Any cat person will agree that cats are cute and can uplift mood. But, do you know that cats can also improve your productivity?

Working from home (WFH) during the pandemic can be stressful and lonely sometimes. In an always-on culture where the boundaries of work and personal life boundaries blur, many of us are struggling to unplug from work and relax. Having companionship, either human or animal, can help cure loneliness and depression. As the most common companion pet in the world, cats are known to help lower your stress, anxiety, and make you become happier. A study by Garden Buildings Direct, a UK-based garden office supplier, also revealed that working at home accompanied by pets can improve mental health and boosts work output.

Providing companionship

Working remotely means you are physically detached from colleagues who used to be working together at the office. Having a cat by your side while working at home can help you feel isolated. While sometimes it can get annoying, such as when cats try to take over your workspace for them to sleep on, watching them asleep in peace can bring immense joy. 

What will you do when an online meeting gets exhausting, but you cannot use your phone since the camera is on? Cats will get you out of the boredom in such a situation. Petting a cat in your lap can help you get through that lengthy meeting without you looking disrespectful, as your cat is unseen from the camera. Moreover, compared to dogs’ bark that can get too loud and disturbing, cats’ purr is soft and less noisy, creating little to no hassle during online meetings. 

Improving mental health

After a tough conversation with a client or supervisor, listening to your cats’ purring while you pet them can relieve the tension. Squishing your cats when being stuck on a project may also help squeeze ideas out of its source. When you get so stressed with work or irritated with something, you can always vent out your rant to the cats. You will only get a purr as a response, but it is certain that cats will not snitch on you to your boss. 

Keeping a cat or two or three or as many as you want can help reduce stress from your job. Relaxed mind means increased productivity, since creativity and problem solving can be easily produced by a happy mind. Not only does your cat help you manage mental health, it practically helps increase your productivity too.

Read Also: Four Important Leadership Lessons From a Cat

Increasing productivity

Cats often surprise their owners by jumping to random furniture at a very random moment and this can be an unexpected distraction. However, you can actually use this distraction to improve your overall productivity without even noticing. Working from home sometimes makes you lose track of time as you may stare at the screen for too long. If you are unaware of taking a break, maybe your cats can do it for you. Getting your attention diverted from your work to your cats that randomly endanger themselves or your furniture can give you a break from the screen.  

In addition, cats spend a lot of time sleeping and they often sleep next to your laptop; if not on your laptop. This can serve as a gentle reminder for you to take a little break from work, as you will need to move your cats somewhere else other than your workspace. This kind of regular short break caused by your cats gets you to function at a more steady pace throughout the day, allowing you to recharge your energy.

Helping to stay on schedule

Keeping cats as pets means that you need to take care of them too. You need to feed your cats a couple of times and routinely change their clumping cat litter, especially if they are indoor cats. Although you may realize that this set of routines are for your cats, it also gets you to be disciplined in terms of staying on schedule. Taking care of cats can help you shape your own routine and build a mindset of keeping the track on schedule.

In a time where physical human interaction is not readily viable, having a pet around can help you cope with loneliness and stress that may appear from working remotely. If you do not have enough time and energy to keep dogs as your pet, since they are high maintenance, cats can be the best bet. Other than the fact that cats are more sedentary compared to dogs, they are also cute. On top of it all, having cats can positively affect your work from home activity. Sounds like the best of both worlds between happiness and productivity? Well, it is!

Happy International Cat Day!

Read Also: Being an Animal-Phobic in a Pet-Friendly Company? Here’s What to Do