In

Procrastination
Nation
Why some of us literally
can’t even!—!and how we
can overcome it.

pg.
1
 0 0 1

Contents
p. 4-7 p. 8-15 p. 16-21

Executive Introduction Closing the

Summary Procrastination
Gap

2 3 4
p. 22-29 p. 30-35 p. 36-47

Finding the The The 5 Steps

Flow Fundamentals of GTD
of Getting
Things Done

5 0
p. 48-51 p. 52-57

Make it Keywords
Happen & Sources
Executive
Summary
1
Everyone procrastinates
sometimes, but not ev-
eryone’s a procrastinator.
What separates the do-
ers from the do-it-laters?
2
Recent research suggests
procrastination is most
often used to cope with
feelings of anxiety and
inadequacy. The good
3
Chronic procrastinators
frequently overestimate
challenges and underes-
timate their skills. The
way around this? Starting
4
Breaking down work into
clear next steps helps to
maintain focus by elimi-
nating mental distractions.
We’ve got a checklist to get
Perception. In order to news? There are tools to with small tasks can ease you there.
change habits, we have to help combat these nega-
self-consciousness and
change the way we view tive vibes.
build momentum into a
an issue.
state of flow.

pg. pg.
6 7
Introduction
“Who can even form a conception
of it to be put in words?
Yet what do we mention more
often or familiarly in our
conversation than time?”— Saint Augustine, 400 A.D.

pg. pg.
10 11
 In ancient Greece, the concept of time was
expressed with two different terms: chronos,
—0
the quantifiable measurement of time, how
Introduction
long something lasted or will take; and kairos,
Delayed
Thinkers the most opportune moment, the right time.
Through
History

In extolling the importance of kairos, orator

1
Closing the
and overall big-thinker Isocrates wrote that
Procrastination
Gap educated people are those “who manage well
the circumstances which they encounter day
2 by day, and who possess a judgment which is
Finding the Flow

How Disruptive
accurate in meeting occasions as they arise and
Workspaces
Break the Flow
rarely misses the expedient course of action.”

3 To Isocrates, there must be no greater fool

The Fundamentals
of Getting Things than the procrastinator. Yet it’s a foolishness
Done

How Allen
that everyone has embraced at some point
Became a Time
Management
when we simply just don’t feel like it.
Guru

Anywhere from 15% to 25% of adults don’t

4
The 5 Steps of GTD feel like it almost all the time. These chronic
Capture procrastinators struggle to accomplish both
Clarify
minor and major tasks, opting to do any-
Organize
thing — and often nothing — in their place.
Reflect

Engage
As a chronic procrastinator myself, it’s a
5
struggle I’m intimately familiar with.
Make it Happen
When I was first asked to write a piece on

pg. pg.
12 13
time management, I internally shrieked. I INSERT

wrote much of the first draft in single-sen-

tence bouts, only to recede into the comfort
of distraction the moment punctuation hit
Delayed The spectre of procrastination funds if he didn’t hurry up and
has haunted many creative finish it.
(and seemingly productive)
the page. Writing about it made me feel an-
xious, and a bit like a fraud.
Thinkers minds throughout history. Even the Dalai Lama was a pro-
lific procrastinator in his youth.

