The Importance Of The Work Space.

I'm a big believer that the space in which you work makes a significant impact on facilitating what you can get done. 

At a previous job, I was tucked away into an office with no inward-facing windows ("fish bowl style") in which my team could visually connect with me. I did have a window facing Second Avenue at 41st Street (Manhattan). But I always left my door open when I could, just so my team could pop in as they needed. But since I tend to have lot of meetings, we had to result to instant messages and knocking on the door to see if I was available.

Not ideal, at all.

On top of that, because it was a claustrophobic space I was in, I tended to take my laptop and sit out in the public areas when I wasn't in a closed-door meeting. Or I'd be up walking around, connecting with my team. 

I guess you could say I am a very connected leader. Or try to be. And we were in a very stale and miserable space. The fact that I had so little attrition on my team while I was there speaks to the environment the team and I created... Because as anyone who works at a digital agency knows, it's tough to keep people long when they have multiple recruiters chasing them and when you have a horrible space in which to work.

GO US!

Anyway... Seeing as I work from 75% of the time now, and I know I've posted about this recently, I've set up a very bright, open and slightly glamorous space in which to work.

Flowers... Scented candle... Coffee... Lots of natural light streaming in (which is probably the most important part)... And two Macbooks.

Why two?

One is my work one... Which I can't get into yet, as it is locked with the previous person's password. And the other is my personal one, which is what I've been using mostly. Despite the locked work one, I will still have two Macs going at one time. It's just how I work. Multiple screens at one time.

So far, this set up has made me more efficient than I typically am. If I could show you my work calendar from last week - where in I tracked every single thing I did at every single moment - it would blow your mind. Extreme efficiency and accounting.

If I ever get the chance to open an office here in California, I want it to all be open-concept. No offices. Lots of long tables for desks... Absolutely no cubicles walls of any kind. Natural light galore.

And coffee. Tons and tons and tons and tons of awesome coffee.