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Why You Can’t Work at Work

This is a video with Jason Friedman from 37 Signals, the guys that make Basecamp and give us some kick ass advices on webdevelopment, management and productivity with book “REWORK” wich I read a few weeks ago and loved it.
I just had to share this video because I relate with some things Jason says and I’m sure everybody does too.

Taken from here

Sometimes I have this same problem. I have a weird work schedule, with school taking my mornings and then work in the afternoons and nights. Sometimes I miss a few classes and work a full day, when I have a big project or a tight deadline, and in those days I have to shut down and just concentrate on my work, and I feel so frustraded because it does not goes as planned. Either it’s a long lunch or people constantly interrupting, I just feel feel I can’t just shut down and work effectively for 4 hours in a row. And sometimes it’s just me, because there are so many things happening at the office that I just have to look around, go eat something, browse, look, talk, whatever. Distracctions pull me towards them.

On those 4/5/6 hours that I spend there I can honestly say I produce about 60% of that time. I have to do the rest at home, at night when silence is king (well when the cats are sleeping too).

But then, I like my workplace, the environment, the people, the location itself, it’s just that whenever I really need to focus I have trouble doing so there.

One location that allows me to do so is the school Library. There’s an aisle where people are supposed to be studiyng and completely silent, and that’s where sometimes I work. I have fast wi-fi, bathroom, a very nice view from the window and widespace, and no one, absolutely no one bothers me. So once in a while, when things get complicated, every other week I work an afternoon at school, and it just feels great and boosts my wellness and productivity.

Why does it affect my wellness? Well, on that day I don’t have to worry about missing the last class and speed drive to my house, eat fast and hope I get the bus on time to Lisbon. I avoid that stress and focus on my work.
As I put in my last post, stress sometimes comes in, and not being able to be productive stresses me even more. And the fact that you change your work place gives you a sense of freedom and out of routine.
I cannot work on the road as a freelance traveller, but I can emulate that feeling in one afternoon.
Not everyone has that chance. I have a laptop and sincronze my work files with dropbox with my office desktop, and that way I can work anywere.

Offcourse I can’t do this all the time, but it reealy boosts up my moral, my wellness and affects my work in a very positive way.

Gladly at work I don’t feel like there’s a formal and strict hierarchy where the bossman just orders you and you feel like a handyman. Everybody pitches ideas, aks for others to contribute, I get people to praise my work, say I can improve It, or that teach me new things (my lovely programmers), and that is great.