Work-Out

There’s nothing like working outside. Having previously only had office-based jobs, it’s such a joy to be able to sit out in the fresh air and tap away at my keyboard with a view of my garden. Unlike in air conditioned or centrally heated boxes, I don’t get drowsy or feel the need to step away from my computer for a break and a bit of air. Whenever my eyes start to hurt or glaze over from too long spent scrutinising the screen of my laptop, I sit back in my chair and look up at the sky or at our resident birds whistling to each other in the trees. I don’t need to get away for some fresh air as I am already in it. I can breathe more easily out here than I ever could in a stuffy office. The Husband often comes home feeling exhausted and complaining of feeling unwell and I’m certain it’s because he’s stuck in an air conditioned office all day without a single window open, breathing in recycled air along with everyone else. My conviction is strengthened by the fact that he always feels better after going out to one of the parks for a walk or a run before dinner. Companies should schedule in regular outdoor breaks for their office-based employees – I’m sure they’ll find they have a more productive workforce as a result.


Of course, I’m lucky that I am living in a part of the world that has the weather to enable me to sit outside every day. It’s a luxury that I don’t expect to have when we return to the UK, where the cold will prove al fresco working impossible without thermals, a heated blanket and five sheep’s worth of jumpers, and the rain will just make it impossible full stop. So, for now, I will just enjoy every moment of working whilst a warm breeze dances about my body and I breathe in fresh coastal air rather than the circulated air of fifty of my dearest colleagues.