Creating a space to do this work

Here's where we do creative work. Here's where we assess the quality of our products. Here's where I do my workouts. Here's where I do deep work. Here's where we do "this" work.

In this article I talk about creating a space to do "this" work.

Assigning a physical (or virtual) place to certain work is a powerful environmental affordance technique that helps to remove obstacles and restrictions to doing certain work or activities.

I implement this idea in my personal life as well as work.

Every team I manage, or lead, has a place for important work. In my own life, I have places for my own important work and activities too. By associating a space with certain work, you are creating a psychological and physical connection to getting important things done.

Even in our remote world, it's entirely possible to carve out a virtual space for "this" work.

Let's bring this to life.

When I was Vice President in a company a few years back, we commandeered a room that was only to be used for creative problem solving. Any team, or person, could use the room but only for that singular purpose.

No team meetings, no remote calls, no sales calls, no HR personnel meetings, no deep work - just creative problem solving.

Over time people added "creative" decorations and functional pieces to the room. More whiteboards appeared, a constant supply of sticky notes and stationery appeared too. Inspiring quotes, mood lighting, analogue work spaces, material to build prototypes with were stored in the room too. A calming ambience ensued. It became the place to do creative problem solving.

In another company, we created a space that was purely for learning. Comfy furniture, a bookshelf packed full of the latest books, mood lighting and plenty of paper to capture notes. Again, this space was only to be used for learning.

In my own studio I have a space for consulting and coaching work.

Next to that I have a space for my digital work like writing books, editing videos and recording podcasts.

Next to that is a space for music and reading, and just staring out of the window (I do a lot of that). A comfy chair gives me a space to relax.

Next to that is a small space for analogue work and art. No tech, just a space with stationery and paper for creating. I can use the type-writer or create art here, or create my learning notes.

And finally, next to that there is a space for recording my YouTube videos.

You may not have a studio or garden office, but you can assign spaces for certain types of work. Most people have dedicated rooms for work, family, sleep, laundry, cooking etc. Many people section up their gardens for eating, resting, plants etc. It's the same idea; a place dedicated for some activity.

By having a dedicated space for "this" work, you are priming yourself to do that work in that space. You tend to remove anything from the space that does not contribute to the activity, or could distract you.

It's called environmental affordance, and it's about hacking your environment to drive better habits.

"When I am here, I do this work".

It's a powerful technique to get stuff done, to stay fit, to relax, to create.

When everyone went remote, I used the same idea and created a dedicated meeting time, with a dedicated digital Mural board, to get "this" work done virtually. It's not quite the same, but it worked well.

It's why time blocking is so effective. You are carving out time for nothing else but "this" activity - work, hobbies, fitness, activity or leisure time. This is the same idea but you are now adding in a space in which to do that activity.

It doesn't have to be a large space at all - just somewhere to do certain work. By keeping a space, no matter how small, for just certain types of work, you are changing your environment to support getting that work or activity done.

It's no different to getting out your gym shoes the night before - a habit that reduces the friction to get things done.

It's also worth considering the natural elements in this space, and whether or not this space is conducive to getting things done. Remove anything that is a distraction. Remove anything that could prevent you from getting your activity done.

Sleep specialists recommend removing TVs, phones and light sources from your bedroom - this is the same idea - create a space, that is suitable and useful, to getting an activity done.

Create a space, no matter how tiny, that allows you to say "When I'm here, I do this work". It's a powerful idea to play with.