Through
Margaret Atwood says she “Only in the face of a difficult
would “spend the morning challenge or an urgent dead-
And that’s exactly the problem. Modern re- procrastinating and worrying, line would I study and work
search refutes assumptions that procrastina- History then plunge into the manu-
script in a frenzy of anxiety
without laziness.” But as you
might expect from one of the
tors are lazy, apathetic or unmotivated; around 3:00 p.m. when it world’s most introspective spi-
rather, the root causes lay in our emotions looked as though I might ritual leaders, he’s tackled those
not get anything done.” To issues head-on and has advice
and how we perceive the work we must do. date, Atwood has published for those looking to do the
60 books. same: “Since the illusion of per-
In this paper, we’ll explore the reasons behind manence fosters procrastina-
Douglas Adams, author of tion, it is crucial to reflect
why we delay doing what matters, and prac- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Gal- repeatedly on the fact that
tical steps we can take to focus on getting axy, once pushed his editors death could come at any time.
to lock him away in a hotel […] Make preparations so that
things done.
room for three weeks in order even if you die tonight, you
to complete a manuscript. would have no regrets.”
Brad Tiller, Copywriter & Researcher
In his later days, Leonardo da Yikes. OK, we’ll try.
Vinci lamented (perhaps with
a tinge of sarcasm) “never hav-
ing completed a single work.”
Though not totally true, com-
pleting the Mona Lisa took him
TOC 16 years, and The Last Supper
TI

TIC was so behind schedule that

C TO C

TI C
C
TO

da Vinci’s client, the Duke of

C

TOC TIC
TI

Milan, threatened to cut off

pg. pg.
14 15
Closing the
Procrastination
Gap
0
Introduction

Delayed

—1
Thinkers
Through
History

—1
Closing the
Closing the
Procrastination

Procrastination Gap
Gap

2
Finding the Flow

How Disruptive
Workspaces

Scientists and scholars have

Break the Flow

The prevailing theory on why people procrastinate used

3 to be that we place greater emphasis on events in the
been studying procrastination
The Fundamentals
of Getting Things present rather than in the future — that is, a failure of
Done
time management. The thinking went that procrastinators
for as long as we’ve been
How Allen
Became a Time
Management
place more value on the present and short-term rewards,
Guru
with important tasks and long-term rewards only become

4
putting off the critical for the relevant closer to the impending deadline.

frivolous!—!basically, forever.
The 5 Steps of GTD

Capture

But it’s taken till the 21st

Clarify

Organize

Reflect

Engage
century to understand the role
5
Make it Happen emotion plays in why we delay.

pg. pg.
18 19
—1 INSERT
Closing the Procrastination Gap

iProcrastinate:
“Living in the now” would be an extremely But when we fail to fulfill our responsibilities,
Understanding the emotional nature of pro-
charitable way of describing it. And it would we suffer the consequences of both not ha-
crastination is key to making improvements,
ignore that those struggling with chronic ving completed our work (which means we
A Podcast on
and explains why typical time management
procrastination largely feel that they cannot have to do more work picking up the pieces),
advice — Block out your calendar! Work in 20-
control their urge to do so. and the negative emotions that come with
minute bursts! Just do it! — so often fails.

“I think the basic notion of procrastination

that failure.

Joseph Ferrari, a professor at DePaul Univer-

Procrastination
as self-regulation failure is pretty clear,” Ruminating over these feelings of guilt and
sity who organized the 10 th Procrastination
Dr. Tim Pychyl, one of the world’s leading shame only increases our anxiety, and along
Research Conference, says “[Procrastination] If you’re looking for more advice and
experts and researchers on procrastina- with it, the compulsion to distract ourselves.
really has nothing to do with time manage- support on dealing with procrastina-
tion, told Psychological Science, “You know Research by Pychyl and others illustrates this
ment. As I tell people, to tell the chronic pro- tion, look no further than Pychyl’s own
what you ought to do and you’re not able loop of guilt-fueled paralysis: students who
crastinator to just do it would be like saying iProcrastinate podcast.
to bring yourself to do it. It’s that gap be- failed to prepare for an exam (i.e. procrasti-
to a clinically depressed person, cheer up.”
tween intention and action.” nated) and reported that they disliked or cri-
Featuring authors and experts in the
ticized themselves for this behavior were less
So how do we get things done when we field (and appropriately irregular in its
Research increasingly points toward the issue likely to study for the next exam. However,
don’t feel like doing anything? broadcasting), iProcrastinate explores
being not one of time management, but one students that acknowledged procrastination
the struggles that chronic procrastina-
of emotional regulation. “When we face nega- as self-harming and forgave themselves for
tors deal with and research that teaches
tive emotions like frustration, resentment, it were more likely to study next time.
us how to overcome them.
boredom or anxiety that are associated with
a task, we procrastinate on the task in order “Forgiveness allows the individual to move
to regulate our emotions,” Pychyl wrote on past their maladaptive behavior and focus [...]
Psychology Today. without the burden of past acts,” the study’s
authors wrote. Not only does self-forgiveness
We may find a task extremely displeasurable allow us to continue with our work without
to perform, or doubt our ability to perform obsessing over mistakes, it reduces the nega-
that task so much that complete inaction feels tive feelings we’re trying to ignore by distrac-
preferable to failing. And so we sacrifice our ting ourselves in the first place.
long-term well-being in favor of distractions
that relieve those negative feelings.

pg. pg.
20 21
Finding the
Flow
0
Introduction

Delayed

—2
Thinkers
Through
History

1
Closing the
Finding the Flow
Procrastination
Gap

—2

Your thoughts are racing

Finding the Flow
The secret is flow: a psychological state in which, essen-
How Disruptive
Workspaces tially, work comes easily. We become so absorbed in the
between the five things you
Break the Flow
task at hand that engaging with that task feels frictionless.
We subconsciously push out distractions, time passes
need to do, the 847 things you’d
3
The Fundamentals
of Getting Things quickly, and perhaps most importantly, we feel in control
Done
of the situation.
How Allen
Became a Time
Management
rather be doing, and the endless
Guru

4
deluge of information coming
in from bosses, colleagues,
The 5 Steps of GTD

Capture

and various internet tubes.

Clarify

Organize

How does anyone focus?

Reflect

Engage

5
Make it Happen

pg. pg.
24 25
—2
Finding the Flow

For procrastinators, however, this state can Pychyl suggests, “just get started, and make
feel nearly impossible to reach. In fact, it’s the threshold for getting started quite low…
something we’re most likely to have experien- a real mood boost comes from doing what
ced when we’re so self-motivated and person- we intend to do.” Breaking tasks down to their
ally invested in a task that we can’t help but most granular elements and picking them off
let it consume us. one-by-one helps to build motivation and
confidence in our abilities, and most impor-
A 2005 study by Eunju Lee at Halla University tantly, helps instill a sense of control.
in South Korea examined the link between
flow and procrastination and found that stu- So then the question becomes, how to build
dents who identified as procrastinators were that sense of control?
less likely to experience flow while learning.
Flow requires a loss of self-consciousness and
a sense of clear goals that the procrastinators
didn’t have.

Lee noted that the procrastinators were likely

to overestimate the challenge of a task rela-
tive to their skills (i.e. they didn’t think they
could do it), and were “more likely to be con-
cerned with what others may have been
thinking of them, how they were presenting
themselves, and their performance during the
learning process.”

Knowing how debilitating negative emotions

can be on the constant procrastinator, it’s no
surprise that these students weren’t able to
perform to their abilities. The good news? It’s
possible to reduce self-consciousness by set-
ting and achieving clearer goals — it simply
requires reframing the perspective from fini-
shing work to starting it.

pg. pg.
26 27
The
Fundamentals
of Getting
Things Done
 “If you had two more
0
Introduction

