How excessive heat can break your productivity under tight deadlines
Sunshine is often linked to positive vibes, and science supports that. Exposure to natural light boosts serotonin—a hormone that lifts your mood and helps you feel calm and focused. Of course, this can vary depending on where you live. Last summer, our team at eShare went through a pretty stressful period. We were tasked with taking a new product from MVP to production, and it took five of us pushing hard under the intense heat of the Greek summer. Did we manage to pull it off? Yes. Was it easy? Not really.
When you’re feeling the pressure of a looming deadline, working in natural sunlight can definitely help you feel more energized, reducing stress and keeping you productive. But when you’re commuting every day in 40-degree Celsius heat, where everything you touch feels like freshly baked bread, it’s easy to wish you were anywhere but at your desk.
Excessive heat, especially with high humidity, can seriously affect how you feel at work. Humidity makes it harder for your body to cool down, leaving you feeling tired, irritable, and less able to concentrate. If you’re already stressed about hitting a deadline, being physically uncomfortable due to the heat can make everything feel worse—leading to frustration and burnout.
Air conditioning can help, but spending too much time in artificially cooled spaces can lead to headaches or dry skin, which just adds to the discomfort. So how did we manage? Personally, I took advantage of our office setup and shifted my hours earlier to dodge the worst of the heat. Some of my teammates went fully remote to cooler cities. Can employers be more flexible during heatwaves? Definitely.
As for handling the heat yourself, there’s not much you can do—unless you’ve got a private pool at home! The struggle is real when you're down to your last layer of clothing and still feel like you’re melting. Trying to “stay cool” or meditate your way through it? Not gonna help. You’ll just end up looking like the “Hide the Pain Harold” meme!
While weather doesn’t completely dictate how we handle work stress, it definitely plays a big role in how we feel, both emotionally and physically, which can impact our productivity. Knowing how different weather patterns affect you personally can help you manage your time and stress better. On sunny days, take advantage of that natural light for a mental boost. On rainy or cold days, set up a cozy, distraction-free workspace that helps you stay focused.
And if you're dealing with extreme heat like we did… good luck! See you next time!