Too Hot to Handle, Too Cold to Hold.
The temperature at Fancy Hands HQ varies widely. Our methods of heating and cooling are tempermental and inefficient. Add that to a handful of people toying with the thermostat everyday, adjusting it to the temperature that they feel is perfect for them, and you get a lot of ups and downs.
Nick, one of our developers, brought an electric imp in so that he could chart the scale of our thermodifferentiation (I think I just made that word up).
It seems that we haven't perfected the art of temperature control ourselves, but Men's Health says that in order to maintain our utmost productivity levels, we should.
A Cornell University study that found low office temps (68 degrees or below) increase employee error by 44 percent.
How can temperature hurt your performance? Blame what the Cornell researchers call the “post-lunch dip.” Unlike the early morning and early evening hours when body temp and hormone levels are elevated, you experience a drop in both between 1 and 4 in the afternoon thanks to your body’s natural circadian rhythms, the researchers write. And, just as your body temperature drops at night when you’re asleep, the afternoon dip causes drowsiness that’s heightened by a cool office, the research shows.
If you work from home or hold the reigns to your office’s thermostat, set it for 71 degrees—the optimal temp for afternoon productivity, according to similar research from Finland’s Helsinki University of Technology. If your workplace’s temperature is beyond your control, pulling on a sweater, moving away from AC vents, or switching on a space heater could help you stay sharper after lunch, a Northumbria study suggests.
Productivity remains high even up to a balmy 77 degrees, according to the Cornell research.
Looks like we're on the highest temperature cliff here at Fancy Hands. I think I'll go open a window before we all start to drift off.