Experiments at work: Going out of your way to have a good day

The unnecessary commute?

It’s a Friday morning in September and I’m on the 07:53 train to London. A number of my fellow commuters look out as the sun streams over the Essex marshlands, others have tired heads bent over phones.

I’m guessing that a large proportion of this carriage would rather be WFH today. Home has been mostly my office for over twenty years. Today I’m heading in to the capital with no real reason, apart from the fact I want to work out of a different space today.

I’m continuing my experiments in ‘how’ I work with a return to Second Home, a stunning coworking and office space off London’s Brick Lane. I worked there six years ago when I collaborated on a project with my friends at Rooster Punk. It was hands-down one of the best spaces I’ve had the pleasure of working in. So I’ve invested in some day passes; I want to see whether it’s worth the investment in time and money. In other words, is it worth going out of my way to have a good day?

Light and open

If you aren’t familiar with Second Home, there are several sites in London, one in Lisbon and another in Hollywood. Designed by José Selgas and Lucía Cano of the Spanish architectural firm SelgasCano, the Hanbury Street space offers a large common area for solo workers as well as smaller studios for teams and startups across four floors.

I’m drawn to the natural light which floods through the internal glass walls, and the greenery - plants are everywhere. The glass walls also lend a sense of openness to the space - which I find appealing. Like walking past houses or apartments at dusk, it’s reassuring seeing fellow humans going about their daily tasks.

‘How are you?’

I haven’t worked full time out of an office building since 1999 so those workday sights and sounds perhaps many take for granted - people arriving with their Pret breakfast, greeting each other, waiting by the lifts - is a novelty.

I’ve taken up a position at a large table in what’s billed the ‘tranquil roaming members’ workspace.’ From my seat I can see - and hear - the comings and goings. I feel a bit like an excited puppy eager not to miss what’s going on. The vast glass curved walls, giving me a good view.

There’s a sunglass-wearer carrying his Brompton bike; someone wanders through with a tangle of cables; a team stride by holding open laptops, clearly on a mission. Best of all, there’s a real life sausage dog trotting after its mum.

I’m happily distracted by the conversations: people asking about holidays; or just asking, how are you? Where others may find small talk boring, I realise that I miss people asking how I am!

Time to work

Okay the distraction-factor is high here. But then, it’s not an average office. It’s stunning. And its unfamiliarity makes it feel like a real treat to be here - like a mate has snuck you into an airline’s first class lounge.

Getting down to work, I’d planned ahead to ensure I had no calls or meetings until later in the day. So once I’d started ignoring dogs and chatter, it left me to focus on planning an upcoming workshop. Fortuitously on walking back from the loo I spotted some coloured card by the photocopier. I took a couple of sheets back to my desk and mapped out the workshop’s format for my upcoming workshop. Working with paper and Sharpie, away from my screen, really got the ideas flowing.

Just as productive, but more joy!

At 3pm I headed off to meet a client. I felt I’d had a productive six hours. On reflection, I’m not sure I got more done than if I’d stayed at home. But the joy of being in an unfamiliar - and visually stimulating and buzzy environment - did give me a spring in my step. It put me in a positive mindset, and provided some breakthroughs that might not have happened WFH.

What's more, even though I spent the day beavering away by myself I still felt like I was part of something bigger. With the people and the energy of the space, I felt I was somewhere that was at the heart of the action. And that rubbed off on me.

I like to experiment with creative habits to shake things up. And working out of Second Home was definitely a shaker!

I could have opted for the easy route, and defaulted to the usual. It would have been more straightforward to work at home. But sometimes, when you go out of your way to have a good day, you really reap the benefits.