Delayed

—3
Thinkers
Through

hours a day, you’d just

History

1
Closing the
The Fundamentals of
fill it up with two
Procrastination

Getting Things Done

Gap

more hours of feeling

Finding the Flow

How Disruptive
Workspaces

There are many schools of

Break the Flow

overwhelming stress
—3

thought on time management

The Fundamentals
of Getting Things
Done

but few address the fact that

and confusion.
How Allen
Became a Time
Management
Guru

we know what we need to do,

Time is not going to
4

yet struggle to act. One popular

The 5 Steps of GTD

Capture

method addresses both the

Clarify

solve that!—!what you

Organize

Reflect

Engage
emotional and practical
5
Make it Happen barriers that hold us back. need is space.” — David Allen, author
of Getting Things Done:
The Art of Stress-Free
Productivity

pg. pg.
32 33
—4
The Fundamentals of Getting Things Done

INSERT

In a 2007 study, researchers Francis Heylighen and Clément

Vidal discovered that Getting Things Done (or GTD for short),
How Allen Born in 1945, in Louisiana,
Allen’s origins are somewhat
There he worked numerous
odd-jobs (landscaper, vitamin

Became
a time management methodology created by David Allen, unexpected for a pragmatic distributor, glass-blowing lathe
was effective in getting people closer to the state of flow productivity guru. An early operator, travel agent, gas sta-
and control. By clarifying thoughts and putting them into fascination with Zen Buddhism tion manager, U-Haul dealer,
clear actions, this particular method let people take control
of information overload and focus on the task at hand.
a Time and other esoteric ideologies
continued into college, where
moped salesman, and restau-
rant cook) until Sri John-Roger

Though commonly billed as a time management system, the

Manage- he studied philosophy and in-
tellectual history.
founded Insight Training
Seminars and brought Allen

ment Guru
time discussed in Allen’s book is more of the kairos sort of on board.
“opportune” time. He later enrolled in a master’s
program at the University of What began as a series of per-
Allen’s methodology is unique in that it’s designed with the California. But his early years sonal growth workshops evol-
understanding that our biggest barrier to productivity is not in the State were rough, his ved to into workshops for the
a lack of time nor our inability to manage it, but our fear and academic career was derailed workplace, that brought new-
hesitation in dealing with our work. It’s not about allocating and he found himself home- age thinking to corporate
and spending time in quantity, but about capturing informa- less and broke. It’s a time in boardrooms. Allen’s big break
tion and acting on it when it’s most opportune. his life that Allen describes as came when an executive at
“absolutely at the bottom phy- Lockheed Martin, after seeing
Isocrates would be proud. sically, emotionally, mentally a seminar of Allen’s at a hotel,
and spiritually.” asked him to prepare an in-
house version for his company.
After recovering, he used his Allen eschewed the more tou-
skills as a black belt karate in- chy feely parts in favour of
structor to earn money. It was practical knowledge gleaned
during this time he encountered from his personal experiences.
new-age spiritual teacher Sri The event was a huge success,
John-Roger — late founder of and laid the groundwork for
the controversial Movement what would become Allen’s
of Spiritual Awareness — and Getting Things Done empire.
moved to Los Angeles.

pg. pg.
34 35
The 5 Steps
of GTD
0
Introduction

Delayed

— 4
Thinkers
Through
History

1
Closing the
The 5 Steps of GTD
Procrastination
Gap

2
Finding the Flow

How Disruptive
Workspaces
Break the Flow

3
The Fundamentals
of Getting Things
Done
1. Capture 2. Clarify 3. Organize 4. Reflect 5. Engage
How Allen
Became a Time
Management Collect all information Decide how to take Organize next steps into Regularly review and Do the work at the
Guru
that’s relevant in an action on that infor- relevant categories. revise your in-basket right time.
in-basket. mation, or if not to. and action items.
—4
The 5 Steps of GTD

Capture

Clarify

Organize

Reflect

Engage

5
Make it Happen

pg. pg.
38 39
—4
The Five Steps of GTD

1. Capture 2. Clarify

The first step to Getting Things Done is them to recall all the important facts when In another of Pychyl’s studies, students were ture scenarios — of the thing not being done
capturing the stuff. For now, the stuff is they are needed.” paged multiple times throughout the day with totally perfectly, and all the negative conse-
anything on your mind: emails you’ve questions on what they were doing, if they quences if it’s not.” Anxiety can cause us to
received, projects that have been assi- This process is doubly important for chronic were putting something off that they should perceive our work as overly daunting; clearly
gned to you, an article that inspired you, procrastinators, because they’re present-bi- be doing, and how stressed they were. mapping out what we need to do next re-
or a kernel of an idea. ased, placing greater weight on present mo- minds us that the reality is rarely as insur-
ments and de-emphasizing future outcomes When students engaged with the task they mountable as we think.
This collection of stuff is your in-basket, and and consequences. They’re more likely to de- were delaying, their perception of how stress-
can take the form of a list, a pile of post-its, lay writing things down or setting reminders, ful or difficult the task was to complete de- GTD is designed to cut through those phan-
an actual basket, or whatever else works only to end up losing those thoughts to the creased significantly, repudiating their initial toms by breaking down ideas — the stuff you
for you. tides of distraction. fears. For anyone who’s suffered chronic pro- captured — into their most granular next
crastination, this story likely sounds familiar. actions, making it easier to get started. But
What’s important is to get everything out PRO TIP: Does most of your in- first we need to determine whether the stuff
of your brain — where it can stress you out coming work end up in your email Allen is keenly aware of how we psych our- is actionable.
or be forgotten — and onto the page. Hey- inbox anyway? Consider using that selves out with “phantoms of negative fu-
lighen and Vidal’s paper refers to this as as your in-basket, and sorting your
externalizing memory, and notes that “the emails into folders or tags depend-
limitations of both working and long-term ing on the actions required.
memory are such that you cannot rely on IS THE STUFF ACTIONABLE? IS THERE A CLEAR NEXT STEP?

YES NO

If it will take If it will take

If it will take
longer but longer and
less than two Incubate it: Reference it: Trash it:
someone else you’re the best
minutes:
can handle it: person to do it:

Do it right away. Delegate it to them. Add it as a task. Save it until it’s If you might need to Get rid of it to focus
(Feel free to write developed enough consult it later but on things that you
it down and cross it to actually take don’t need to do can actually do.
out anyway, just for action. (Are you anything right now,
the satisfaction sure you can’t think save it.
of it.) of next steps to
develop it further?)

pg. pg.
40 41
—4
The Five Steps of GTD

INSERT

Struggling to break the stuff down into

next actions?
The Two Minute Rule
On
Jiri Novotny, creator of the Swift to-do list In describing GTD’s two minute rule, Allen Delegation:
application, uses the process of clarifying explains that if “an action can be done in two
the steps needed to complete a task to trick minutes, you should do it right then. It’ll take President Dwight D. Eisenhow- Obviously not everyone has Not only is delegation critical
himself into getting work done: “I tell myself longer to organize it and review it than it er famously said, “I have two someone to delegate tasks to building trust and confi-
that I will merely write down the steps need- would to actually finish it the first time you kinds of problems, the urgent to. But if you do, you might dence in teams, it’s a way to
ed to complete the task. Just a rough draft, notice it.” and the important. What is not be taking advantage of free up your mental space and
at first, and that’s it. Maybe just three steps. important is seldom urgent that as much as you should. focus on high-impact work that
I then add more steps, breaking the three For example: an email comes in and you see and what is urgent is seldom Researchers at Stanford Uni- you could be doing instead.
steps into smaller sub-tasks. I then add some it immediately. You already know how you important.” versity identified the two key
details, and thoughts, notes of things that I want to reply. Rather than file it as an action reasons why managers strug- “If you asked most manag-
shouldn’t forget when doing this task. I think item, simply get it out of the way. The energy And thus, the Eisenhower Box gle to delegate: ers how they spent their day,
the task through & write everything down.” expended on managing the task would be was born. The box is a method they are not going to be able
greater than just completing it now. of prioritization based on a 1. Observers perceive work to recall it accurately,” says
task’s importance and urgen- done under the control of a Jeffrey Pfeffer, an author of
Pro tip: Quick tasks like these also cy — and crucially, how to supervisor as better than if the study and professor at
serve to help fill the dead time handle tasks where our involve- the work was done with less Stanford University’s Gradu-
between other obligations — say, ment isn’t really that crucial: supervision. ate School of Business.
the few minutes before a meet-
ing — that we might be most tempt- 2. Managers tend to evaluate “You’re likely to find that a lot
Important & Important but
ed to spend unwisely. urgent: not urgent: work more highly the more of time is spent on low-lever-
involved they are in its pro- age activities that can be
Do it now. Schedule when
you’ll do it. duction. (Whether you’re the delegated.”
manager or the managed,
Unimportant Not important you’re likely nodding your
but urgent: nor urgent:
head in agreement to this
Delegate it to Don’t do it. one—but for completely dif-
someone else.
ferent reasons.)

