Is there a link between bad weather and productivity at work?

Summer seems far behind us. Brisk and gloomy autumn days have begun to creep into our lives and that can make some feel gloomy. But does this drop in temperature and the rise of bad weather only have drawbacks?

A study by Harvard University in the United States recently discovered a link between bad weather and productivity at work, hinting that autumn weather might be a little more bad for us than we previously thought.

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At first glance, one might assume that bad weather conditions decrease energy levels and promote anxiety or depression, which in turn reduces productivity at work. However, the new research has shown a completely different result.

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Researchers showed "that when the weather is rainy, there is low visibility and extreme temperatures, workers seem to be more, not less, productive," according to a summary of the new study from the Ideas for Leaders'web portal.

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In fact, the onset of bad weather seems to eliminate a series of distractions that in turn promote concentration, and thus productivity at work. It was a very counterintuitive finding but an interesting one nonetheless!

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To reach their results, the researchers conducted two separate studies. The first looked at the productivity of employees at a Japanese bank, comparing changes in the weather with the time spent performing a given task.

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The study's authors discovered that "an increase in rain was significantly related to better productivity, as were low visibility and extremely high or low temperatures." Ideas for Leaders explained.

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In addition, a second experiment was conducted in a laboratory on 100 students divided into two groups. Both groups were asked to perform a variety of "data-entry and memory tasks" with both groups being asked to rank the weather on the day they performed their tasks.

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"Participants were asked to rate whether they thought the weather was good or bad that day, and one group was also shown photographs of a sunny day to induce thoughts about sunny-day activities," Ideas for Leaders explained.

"This group’s performances decreased when they came in on rainy days, suggesting that even thinking about good weather on bad weather days can hamper productivity," Ideas for Leaders added.

Those shown pictures of a sunny day had poor performance even when it was rainy, which suggested that simply thinking about the sun reduces productivity, even in bad weather.

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The research ultimately found that a 25-millimeter or roughly one-inch level of precipitation can reduce the time spent on a given task by 1.3 percent. So your boss or clients might be happy about the arrival of fall!

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