This timeless post was from 2010 long before so many people had to work from home. It just might be more relevant now for so many newly exposed to a changed work environment.
I've always had a passion for studying space and it's psychological affect on us, how it serves (or limits) our marketing, and thus our ability to make money. The simple answer: Solvature Ambulando, explained below.
WHY IS OUR MARKETING AFFECTED BY OUR ENVIRONMENT?
While some people can work in a tiny cave surrounded with piles of paper, the rest of us get heart palpitations working like that. A professional organizer once told me those 'messy people' are the visual workers who feel that if their papers are out of sight, they're out of mind.
Then, there are others of us who need a pristine workplace just to think clearly. Maybe it's because we like to free our mind to float into creative tangents so need our space organized to keep us, well, grounded.
PRODUCTIVITY AT WORK
In fact, the study of architecture is about environment and space, and it's psychological affect on humans. Gothic cathedrals, for example, were designed to have darkness on the ground floor and light spilling in from the clerestory windows high above to pull your attention and 'elevate your thinking' towards the heavens.
When I moved my office under a 30 foot cathedral ceiling, my own productivity and business growth increased almost 30%. I remember feeling that I had more capacity to expand personnel, services and clientele to my business. No 12 foot ceiling limited my bigger picture thinking.
AN ARCHITECT'S EXPERIENCE
I interviewed Suzan Swabacker, an architect formerly with Aurora Designs about this who further explained that in workplace environments older workers generally like their privacy rather than cubicles where someone is watching over their shoulder. Countering that, younger workers seek fun at work. Think: Google or Pixar's game rooms, or Clif Bar's climbing walls.
Perhaps it's building fun into their work so it's a place where employees want to stay, or maybe the comraderie-building aspect of having games-at-work, but whatever the reason, that's what forward-thinking architects are noticing when it comes to peak productivity.
A FEW TIPS FOR A PRODUCTIVITY-ENHANCING SPACE
When people are in an environment conducive to productivity, they can accomplish and earn more. Simple.
I noticed long ago that a home office was a far more productive place for me than a sterile, cat-free space. I can work at 3am or 9am, depending on when I'm most productive. I get more done when not spending hours on office politics. I light cinnamon incense when I need an energy boost. My friend Pat Sullivan, of Visionary Resources taught me to build a shrine on my desk to remind me of my deeper values at work.
AN EASY ANSWER
The penultimate productive environment is outside when you're moving. In corporate settings, this is referred to as "blue sky thinking".
I created my guided business consulting "Walks With Bliss" to help clients propel themselves to shift gears and open to new possibilities that we create in the walks: New branding, new or refined markets, visioning passive income items, or solving internal human or infrastructure issues.
"Solvature Ambulando" means "It's solved by walking"! It's the common link of genius shared by Thoreau, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Rimbaud, Kant, and Rousseau.
Contact us to schedule Walks with Bliss and experience the environment and our creative business consultation guide you to new results!
415-806-5600.
We too, have ritual space on our desks and also in the office. personally I like to mix a bit of whimsy (magic) with motivation. I keep a 1 million dollar bill stuck next to my screen, maybe I should just go ahead and spend it 😉
When I’m on set providing wardrobe services, I take a fuzzy rug for the wardrobe area. Harkens back to rock N roll days, when the band set up on a Persian carpet. This gives a center to the space, makes the talent feel safe and cared for; and my assistant a place to regroup, focus.
For me it’s all about returning to MY center, catching my breath.