3 Areas of Work
(3 Min Read) Subconscious productive hack when working from home
When working in the office, we have three separate areas where we do our work.
Area 1: Assigned cubicle/desk
Area 2: Meetings/conference rooms
Area 3: Relaxation/break room.
There were minor exceptions and overlaps, such as hallway conversations falling in areas two or three. Dedicated work pods could be any of the three areas depending on how it's being used.
In-office, these three areas do not always have physical walls separating them but they are different physical locations. To move to a different area, we have to move to a different location physically. Moreover, each area is designed to enhance that area's goal.
Assigned cubicles/desks are individualized to enhance individuals' focus.
Meeting areas/rooms chairs face each other, a presentation monitor is in the center, and wall insulation prevents echo. The goal is to enhance communication and collaboration.
Relaxation/break areas have open food supplies, small desks to sit and chat, light music, etc. The goal is to take a break and reset.
By design, physically different areas in the office allow people to operate effectively by moving to that area. Our brains subconsciously switch focus to the work type to matches the area goal.
With the switch to remote work or WFH, the separation between all three areas has vanished, and our brains struggle to make the switch.
At home, we have a single work area used for meetings, work, and breaks. For a few, their workroom is also their bedroom. That's a worst-case scenario because now the brain has a hard time switching between work and sleep.
We already see the long-term effects of the lack of separation on people's health. No wonder people are burning out at such a high rate.
At home, a single work area makes it impossible for our brain to switch between the various work types we do throughout the day.
If we use the same area for taking meetings, doing focus work, and relaxing, how can our brain figure out what we plan to do when we are at our work area? What should it do first? We have to make conscious decisions to do the specific type of work compared to subconscious effort in the office.
If we want to simulate the subconscious focus change when WFH or remotely, we must create three separate work areas at home. They don't have to be big spaces, but they have to be three physically separated locations.
My 3 area setup for Home
I have one area as a workroom dedicated to meetings only. In my current role as a people manager, I have a lot of meetings. A full room dedicated to meetings seems logical to me and I have optimized the room for the same. The work desk has multiple monitors, a whiteboard, a standing desk, a ring light, a webcam, a trashcan, and a small plant.
The focus area is a small corner in a different room. That room doubles up as a kids' play area when they are at home. The focus area is a single small desk bench just big enough for a laptop—no monitor, keyboard, or mouse.
The rest of the house is a relaxation/break area.
If you are an individual contributor with fewer meetings, having a dedicated room optimized for focus work may be a better choice along with a small corner in a different room for meetings. Just be careful not to use the same focus room for relaxation-related activities like playing games or watching movies. And here’s why.
For this three-area setup to be effective, avoid overlapping the work between them i.e. don't work in the meeting area and don't bring meetings to the focus room. The same goes for relax/break area. Doing so over time will make it hard for the brain to do the subconscious switches.
I have been using this system with a combination of Eisenhower 2x2 Metrics and creating focus work blocks on the calendar for a while now. This combination works for and I have seen significant gains in my productivity at home.
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