To Study, Perchance to Dream?

I was reading in my den a few nights ago and realized I had stacks of papers, articles, books and magazines lying in a semi-circle around my chair.  Looking around, I noticed that I had two “current reading” folders of things printed off the Web (I still like to read off paper) brought down from my upstairs office.

And these weren’t just the typical current reading one usually has lying around the favorite chair – some of them were more than three months old.  I realized this when my wife hinted rather subtly that perhaps it was time to shorten the stacks, or better yet, move them to the upstairs office – something about dusting and vacuuming being hindered by the piles (now no longer “stacks”).

I thought I should go upstairs and make room before I started the heavy lifting (yep, there was that much).  To my surprise, I had no reading of any kind on my desk, only client, project and other files I was working on.  Even I could see that something’s going on here I hadn’t thought about before.

The only office “stack” was a set of files ready to go back into the filing cabinet.  I didn’t think much more about this until I was talking to my friend and collaborative partner Steve Barth one day while he was in the middle of renovating his office, and the idea of “study” vs. “office” hit me.

When I mentioned to Steve I thought it a good idea to have both, Steve asked me to talk more about it, and I riffed on about it for a while.  Stave has promised me that if I post these basic thoughts, he has some things to say over on Reflexions about this, and some links to some good articles he has found.  I think he’ll have some insights about personal knowledge management, cognition and virtual spaces related to this too, so here we go…

I don’t know about you, but without realizing it I have created two very distinct places to do two (well, maybe three) distinct processes: 1. Output and 2. Input and synthesis. (I really don’t like using terms like Output and Input when talking about human processes, but I think it gets the point across better here.)

I’ve come to realize that I can’t use the same space for all three as each require a different organization, arrangement, tools and yes, ambiance.

The office is set up for business output and deliverables, whether by phone, email, documents like reports and letters, etc.  It’s where things get done.  The “study” (ok, den) is for input (reading and some telephone conversations) and synthesis (note taking, outlining, diagramming, first drafts and just good old thinking).  It’s where I make sense about things and create new things.

The study doesn’t have a computer, I don’t carry my laptop around so no email or instant messages (no smart cell phone for me yet).  I also noticed the chair in the office is not nearly as comfortable as the one in the study/den.

Thinking back to my time in large companies, I remember that on many occasions I saw colleagues in conference and meeting rooms reading, writing in long hand or just sitting there with a cup of coffee thinking.  Only those with offices large enough to have a separate sitting area didn’t do this.  I noticed they almost always went over to that area when they wanted to read and think, even if just doodling on a notepad – but even they used the other rooms too.

I also noticed they sought each other out when they wanted to talk over something new, or test some idea – they never used email or text for that, it was always face to face – and they always gathered in a space other than their office to do it.

When we went back to the desk, it was all about getting something done.  In the other places, we wanted to make sense of things, to understand them, to develop our ideas and options – only then did we go back to the “office” and do something.

There was something about getting “out of the office” that puts our minds in a different gear, allowing us to process differently.  I think the processes we use in each space or different too.

We have known for a long time just how space and the environment it contains facilitates knowledge creation and other human processes, yet organizations continue to put people in 6x6 cubicles and expect them to be productive as knowledge workers.  But for those of us who have the opportunity, there is no reason to set our own workspaces up that way.  Note I said “work spaces” and not “work places” – two different concepts.

How have you created your spaces at home or at the “workplace” – did you do the same thing I did?  Have you thought about it?  Have you been able to do both in a single space?

While we’re at it, virtual workspaces should work the same way.  If you look at the way you have organized your computer, the applications you use and the way the files are organized, I’ll bet you have separated the “study” from the “office”.  And I bet your computer or virtual workspace looks a lot like your physical workspace.

So, I think I’ll set up a room down the hall just as a library/study room (I can always put a sofa-couch in there so I don’t lose a guest room - the grandkids won’t mind).

Then I can get away from the office when I need time to absorb, think, make sense of things and generate new ideas and projects.  Then I’ll go over to the office and do something about them...

Comments

[Doooh_Head]

Hi Richard

I'm in agreement with what you say for the most part but there are times when you need to perform the different tasks (getting work done, thinking, etc) all at once or all for one purpose and separating out those tasks into individual time allotments (ie times when you're only doing one of them at a time), are not always possible.

I do agree that it seems that working at different locations (for me, at work, or at home - out on the deck, etc) seems to dictate the type of work that inevitably gets done. So it seems that I have noticed the affects of what you describe but I have never entertained the idea of doing different "tasks" in those different environments nor have I actually kept track of what environment actually is better for what task.

I would imagine if a person has their "way of working" broken down into the various "ways" that they operate and that the current tasks at hand enable them to work in that way then perhaps as you describe makes total sense. For the typical person, I'll bet that they haven't really put that much thought into how they work nor what environment suites them to perform any particular task (myself a case in point). Now I say this with the utmost respect, it seems that coming to such conclusions might only be attained by someone of an older persuasion who after years and years of working in their various environments, doing the varying tasks at hand (and keeping track of all of the situations, etc) to be in a position to: 1) Breakdown their work habits in such a way; 2)have had access to a variety of work environments; 3)Been at the level in Mazlow's pyramid to facilitate, or entertain such ideas. I beleive this is where you are (in Mazlows Hierarchy) and I, being at the bottom of that pyramid can only look up at you and hope that some day I'll be there.

Perhaps I should find a nice cozy spot somewhere, NOT here at work, to go back and think about this. Too many interruptions here. LOL

John Bowman
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