You don’t hear people talk much about what makes a good physical environment for doing business. And I mean everything from the chair you sit in to the lighting over your desk. I think it also includes things like the stapler you use and whether or not you have photos of the family.
I posted a couple of posts on the subject over on the BizLinkBlog. Kevin Kelly had great post on how to create marker boards walls and Mike at Rohndesign talks about his obsession with pens (the comments show it isn’t just him).
So here is the potential meme:
Describe your office however you like. What the room like? What furniture do you have? What is sitting on your desk? What works and what doesn’t. I think we take for granted this space that we spend alot of time in.
Here is my shot at it:
I work out of my house. My office is on the first floor of our home. It has a large window looking out onto the front yard. The opposite wall has a built-in bookcase nearly full (big surprise). The carpet is the same beige as most of the house and the walls are white. The final object of note is the large orange recliner in the corner where my black lab sleeps most of the day.
We have three tables that make up the work surfaces in the room. There is one in the middle of the room that I work from. It is covered with galleys, audiobooks (I just got a huge box from Random House), and magazines. The space left is just enough for my Powerbook and wireless mouse. I know I need to get a handle on the clutter.
The other two tables sit behind me in an L-shape. They hold three printers, the old PC, and more books, magazines and bills. I am thinking about removing two tables from the room because they pretty much act as clutter accumulators.
Outside of stamps and envelopes, I don’t use much else. I keep a pen and notebook handy for taking notes on calls and keeps to-dos, but I am inconsistent with their use. The next personal book I am going to read is Getting Things Done. Too many people are talking about it to not check it out and try it out.
What is your space like?
Todd,
I take exception to your comment, but only because I come from the Office Furniture industry, where all we talk about are good physical environments for doing business.
While I have not yet completed my ideal office, I have a file folder full of ideas of what I want to do. The office will include an Aeron chair, mobile desking and pedestal filing. Whiteboard walls, windows and indirect lighting.
Once I buy a home and set up my office, I’ll post some pictures!