pg. pg.
42 43
—4
The Five Steps of GTD

3. Organize 4. Reflect

Another way in which GTD breaks from tradi- Context-switching is the ultimate flow-killer; Continuing to capture new information and
tional time management methods is that you end up wasting time and energy refo- turning it into next actions is crucial for the
instead of completing tasks in order of pri- cusing between incomplete tasks, it’s the method to work. But perhaps more importan-
ority, you complete tasks most suited to the perfect moment for distractions to seep in. tly, it will help keep you motivated.
context that you’re in. Accomplishing as much as you can in one
context (ideally at least one complete task) When describing the importance of an in-
So, if you have a ton of emails to send or calls before moving on to another saves time and depth weekly review of your in-basket and
to make, group all of those items together in leads to more thoughtful work. next actions, researchers noted that “It is
a list of… Emails to Send and Calls to Make. essential to get an overview of what has to
If you have to complete multiple tasks as part Pro-tip: Remember that the GTD be done in the coming period, and thus get
of a single project, group those tasks togeth- method isn’t meant to replace the feeling of being in control. [...] A regular
er into a project plan. project management tools; instead, review is important in order to develop and
the goal is to outline the immediate maintain genuine trust in your system.”
Tackling similar tasks together will make it next actions so that you can tackle
easier to stay focused. If you know you need them when you’re ready.
to make multiple consecutive phone calls,
you’re more likely to create an environment —
both physically and in your head — where you
can do so without being distracted.

pg. pg.
44 45
—4
The Five Steps of GTD

5. Engage

This is the part where you actually do all ing work for when you have the energy to do Conclusion: Wielding the Tools
the work. Before picking a next action to it. Overextending yourself can make tasks Much of the advice surrounding time mana- will come with completing it and never having
get started on, here are four things you seem more difficult than they are and stop gement and productivity focuses on the tools to worry about it again. Odds are the task
should consider: you from giving it your all. we use to accomplish it — finding the very isn’t as tough as you think.
best to-do app, or the most stylish method of
Pro-tip: Energy isn’t the same as writing a bulleted list into a notebook. (And Nobody becomes a master overnight. It re-
Context: motivation. If you have the energy hey, the bullet journal is pretty cool.) It’s easy quires picking up our tools and honoring our
Where are you right now and what resources but just don’t feel like doing it, try to fall down the life-hacking rabbit hole, and work — and ourselves — whenever we can.
do you have access to? If you’re in a loud or getting started with something it can be pretty fun, too.
chaotic environment, you might struggle to small you can cross off your list.
complete work that demands intense focus. But a tool’s just a tool; it takes will to wield
If you need to finalize budgets for the next Priorities: and use it to build something. One of GTD’s
quarter, you probably don’t want to do it on Respecting the restraints of your time and en- virtues is that it can be practiced using pretty
your phone on the subway during rush hour. ergy, which action should you perform next? much whatever tools you want, so if you have
Ultimately, the work you decide to do, should a favourite to-do list app, go for it. If you love
fit the context you’re in. When you finish a task, cross it off your list, to write a list in six different pen colors,
reassess your time and energy and decide have fun! Allen himself prefers to scribble an
Time Available: what to tackle next. If there’s nothing else idea onto a single sheet of paper and throw
How much time between now and your next on your list, it’s time to capture more stuff. it into an actual basket. The tools you choose
commitment? If you’ve only got 30 minutes are basically irrelevant, what matters is that
between meetings, focus on a task you can you do it.
complete in that small window. If your sched-
ule is wide open, make progress on some- And if you don’t for a day, or two, or even
thing big. longer than that — it’s OK. Restart from step
one and clear your thoughts. Complete a few
Energy Available: easy tasks and start building momentum. If
Select tasks that suit your current level of you can’t get excited about doing something,
physical and mental energy. Save demand- try to get excited about the huge relief that

pg. pg.
46 47
 —5
0
Introduction

Delayed Thinkers

Make it Happen
Through History

1
Closing the
Procrastination

A GTD checklist to help

Gap
Moving past procrastination isn’t easy but every
problem has a solution. Breaking tasks down to their
you get started.
2
Finding the Flow most basic steps is the best way to get started. And
How Disruptive
Workspaces
from there, you can focus on doing your very best work.
Break the Flow

3
The
Fundamentals of
Getting Things
Done

How Allen Capture Clarify Organize Reflect Engage

Became a Time
Management
Guru
Add anything you might Go through your in-basket Group tasks by context Review your in-basket to When deciding which task to
need to act on to your and decide what information (e.g. writing, calling) or by clarify new information daily, work on, ask yourself:
4
in-basket (this can be list, is actionable. project, so that they’re easily and thoroughly review your • What work best
The 5 Steps of GTD
a folder or anything else). accessible when the opportu- tasks weekly. suits the context I’m
Capture
Do this whenever new Actionable: nity to work on them arises. in right now?
Clarify
information comes in. Add it as a task, delegate
Organize • How much time and
it to someone else, or do it
energy do I have to
Reflect immediately (if it takes less
spend?
Engage than 2 minutes).
• What’s the highest
Not Actionable: priority?
— 5
Make it Happen
File it as reference, delete it,
or incubate the idea until
it’s actionable.

pg. pg.
50 51
INSERT

How Seventy per cent of all offices now have an open floor plan, with
the goal of fostering greater collaboration. But are they really
to access distraction-free workspace of any size, with each
space equipped for everything from one-on-one meetings to

Disruptive
doing the job? A review of over a hundred studies by organiza- team offsites and creative kickoffs.
tional psychologist Matthew Davis found that open-plan offices
are consistently linked to lower levels of concentration, motiva- Other options include working from home or joining your fellow
Workspaces tion, job satisfaction and creativity — and an increase in stress. digital nomads at the coffee shop. Coffee shop hustle and bus-
tle might not be for everyone but studies show that the ambient

Break the While open offices enable spontaneous communication, those

conversations are often distractions from what we’re trying to
noise can be good for creativity, and seeing other people wor-
king hard motivates us to do the same. Whatever you do, be sure

Flow
accomplish in the moment. The cost of losing focus compounds: to find the right space to do your best work.
once distracted, we tend to take 25 minutes to get back to our
original task, and usually shift our focus to at least two other
tasks in the meantime.

If you already struggle to stay focused and motivated, these

factors are sure to make it even tougher to achieve that ever-
elusive state of flow. Research by workspace furnisher Haworth
suggests a way forward. Instead of trying to force all work to fit
the same physical context, workers should be given more control
over where they work, with a variety of workspaces available de-
pending on the task at hand, with areas for both individual and
collaborative work that are clearly separated. There should also
be space to rest and recharge after extended periods of focused
work. Think of a lounge, for example, or the ping pong table
that’s become synonymous with startup offices.

Teams who work in space-constrained workspaces should con-

sider leveraging space outside the office. Breather makes it easy

pg. pg.
28 29
—0
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