Ideas Inside the Box

I have often wondered what it would be like to actually work at a desk with walls around it. The gray, gloomy partitions of my cubicle are not an ideal working environment. With constant distractions, there have been so many times that I find myself tuning into the white noise around me and forgetting where I was in a thought or a task. Who knows what brilliant ideas I could come up with if I had a quiet and private workspace?

And I’m not the only one. According to a recent study, 81 percent of people had their best ideas outside of the office. Top places for idea generation? The car, in bed and socializing. Six percent of us have our best ideas in the bathroom.

So why don’t our ideas come to us while we’re in the office? While I don’t think cubicles should take all the blame, this innovative, space-saving seating arrangement has a lot to do with it. Lets face it -- cubicles carry noise rather than confine it, coworkers are more apt to come up to you if you sit in a cubicle than in an office with an actual door, and it’s difficult to organize your work when you only get a few small drawers and a file cabinet. It’s hard to believe we get as much accomplished as we do.

How do we solve the lack of concentration we experience in our cubes? Should we all start taking hourly breaks in our cars? While hanging out in the parking lot might not be the solution, it is important to take breaks away from our usual work area. Sometimes, going to get a glass of water is exactly what I need to help my brain reset and gain back the ability to concentrate. Using headphones (even if there is no music playing) can help block out some of the noise, or find a quiet common area in your building in which you can work. Here at Monster, we have a few nooks where you can sneak away and find serenity for at least a few moments.

Here’s a few tips to make your cube life better and help you think outside of your partitioned box.

Share this post: Digg, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, etc.