A new study by Australia’s Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, has discovered that wearing pyjamas while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic did not reduce productivity, although there was a link to poorer mental health.
The study found that 41% of people said they experienced increased productivity while working from home, but 40% reported that working from home resulted in poorer mental health.
Wearing pyjamas was not associated with changes in productivity. However, wearing pyjamas was associated with more frequent reporting of poorer mental health. More participants who wore pyjamas during the day at least once a week reported that their mental health had declined while working from home (59% vs. non-pyjama-wearers 26%).
63% of people with children at home reported that their productivity was reduced.
Despite being frowned upon, for health and safety reasons, the kitchen or dining table was the most popular work-from-home setting. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, the high cost of housing costs means that many people cannot afford homes with separate study or work areas.
The study found that 3% of respondents worked in their bathrooms
Despite greater productivity, many survey respondents reported poorer mental health since working at home, consistent with other studies. While working from home allows more flexibility, it perhaps also introduces greater self-imposed pressure to maintain output, which can lead to poorer sleep quality.
The study found “a larger proportion of people who wore pyjamas during work hours than of non-pyjama wearers reported declines in mental health during the pandemic. While we cannot determine whether wearing pyjamas was the cause or consequence of mental health deterioration, appreciation of the effect of clothing on cognition and mental health is growing, as observed in hospital patients (‘blue pyjama syndrome’, ‘PJ paralysis’): encouraging patients to wear normal day clothes can reduce the severity of depression.
“The simple advice to get changed before beginning work in the morning might partially protect against the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health.”
You can read the study report here.
