You’ve heard a lot of industry wisdom on how a good work environment can benefit your overall performance. However, in some cases, you still need to switch up amazing work environments to benefit your overall creative performance. Great work environments can apply to conventional offices, home offices, and even more avant-garde ideas like coworking spaces.
No matter how great, any space can have drawbacks, especially for marketing executives, CEO’s, and sales directors. Being tied to the same environment for too long can make it hard to get the inspiration you need to create new ideas. Here’s a look at some of the reasons why a new creative space is so valuable and how you can get started.
Why Do You Need A New Creative Space?
The chances are that creating an office space that you like requires little creativity. But after you take those initial steps to make sure that the workspace is simply functional, you start expecting more. What are some of the things that cause the most problems in traditional workspaces?
Distractions: This is probably the biggest issue that many strategy and marketing executives have to deal with right now. Brainstorming and developing new ideas requires focus, and that can be hard to do when something is continuously taking your attention. For home offices, many workers may be sharing their home with family, and small children, which means there are constant demands for your attention, pulling you away from your work. However, other office arrangements have the same problem. Coworking spaces and open concept corporate offices also mean you are near other workers or departments that can be distracting. Studies show that those in creative roles are also more likely to be distracted, making this even harder for employees focused on marketing, outreach, and strategy.
Dull environments: The fact is that most bland workspaces and cubicle environments are built for function, not form. For expressive employees and their roles, this can be a tall order to deal with daily. After all, most creative employees work best in environments that allow them to express themselves, whether through putting up a mood board, adding decorations, or other similar actions. Finding a balance between expressing themselves in an environment and committing to a universal conduct code can be hard.
Diversity/exposure: This may sound a little esoteric, but hear things out. New experiences constantly stimulate the creative process. If you go to a conference and see an industry professional talk about an idea, you may think of a way to implement it. Sometimes, inspiration comes out of something even less formal, like a trip or an errand. Emulating that process when you’re stuck in the same environment with the same stimuli day after day can have diminishing returns. Some offices implement programs to help with this, but it’s unlikely that a general approach here will work for every employee.
Combine all these factors, and it’s easy to see how your typical office isn’t really conducive to the creative process. You aren’t getting the flow of new ideas and input that supports creativity, and all the while, outside distractions are robbing you of your focus. Spread this to an entire team of marketing or strategy executives, and you may see less and less original or inspired ideas. Having an uninspiring environment doesn’t mean it’s impossible to be creative and successful, though you may need to change things up.
Ideas To Switch Up Your Work Environment
At this point, let’s say that you’ve decided to commit to switching things up and getting away from typical workplace distractions. What options are on the table?
Outdoors: The nice thing about working outdoors is that you have a lot of versatility over where you can work. You can go to a local park, work in your backyard, or even work in one of the outdoor areas of your office complex/courtyard if this is available. Working outdoors is great because you’re instantly removed from common workplace distractions, while exposed to a whole new set of stimuli. Best of all, even two outdoor settings can have two entirely different vibes, meaning you can keep using this as a new work location.
Home offices: We mentioned that home offices could be a distracting environment. However, this doesn’t apply to everyone. Many people who strictly have to work from their office may want to try putting together a telecommuting arrangement with their employer to stimulate new ideas.
Library: Libraries, by nature, are quiet spaces, meaning that the number of distractions that you’ll come across is minimal. At the same time, you’re surrounded by different books, periodicals, and other materials, which you can take a quick skim across if you need inspiration in a pinch. Many libraries also have machines like copiers and computers available should you need them as a part of your work.
Coffee shop/eatery: For some people, a little bit of healthy ambient noise is just what they need to get into a creative headspace. These options are some of the best fits for that. You can set up at a table and be relatively isolated, while still having the hustle and bustle of passerby conversation to get your creative juices flowing. You can also grab yourself a drink or snack without having to skip a beat with your work.
Working vacation: This may seem like a bit of a novel concept, but it’s not bad. With telecommuting being more feasible as technology grows, many people are opting to get their traveling in without completely unplugging from work. With the new stimuli and inspiration that you get from traveling, this is certainly a great match for the creative mind. For those who don’t want to interrupt their vacation with work, it may be good to schedule some traveling/time off before starting on a major project.
However, all of these ideas can be easier said than done, and you may need help finding an ideal environment. At Glint, we’ve built a new creative format for our clients to use in exactly these circumstances, literally. 
What does this entail? Since our business owns a creative workspace, we supply it to our clients so they can work out of it for free. All you need to do is reach out to us to ensure that the space is available for the date you need. We can move the glintster team to work remotely, so the entire space is yours, freeing you from outside distractions. Of course, we’re also happy to join you if you want our inspirations and thought during your meeting.
What do you get out of working in our space? For one, we’ve designed our workplace to have several meeting spaces, formal and informal, with presentation capabilities throughout the office. As a design agency, there is also an extensive amount of unique design throughout, not to mention a fully stocked “wow” fridge and bar. Any of our clients, just like our team, can use these features to get in the proper headspace for brainstorming and creative thought.
If you want more details about this service, shoot us an email at agency@glintadv.com or call us at (817) 616-0320.
