Have you tried an unconventional workspace yet?

My workspace early this morning

Here’s a sampling of some unconventional spaces I’ve worked from in recent years:

— By a  mountain stream in Colorado
— In hotel rooms
— At a diner/cafe/restaurant/eatery
— In my van
— Poolside
— In an airplane
— At the library
— On a hammock
— In the lobby of a building
— In friends’ homes
— At the beach
— In an art studio
     (this one’s not really fair; I own an art gallery)
     (and I’m married to an artist; we share a creative studio 🙂
— At roadside rest areas around the nation
— Next to a waterfall
— On a picnic table in a park at the edge of Ojai, California
— On the grounds of a Unity Church in Austin, Texas
— In casual outdoor seating at a local yoga center
— In a food court at the mall
— In the bathtub (best for idea generation)
— In the backyard under sheltering trees

In a recent post Cal Newport describes the power of the outdoor office . . . specifically how a jaunt into the woods with his notebook and a cup of coffee opened up new pathways in his thinking on a vexing problem.

It’s empowering to work and think from a new space. Something about freeing yourself from your normal work confines liberates your mind too.

It’s energizing too.

I think it has as much to do with movement as it does with a novel location. Our bodies love motion. And oh baby, our brains love the biochemicals our bodies pour forth when in action mode.

You’d be surprised how much new and focused energy comes to the fore when you dig in to work elsewhere . . . any elsewhere you choose.

For you —

Evan Griffith
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Click here for (occasional) notes at the intersection of creativity and spirit. Once a month, maybe.