Perhaps it has happened to you too that you needed concentration to tackle a particular task and were continuously distracted by emails, phone calls, or meetings.

In a world where connectivity is essential for the natural flow of working life, it is often difficult to understand or, worse, to measure the productivity of knowledge workers, that is, those workers who use knowledge to operate on immaterial processes.

If someone asked you “How long does it take to get to Amsterdam from Rome traveling 🚶 on foot?” would you be able to provide an accurate estimate? You could probably give a rough evaluation, but in reality, even after a few days of walking, you wouldn’t be able to give precise details.

2019 has just ended, and we are all filled with the hope that the euphoria of the “Roaring Twenties” will repeat itself in this century as well. There is particular attention in the economic, technological, and scientific fields, but what will happen in the world of work is the subject of numerous discussions and even predictions. Many people are betting that 2020 will be the year that kickstarts the development of remote work, also known as “smartworking”. After reading several articles and discussions on the topic, I decided to write this short summary post. It is not meant to be an explanation of what smartworking is (for that I refer you to the dedicated Wikipedia page), but it does require a few premises: