Working in Unusual Places
June 17th, 2005 by Steve Pavlina
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I recently read that Malcolm Gladwell wrote most of his book Blink while away from his desk. He wrote at coffee shops, restaurants, and other public places.
I’ve only done a little of this myself, but I’ve always found it a valuable practice. If I feel stuck in a creative rut, working in a public place is a great way to get new ideas flowing.
On Monday I spent most of the day on the Las Vegas Strip (only a 20-minute drive from my house), alternating walking around and stopping at various places to write and/or eat. I didn’t bring my laptop — just a pen and some folded up paper. Mostly I was brainstorming, so as soon as I’d get an idea, I’d stop and sit somewhere and write it down along with any others that came to mind. Usually I could find a good place to sit, like a food court area, but sometimes I’d sit and write at a slot machine. Then I’d get up and start roaming again. I started at the south end of the Strip at the Luxor Hotel and gradually worked my way up to the new Wynn Hotel and then back again. With all the wacky themed hotels, there’s an abundance of visual stimulation — a giant pyramid, a castle, a miniature New York City, the Eiffel Tower, a pirate ship, Roman statues, a volcano… plus lions, tigers, and ferocious flamingos.
I love the vibrancy of the Strip… the ching-ching-ching of the slot machines, the cheers and groans around the craps tables, the unskilled blackjack players who don’t know you should always hit a soft 17, the rowdy college kids, the happy newlyweds and their wedding parties, and of course… the buxom cocktail waitresses who look like they’re about to spill more than a tray of drinks. 
Oddly it’s sometimes easier to concentrate when I’m surrounded by distractions. I think the reason is that I know they’re distractions, so I can tune them out more easily. But in my home office, I’m surrounded by unconscious distractions — the kinds of things that seem important but aren’t. When you go out and leave your computer and internet connection behind, you can’t succumb to routine distractions as easily. If you bring only one kind of work with you, like a pen and paper for brainstorming, you can’t easily kid yourself that you’re working when you aren’t. You can’t simply claim to be working merely because you’re at the office. The line between working and not working becomes much sharper.
Try spending at least a half day away from your usual work environment. Walk around, eat at interesting places, and just sit for a while. Change your scenery often. Bring some simple work where you can carry all the materials in your pocket, like a pen and paper for brainstorming.
If you can’t take the time away from your office to do this, then do it for yourself on one of your days off. Take a list of decisions you need to make, and consider them one by one as you walk. Set some new goals. Write a personal mission statement.
Great ideas don’t always come knocking on your office door. A day outside can help scramble those stale inputs and get your creative juices flowing again.
June 17th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Interesting idea Steve. I can just imagine the pit bosses watching you on hidden camera as you were writing things in front of a slot machine. I picked up a little digital voice recorder a while back that I carry with me in the car. When I get an idea I can record it while I’m driving. It’s a great little tool when pen and paper won’t work. I’m hoping to find some usable voice translation software that might work with it.
I also find that putting a pad of paper and a pen next to the bed work great for those midnight revelations. It’s funny, but some of my best ideas come to me in the middle of the night. If I don’t write them down… they are gone.
June 17th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
Steve–
I posted a similar article about changing one’s environment and how it can boost one’s productivity. Turns out there is a little biology behind it. By the way, congrats on the ToastMasters OpEd piece.
Bert
June 17th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
I find there are two spelling mistakes in steve’s post:
“just a pen and some folded up paper”should be “just a pen and some folded–up paperS”;
“the buxom cocktail waittresses “should be “the buxom cocktail waitresses ”
Are what I’ve corrected right?
June 18th, 2005 at 9:56 am
For those of us who live in paradise (otherwise known as Boulder, CO), I find that going on a hike with some 3×5 cards and a pen (otherwise known as a Hipster PDA) is a great way to get away from the laptop and come up with some fresh ideas.
Walking especially is great for getting new ideas flowing. It gets you moving, but isn’t distracting, letting you enter into a natural Flow state.
