integrationalists, and
segregationalists to those people that can segregate work and home
and integrationalists are those that can sort of do a
bit then and there. And I think it's really important
to say that having some level of choice and control
over that is really important. Like I know for some
(07:34):
people they finish work at three o'clock, they pick up
the kids, and they cook dinner and do everything that
you need to do, and then they sit down again
about half past seven and do another hour or two
of work. Now, if they're in control of that, then
that's probably an even better thing, because they're able to say, Okay,
I can stop now, I'm now at home, now, I'm
(07:54):
picking work back up again. So you don't have to
be completely black and white about it, but the ability
to separate it in your head and having your level
of control over that yourself is really key.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Hey, very good, Thank you so much. Doogle really appreciate
it as always. Google Sutherland from Umbrella Well Being.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from news Talks that'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Clinical psychologists, Doogle Sutherln from Umbrella Well Being as well.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I say, Google, hey, Jack, how's it going. I must
say I'm a little bit concerned about your screen habits
and about how many screams you're going to be watching
to life and them the damage that might be doing
to your attention.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I know this is the problem because there are only
I was debating this with Darcy Waldergrave this morning. There
are some sports that I feel you can you can
watch simultaneously, in some that you can't. And the men's
marathon is a good example of a sport that you
can I think, have on while watching other things at
the same time. So you can have the rugby on
one screen and then you can have the marathon on
(00:48):
another screen. And I reckon that's the that's the way
to go. But there are other there are other sports
that don't end themselves quite so well to watching at
the same time. Like if you're trying to watch the
one hundred meters relay and watch the rugby at the
same time, that's that's going to be tricking, you know, Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, nothing fast is going to happen in the marathon.
Really no, No, in about ten minutes, somebody might overtake
somebody else.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So we'll have a lot, Yeah, exactly for the last
you know, the last k. Maybe you focus on the marathon,
you know, and you give place attention to it or something. Anyway,
it's only for this weekend. I promised Google, you know,
but this time next week I'm going to be right
back to just just normal screen kind of normal screen time. Anyway,
this morning, we want to talk about older employees because
(01:31):
you've got a fascinating bit of research looking at some
of the benefits of having slightly older employees and the
works we talk about, you know, some of the generational
differences in workplaces these days, and the different things that
people from different generations typically bring. And often we think
of young employees as being digital natives, so having really
developed digital skills that perhaps older employees don't necessarily automatically have.
(01:55):
But actually there are some real benefits. Eh.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah, No, it's when you talk about sort of people.
When we say older, let's be clear, we're talking about,
you know, people in the over forty five bracket, So
anyone to get hardly ancient nothing, but yeah, I think
it often conjures up sort of images of people kind
of staring at the screen, you know, over the top
of their glasses and stabbing at it with their finger
(02:20):
and not really knowing how this thing works, while younger
people are kind of, you know, their hands are flying
and they've got several different screens on at once. But yeah,
this new reset showed that actually, people over the age
of forty five tended to be much more effective in
using technology at home and about setting really good limits
(02:41):
and boundaries around working from home, which which was better
for their overall well being and productivity. So it was
it was like, oh man, maybe maybe people that are
over forty five can do things.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Okay, that's interesting, So what are the what are the
benefits of actually setting those boundaries?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Look, well, what this research showed was firstly that you
had fewer unfinished tasks, so actually they got more things completed,
which is and you know what that's like. If you
don't finish a task, it sort of hangs over you
like a like a sort of a small sort of
dagger waiting to force I've just got to finish that.
So fewer of those they had a better work life balance,
(03:20):
so they you know, reported saying, yeah, I think my
life there's actually you know, I can do I can
do my work, but I can I can do my recreation,
do my play, do whatever I want to do. And
they were more productive as well, which and from a
business perspective, that's always you know, that's always important. There's
always those concerns I think still lingering around that. Oh
(03:40):
maybe when people are at home, maybe they're others productive,
maybe they're just sitting around watching TV. Certainly, this study
showed that actually there's people over forty five were more
productive than younger Cohort.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, that is just that's really interesting. Do you think
there's like an attitude thing or do you think that
comes down to the to the work practices that they've introduced.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
Well, well, look a bit of both. I mean you
touched on it earlier when you talked about digital natives
and digital mind and in some ways, I think if
you haven't grown up with technology, perhaps it's not quite
as fused together in your world as it is if
you were a digital native. So it's like, oh no,
you do make a distinction in your head between work
(04:23):
and play, and it's not all sort of melded together,
and I think that's probably helpful some of the research. Though.
Some of the things I really like, the practical things
out of this research was one of the things was
older people are better about having a routine for their
work and getting dressed for work. And it reminded me
of somebody I was talking to who'd been doing this
(04:44):
for a while and they said, look what they do
is they get up in the morning, they get dressed
for work, so you know, they get dressed as if
they're going into the office, and they have breakfast, et cetera.
They leave the front door, walk out the front door,
they walk down to the bus stop, they walk back
from the bus stop into the front door again and go, yes,
here I am at work. And then they do that
(05:06):
whole reverse at the end of the day though, o
from the door, they walk down to the bus stop,
and there's all the good things about you know, getting
out in the fresh air and environment, et cetera. They
come back and their home and then they get changed
out of their work clothes into their home clothes. Seems
sort of artist.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, no, I totally I'm into this. I think this
is really significant.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Keep going, Yeah, It's a really nice little routine that
that just because I think one of the difficulties when
you're working from home is making that mental break, you know,
from work, and so doing some having that small routine
I think can be really helpful about giving your brain
the message we are no longer at work, we are
(05:47):
at home. Yeah. And the other thing that was useful
I thought too was the real when it's possible having
a workspace that you can kind of in your in
your home, that you can clearly mark out as for work,
and then when you've finished work, you put it. You
pack that away. You know, you put if you've got
laptop or whatever, you pack that away. If you've got
(06:08):
pen and paper or whatever you're doing, you physically pack
that away. And that space is no longer work. So
it mentally gets that reminder away from you, so you're
not reminded of work all the time. And there are
clever ways around us. I was talking to at a workshop.
I was talking to a teacher about this and they said, oh, yeah,
what I do is I try to put a limit
(06:30):
around my work. I take my laptop home for the weekend,
but I don't take my cord with me. My recharge acord,
so I know I've only got about three hours work
there because then the battery is going to run out.
I thought that was a really clever way of imposing
some limits and some boundaries around that working from home space.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Yeah, that's interesting, just being able to distinguish between those
kind of mindsets. A. Actually it's quite significant for you, well,
being liked to be able to say this is work time.
I'm focused on this. Yeah, I'm going to be as
productive as possible. And now this isn't work time and
turning into a binary thing because I'm the absolute opposite,
Like my work kind of just leads into my existence,
you know, And I'm not sure that's necessarily the best
(07:09):
for me or for my work.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
No. When we sometimes talk about segregationalists versus integrationalists, and
segregationalists to those people that can segregate work and home
and integrationalists are those that can sort of do a
bit then and there. And I think it's really important
to say that having some level of choice and control
over that is really important. Like I know for some
(07:34):
people they finish work at three o'clock, they pick up
the kids, and they cook dinner and do everything that
you need to do, and then they sit down again
about half past seven and do another hour or two
of work. Now, if they're in control of that, then
that's probably an even better thing, because they're able to say, Okay,
I can stop now, I'm now at home, now, I'm
(07:54):
picking work back up again. So you don't have to
be completely black and white about it, but the ability
to separate it in your head and having your level
of control over that yourself is really key.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Hey, very good, Thank you so much. Doogle really appreciate
it as always. Google Sutherland from Umbrella Well Being.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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