In a Stimulating Environment
23 May
Once in a while I usually find myself in a discussion about productivity. The topics covered so far is broad and it is everything from that nifty python script to what kind of programming fuel you should take. Another not so uncommon discussion is about work environment.
First, let me give you a quick description of the facilities we have at the IT-university which I must say are very pleasant. The university is located in the midst of numerous respectful IT-companies (such as Ericsson, Sigma, and Findwise to name a few). Nearby are also several upper secondary schools where I think Ester Mossesson’s gymnasium is the most visited one by university students as they have a bakery with awesome “fika.” University staff, students and faculty is housed more specifically in renovated buildings originally used for building ships and today owned by Chalmers and part of Lindholmen Campus.
Cafées are perfect for reading and writing blogposts
What about the inside then? In the case of the Software Engineering and Management programme all bachelor students are found at the top floor. Each year has their own “square” and a number of group rooms to go with them. We have our own kitchen with plenty of microwave ovens for everyone and not that many forks (I’ll give you the fork-story another day). Due to the “square” idea students work in an open environment with plenty of possibilities to exchange wild ideas.
Obviously, working in open environments have both its advantages and disadvantages. It is amazing how quick ideas are shared, spread and elaborated upon when so many active brains are in the same square! Lately, however, I’ve found myself distracted by the working atmosphere all too often. It is not so much about lack of productivity, more so it is my creativity which is hampered. And for those of you who didn’t know already, programming is a lot about creativity. Thus, in my case when creativity is inflicted upon my productivity level decrease.
So I started a social experiment with myself and investigated areas where I can place my self in a “creative mode”. It turns out that environment is closely linked with what tasks at hand. Here is a list of a few tasks that I commonly do these days:
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Managing my mailbox: train or bus (I’m not used to my current mail load so it tends to get messy once in a while)
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Writing blog posts: café or other public space
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Updating the project’s Software Design Description: kitchen table
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Programming: Norton’s coffee corner (a corner of our square)
So, the open environment, the square; what happened to that? If found it to be a corner stone in my day-to-day communication. An equally important but perhaps less obvious task which doesn’t always come for free.
I wonder what it would have been like without our squares? Do have other examples of communication squares?
Tags: environment, fuel, productivity, work-space
I really like the idea to have different areas for different tasks, it certainly helps you get into the right focus quicker. i try to do that when i study at home, to only use my desk for studying, however i often find myself sitting in the couch after a while.
@tuss, my only recommendation is to think about what makes you move to the sofa? Is there something there that’s more interesting? Of course there are other elements than the environment that affects the productivity. Let’s keep the social experiments going!
I’m looking forward to the “fork-story”. I have worked here since the beginning of April and every lunch I wonder where the forks are?
@Linda, happy to hear that!
I’ll try to give that sometime in the coming weeks.
Most of the times its really hard to isolate and being only your self when u are in Square. Whatever archie thanks for writing. As always ur writing is exciting and should be write more frequently.
It’s interesting how big the impact of your environment is. I wonder if ther’s a difference due to the change of weather as well? You should study this during the summer and see what happens when you work outside the uni, or even outside as in “outdoors” (or maybe you shouldn’t work at all and realax for a bit)
@Niv, thanks for your comment! I agree, sometimes it is difficult to concentrate in the square, this is one of the reasons I found it to be my main area for communication. I can focus on the people, see them interact and be a part of the communication. We’ll see if I increase the regularity now when the project is over.
@Cia, I’ll try to keep this in mind and maybe do a follow-up post in august or so. If all goes well, I’m taking a summer course in communication design, and should have plenty of opportunities to find the best place when the weather is awesome.
@Niv, as a former student of ITU I have but one recommendation if you are confined to the square, but have your task before you and all you need is the solitude to get on with it: Headphones and music. Perhaps not so loud that you can’t hear people in your immediate vicinity, but enough to take the edge off all the other “noise”.