June 18th, 2005 at 3:11 pm
Enque: “paper” is both the singular form of a noun meaning “paper sheets” and a more general name for (collections of) paper material. In this case it is used in the latter sense. “some folded-up papers” would be more specific as it would imply the papers being sheets of (writing)paper. In this case, it could mean any kind of paper material. The difference is one of nuance. In general you would use the more general form as used by Steve.
Also, it should be “IS what I’ve corrected right?” since the verb references “what I’ve corrected,” which is singular. Another way to put it is “Are my corrections right?” In this case you should use “are” as it references the plural form “my corrections.”
Anyway, take everything I say with a grain of salt as I’m not a native English speaker; I’m from the Netherlands. The English language as a topic is also probably a bit too off-topic for this blog. I’m starting Mandarin Chinese lessons in September. I understand you are Chinese? Perhaps I can practice what I learn there over e-mail? Contact me via my website if you like.
June 19th, 2005 at 1:03 am
Some of my best ideas have come while doing “non-work” things like showering, driving on the open road or running. Generally I have regarded the best situation for ideas to pop up spontaneously is when I am doing routine things (like those listed above) that do not require too much concentration. If it is possible to promote the flow of these ideas by changing the environment that would be great.
As an aside, here in South Africa if someone referred to “folded up papers” the automatic assumption would be that they were newspapers.
June 19th, 2005 at 3:31 am
Dear Arthur Langereis:
Nice to meet you!
First of all,thank you for pointing out two grammar errors im my post.
I’ve already caught your ideas what you wanted to remind me of:
1)”some folded-up paper” means “any kind of paper material” .
2)At first,I didn’t understand the phrase”there over e-mail” in the last paragraph.so I thought it over and then I came to know that ‘there’ was used as an intensive.
What’s more,I’m really excited and happy to find you’re interested in eastern cultures after reading your post and visiting your website carefully and critically.But it’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t help you provide a complete,efficient,multi-perspective services about eastern cultures,whereby for now I haven’t correctly express what I want in English though I am proficient in Chinese and successfully passed the CET-6(College English Test) which is difficult for most of Chinese mainland graduates to overcome.
What’s fortunate is that I can recommend several extraordinary great Chinese people to you.They not only do well in English and Computer Science but also in the research of traditional eastern cultures (ancient Chinese philosophy,for example).All of them are so enthusiastic that they must be willing to communicate almost a whole range of ideas and thoughts with you,of course,you are also a genius:
1)Dr.kaifulee, corporate vice president of the Natural Interactive Services Division(NISD) at Microsoft Corp., the founder of http://www.kaifulee.com which is created for all of Chinese mainland students who are at sea in regard to personal growth and their studies .please remember that kaifulee@kaifulee.com is his e-mail address.
2)Crest, a senior researcher at the headquarter of Microsoft Corp. and an MVP of the forum of http://www.kaifulee.com.He is proficient not only in all-important Chinese but also in english,which is what I want to make a point of.please remember that cherrycrest@hotmail.com is his e-mail address.
3)屠恩海tuenhai,vice CEO of a network company in Pudong,Shanghai,China.he says “Tuenhai同学对中国传统文化有一定研究，对网络及英语最感兴趣,于哲学最有心得” in the last several lines of his each post.of course,you can contact him via msn:king#tuenhai.com or via his personal website(www.tuenhai.com)if you like.
Sincerely,Thank you for reading my post!
June 19th, 2005 at 9:49 am
Working in other places is sort of like listening to music when you work. You’d think it’d be distracting; who knows, maybe it is. Yet still, you can be extremely effective and get great work done, often better than if you were not “distracted”. Sometimes the mind needs the right kind of “distraction”.
June 19th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
I tried this today, It worked well. I went to the park and worked on some ideas. I even got a bird to eat out of my hand:D
Thanks Steve.
June 25th, 2005 at 11:50 am
i have one of those mp3 portable players..mine comes built in with a mic/voice recoder, as does my phone..i find this an invaluable tool in saving important info