Jonathan Rosenberg called working from home a "malignant, metastasizing cancer". That’s a pretty intense analogy, but for many, the “home office” is a productivity/social death sentence.
This quote applies as much to entrepreneurs and independent professionals as it does to individuals within a large organization like Google. At first, it may seem great- but over time, the social isolation outweighs the joy of working in pajamas. Conversely, the bustle of a vibrant, shared workspace not only promotes productivity, but it also promotes community, and happiness.
Here are several insights that we’ve gleaned over that past year watching/analyzing hundreds of people and companies work at Cross Campus.
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Stay in Motion
What you look at informs how you think. If you’re looking at the same thing every day, you’re probably attacking problems the same way every day while expecting different results. That’s delusional.
So instead, stay in motion. Motion creates opportunity, so keep moving – trying things, socializing with ideas, bumping into people. Change your perspective. Set up in different parts of the workspace. Work standing. Engage someone in a discussion over a bottle of wine.
Co-working is not just for Extroverts
Your ability to make connections with people, communicate ideas, and develop good listening skills are key blocking & tackling skills.
Whether you’re a product manager, developer or in sales, these are skills you build for the long run. Skills that will stay with you past this project or startup. The difference between success and failure.
Need a Productivity/Creativity Boost? - Put your Headphones On
The personal headphone has been more transformative to workspace design than almost any other technology. Research has shown that people across industries are more creative when listening to (the right kind of) background music in comparison with silence.
To that end, design a personalized auditory environment that optimizes your creativity. Think of your day as the score to a film soundtrack that cues creativity, deep thought, ideation and business development (sidenote: tools like Focus@Will are great for concentration).
And as a productivity bonus, headphones are like those green / red gizmos you see at Brazilian steakhouses that tell the server if you want more meat or not. Astute colleagues / coworkers will interpret them as a sign that you are not open to interaction and won’t start a conversation at a time that’s not ideal for you.
Developers can Co-work too
Let’s be honest, developers are unique. It’s common knowledge that a developer has a specific productivity curve. Breaking that curve can be more costly than beneficial.
So, if you’ve got a developer on your team, make sure your workspace comes equipped with areas where interruption can be kept at an absolute minimum.
