Pictures of Monocle’s office that I mentioned previously.

Monocle is moving into a new office space and Tyler Brule describes it. This is pretty ideal to my mind.

A solid red-brick affair (…) At ground level there’s outdoor parking for 15 or so cars (soon to be turned into flower beds and shady reading areas) and plenty of room for a sturdy bicycle garage. Inside there’s a reception area for speed meetings (reserved for people selling printers, water coolers and IT systems) and a suite of radio studios and control rooms. There is also a large room that will function as dining room, speakers’ venue, dancefloor and exhibition space. On one floor will be the editorial offices of Monocle; on the second, the offices of my design agency Winkreative, and on the third will be conference rooms, finance, publishing, PR and my office. Perhaps the best feature of the lot is that all floors have terraces overlooking the park – the one off the first floor is ideal for hosting cocktails for 150 and the upper floors are perfect for a sneaky cigarette, animated phone conversation or grabbing a bit of morning sun.

I’ve been wanting an office lately. Not something in my house, but one where I flip the Open sign each morning. I wasn’t really certain why I had this feeling of wanting an office, but after reading this quote from an article on Nick Denton in the New Yorker — which by the way is pretty interesting if you’re interested in his blog media empire like me – it’s opened my eyes a bit.

If you run it out of your house, then no one expects anything

Yes I’m taking this out of context, but the quote is pretty telling. My initial thought of working out of my house was to keep costs low and to have a work-life of extreme telecommuting. I’m quickly realizing that working out of the house leads to procrastination and doing things less important (if I even do those).

Most of all I’ve realized that working out of the house puts less pressure on me to succeed. I believe that it can lead to excuses and low expectations, and I don’t want that. I want to aim big. So maybe I need to open an office (co-working?) to put the pressure on, establish some accountability and raise expectations.

I agree with Seth Godin on no longer needing an office.

When you need to have a meeting, have a meeting. When you need to collaborate, collaborate. The rest of the time, do the work, wherever you like.

I’d gladly take this contraption as my office. It needs to be in the mountains so I get great views and quiet time to focus.

I’ve had this thought for a while now, and it’s one of the reasons I quit working for “the man”. Who decides that we have to work Monday – Friday, 8 – 5? Why is that selected as the best time for people to work and work effectively? What if I work my best at 5pm? And, what if fluorescent lights and cubicle walls actually limit my production and I’d produce more if I could work outside? Does being cooped up in an office really help us produce/succeed?

Designers thrive on the information available to us through this newly heightened era of connectivity. That said, information is not enough. We need inspiration to continue to stretch and truly reach our creative potential. I don’t believe that inspiration is sufficiently served up in even the most compelling office environments, nor among the most creative cultures. So we need to get out of the office. Design how you’re going to work. Dial it into the rest of your life and vice versa. Be purposeful about what you do, where you are, where you really need to be in order to be happy and productive.

I’ve found where my New York office will be located (on an “as needed basis”), 30 Water Street (via PSFK and UrbanDaddy). In fact, many of you can probably attest to me pulling out my soapbox to wax on my vision for CurrentBlend, which includes a co-op and co-working space. 30 Water Street comes pretty close to nailing what I’ve been thinking.

The CB space would have a coffee shop and co-working environment with a number of other ideas in the hopper depending on the space. Rather than being just a “personal think tank”, I’m looking for a “collaborative think tank” with people of similar goals pooling resources to accomplish these common goals.

More to come, but I’m looking for cities, buildings, ideas and people who may have an interest, so please contact me to help me get the idea hashed out.

Just the other day (when I still had a job), I spent 8 hours staring at my computer trying to get something done. I had zero motivation to do it (worst part was it was something for me personally, not the place I worked for). I just couldn’t do it. When I got home that evening, I sat on the couch and hammered the task out in 30 minutes. The New York Times explored this a bit (I may be reaching for the connection, but it brought my situation to mind).

Desks suffice for answering phones and filing forms, but when it comes to the creative or introspective aspects of a job, desks can be uninspiring at best, or formidable obstacles at worst.

Also mentioned in the article is “hot desking“, a concept I quite like.

I’m in the process of thinking out my own personal (soon-to-be) workspace in a room at home. I found this feature of Frank Muytjens, J.Crew’s VP of men’s design, workspace and liked the idea behind the inspirational boards.

so we came up with these movable mood boards, they’re 7 feet high and have heavy duty caster wheels so I can move them around easily. They serve as our seasonal inspiration boards. I need to see what I have in front of me, if I don’t I forget I have it… it doesn’t work when I have everything filed in folders. The boards are a constant work in progress.