My career as an office worker has been a constant battle to find a way to be comfortable in my workspace. I have memories of fighting with the adjustments of office chairs and trying to recline with my keyboard in my lap and feet on my desk when the boss wasn’t looking. Even supposedly ergonomically correct desk setups were bothersome. For me, desks (pods especially) and office chairs just suck.
At my previous corporate gig I would often forgo my office and take my laptop to the downstairs lounge (sometimes with members of my team in tow) and spend the morning or afternoon working in a club chairs. This had the added benefit of letting me concentrate on my work instead of being yanked into pointless impromptu meetings. Since joining my current startup I’ve spent my work days between my own office at a local coworking facility and the handful of coffee shops I frequent. In my office I have a nice, semi-reclined chair to sit in and an ottoman to kick my feet up on, and a lapdesk for my laptop. The coffee shops have some nice chairs and one has a sofa. Its been great! Once I’ve settled into a chair, and pop in my earbuds I just fall into the zone and get stuff done. No time is wasted fighting a chair and desk that just don’t suit me.
I’ve realized the environment in which I am most comfortable and most productive is a cushioned chair facing an open space, not an upright office chair at a desk facing a wall. I have to assume that this true for many and it leaves me wondering why the corporate office scene has been so slow (to even start) to clue in.
My startup just acquired its own office space and I’ve decided to try to furnish it to match the places I’ve been most comfortable working of the past couple of years. No desk. No office chair. Maybe a conference table in the corner, but my workspace will be a chair I can melt into, facing the center of the room, and something to kick my feet up on.
The moral of this story is: you can (and should) be comfortable while you’re productive.
