Why working remotely is nothing like business as usual

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – During the COVID-19 crisis, many of us have found ourselves suddenly working from home. This new remote work experience – new routines, new people in our work space and new ways of understanding productivity – is anything but business as usual.

“Traditionally, work had defined boundaries, meal times had defined boundaries and socializing had defined boundaries. Those boundaries are gone,” said Brad Shuck, Ed.D., associate professor in the University of Louisville’s Department of Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development. “If your productivity has slipped in the last few weeks and you are feeling a tad more irritable or just defeated, there is a scientific reason why.”

Shuck and Charley Miller, founder of Unitonomy, a Louisville-based company that designs software to increase remote working efficiency, will help all of us new work-at-homers cope in a virtual presentation of the next Beer with a Scientist. Distraction – whether it is trying to learn and explain third-grade math, bombardment of Slack messages or the lure of just one more episode on Netflix – cost more than just a diversion from activity. It costs mental space and time to refocus. Using the behavioral economic principle of capacity, Shuck and Miller will explain how decision science can help us understand why we feel distracted, why we might get more easily frustrated, and what we can do about it.

Shuck and Miller will speak via Facebook Live from Holsopple Brewing beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. As in the in-person versions of Beer with a Scientist, their 30-minute presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A session using Facebook comments. The live presentation will be archived on the Facebook pages for later viewing.

To participate in the event, visit the Louisville Underground Science Facebook page just before 7 p.m.:  https://www.facebook.com/LouisvilleUndergroundScience/

The presentation also will be aired live on the Holsopple Brewing Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/holsopplebrewing/

Under circumstances not requiring social distancing, Beer with a Scientist is held at Holsopple Brewing, 8023 Catherine Lane. If you would like one of their beverages to enjoy during the event, Holsopple’s drive-up dock is open Tuesday-Saturday from 2-6 p.m. Organizers encourage Beer with a Scientist guests to drink responsibly, even if they are participating from home.

UofL cancer researcher Levi Beverly, Ph.D., created the Beer with a Scientist program in 2014 as a way to bring science to the public in an informal setting. At these events, the public is invited to enjoy exactly what the title promises:  beer and science.

#WeAreUofL