Summer's here. Unmistakeable British Summer. Glorious sunshine punctuated by sudden showers. Although we have been spoiled lately with a few days of unbroken sun rays. If UK weather was more reliable we could book our holidays with confidence but as luck would have it, I recently spent ten days with my partner and kids in a caravan in the Lake District in the pouring rain. As we arrived back all damp and soggy, the skies cleared and on my return to work a few days ago, unbridled sunshine. Thank you, Mother Nature, is this revenge for all that hairspray I used in the 80s? Hey, the A-ha look was in, I had to maintain that quiff somehow.
So I find myself in an office looking out at a world bathed in a glorious golden glow. Teasing me through the window like a hooker in Amsterdam. Then I think, hang on a minute, you're a grown up, you can work outside if you want to. Long gone are the days of school when you had to endure hours of algebra with Mrs Bullock in a stifling portacabin. If you want to work outside you can. But is it that easy?
We are so conditioned from that early age that work happens in a room behind a desk. At school, it was a necessity as you had to be in proximity of your teacher but maturity awards you personal freedom yet you do still have restrictions of another nature. We still need to be plugged into our phones, internet connections and electricity supplies yet technology has moved us on, we are no longer disabled by cables, the world has become truly mobile. So why do we still spend so much time at our desks? Do we need to still be in a classroom environment to be productive? To test this, I am going to continue this blog outside...
Firstly, it's lovely to be outside, if all I wanted to do was watch the world go by with a Strawberry Mivvi, I would be sorted but I need to work. Seating is at a minimum and it's all taken, I'm not the only one who has decided to enjoy the sunshine. I have already tried to work perched on steps and crossed-legged on the grass and it ain't working. I just can't get comfortable with my laptop. Two nuns vacate a bench and I head over, I set myself up but it gets uncomfortable quickly, the heat of my laptop is burning my thighs more than the midday sun. I relocate to a picnic table but am soon joined by Japanese tourists who ask me to Google opening times of the Science Museum and directions to Buck House. My head is also a target for an errant frisbee and a Spaniel cocks its leg on my briefcase. This wasn't the idyllic notion I had imagined. It's not the environment, it's just the practicality. Then I get an idea...
Somebody should create a pop-up office in the park. A designated area for the professional who feels trapped in their office. Every park should have one, I notice that more and more parks have gyms now, so the knuckleheads are catered for. What about the people that can read? Can't we have desks in the park so we can exercise our thought and creativity? The council would make a killing if they charged by the hour. The ice cream hut could do a sideline in Post-its and pencil sharpeners. You could hold meetings there, how much fun would it be to have your ten-thirty brainstorm in Kensington Gardens? You gain more freedom outside, the person sniffing at the next desk doesn't irritate you so much. If you want to make a private phone call you can just keep walking - no restricting four walls here. You can take your shoes off and feel the grass beneath your feet. How relaxing and inspiring. It's almost perfect, so why aren't more of us doing it?
Truth is, in less than an hour, I need to go back inside. My battery is draining and my 3G keeps failing. Also, I'm a bit ginger, I burn really easily. And I get hay fever. Plus I'm really easily distracted. Ooh, look, a swan…
I've come back inside now, I immediately feel more focussed, I feel security in my landline and more reliable wifi. I also take comfort in the proximity of the toilet and the coffee machine and the front door security system which keeps out the tramps and Japanese tourists. Also seeing other people beavering away is quite contagious. We need a workplace - we need the routine, the camaraderie. After years of schooling and further education, we have become conditioned to concentrate in a classroom environment. The days I go into the office are easily my most productive. We need alternative approaches and varied ways of working but when the deadlines approach and the pressure is on I need to be back in that portacabin. Keep the sun as the incentive. 'When you get all your work done, you can go out and play,' so said Mrs Bullock.
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