By Kirstie McDermott
Millions of children worldwide were raised on one of the most popular fairy tales in the English language – ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’.
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But if you weren’t, allow us to recap. This famous folk tale tells of Goldilocks, a young girl, who lets herself into the home of three bears — currently absent — and not only eats their porridge but tries out their beds.
Then, to add insult to injury, she also sits on one of their chairs and breaks it.
The lesson young children learn is to be mindful of the possessions of others, but there’s another interpretation at play too.
Our protagonist tries out all three of the bowls of porridge, each of the beds, and the trio of chairs belonging to the bears but finds that only one of each is «quite right».
This has led to what’s known as the «Goldilocks Zone» in space exploration.
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NASA defines it as «the habitable zone… around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets,» citing Earth as a perfect example.
Ideal balance
But the concept equally applies to work, according to a recent report from the workplace comms tool Slack, which says that the work-based Goldilocks Zone is the ideal balance of focus time, collaboration time, social connection, and downtime in your day.
David Ard, the senior VP of employee success at Slack and Salesforce, says this is «like the macronutrients of a workday. The right balance gives you the energy you need to work your best. We cannot consider these critical components of our work in silos. To be our most effective, we must create the space for collaborative work and focused work».
A Goldilocks Zone isn’t one size fits all, either.
Slack says that on average, desk workers say that the ideal amount of “Goldilocks” style focus time is around four hours.
It also reports that if people have over two hours a day in meetings, this forms a tipping point where most will say too much time is being spent on meetings.
Additionally, those who say they spend too much time in meetings are more than twice as likely to say they don’t have enough time to focus.
While similar patterns have emerged across all job levels, all workers are different. Some will find that their ideal Goldilocks Zone is in the morning, while others will prefer to place a focus on their four-hour efforts in the afternoon.
It’s another piece of the puzzle workers — and companies — are increasingly piecing together around true workplace flexibility.
If employees are allowed to do their work at a time that works for them, as opposed to enforcing a set of strict across-the-board policies around working hours, the argument is that because they’re trusted to manage their own time, they can choose to work when they feel most productive.
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The work gets done, with less frustration, stress, and burnout as a result. If that appeals to you, then search for hybrid roles on the Euronews Job Board, or discover the three below.
Senior Software Simulation Engineer, BAE Systems
BAE Systems, which offers hybrid and flexible working options, is seeking a Senior Software Simulation Engineer to join its team based out of its Filton site in Bristol.
In this role, you will develop the software used to run the Typhoon Active Cockpit simulator, take ownership of the requirements, design and implementation, and system integration and test, within schedule and estimates and design technical solutions.
Interested? Apply now.
Customer Service Retention Advisor — Hybrid, Hastings Direct
Once you have completed training, you can work a hybrid schedule of one day in the office and four days at home, as a Customer Service Retention Advisor at Hastings Direct in Bexhill.
Here, you’ll join an extremely busy team, dealing with customers who have come to the end of their policy and are looking to renew. See more details here.
Junior Sourcer, News UK
In this London-based HR role as Junior Sourcer you will support the Talent Acquisition team to attract and source the top talent to enable the future success of News UK and its brands.
Managing the advertising and promotion of roles, and identifying talent, day to day you will also manage the Applicant Tracking System, supporting the recruitment team to keep the system updated and to get the best from the system.
You’ll also manage the recruitment team mailbox and general enquiries, and work with Talent Acquisition partners to identify and attract suitable candidates.
If this early career role sounds interesting, find out more here.
Ready for a new challenge? Visit the Euronews Job Board and see which companies are hiring today
