Research conducted for BT Wireless Broadband has revealed that the majority of city workers are tied to their desks and see natural sunlight for less than an hour per day. Nearly a quarter (22%) see less than twenty minutes during the working day.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of workers admit they are depressed at the thought of not being able to get away from their desk to see more daylight. And there are even some who would consider throwing a "sickie" to boost their daylight exposure.
Dave Hughes, BT Retail's director of wireless broadband, says: "Out of the office no longer means 'out of touch' and workers can stay just as productive when not chained to their desks. The number of Wi-Fi enabled devices flying off the shelves coupled with widely available hotspots provides the tools to support remote working. Let's just hope the British weather plays along this summer!"
Stephen Alambritis, of the Federation for Small Businesses, foresees this lack of fresh air as becoming a real drain on productivity: "Lack of sunshine or outdoors activity has an enormous effect on morale, and productivity is likely to drop at the same time. With a wide variety of internet access options available to office workers, and more bosses approving remote working, there's never been a better summer for those workers stuck at their desks to get some productive time in the sun for their boss and themselves."
BT's top tips for keeping your work secure working outdoors:
1. Don't flash your devices around. Find a sensible and safe location to work in
2. Activate your computer's firewall before going outdoors
3. Take care that no-one is looking as you type in passcodes/PINs and so on
4. Password-protect any important files. Alternatively, do not take confidential documents out and about with you
5. Use a secure connection wherever possible - details of this can be found next to the network name. Also, ensure that you disable your device's ability to automatically connect to a network, or it could connect you to an unsecure one
6. Disable "file and printer sharing", as this leaves your computer more vulnerable to hackers
7. Keep your operating system and your anti-virus software up to date
8. Try to use webmail services wherever possible, rather than use Outlook or Apple Mail directly. This allows you to take advantage of the added security these sites provide
9. Finally, it's important for both you and your device to stay cool - don't stay in the sun too long, or your laptop could overheat and you may lose important work.
