Some time ago, this was my office. One blessing of my own business is the freedom to work…well, just about anywhere. I enjoy various locations and coffee shops and sometimes being in the presence of people, while at others working alone in my home office. So here are some thoughts I had the day I worked at Aloft Greenville, during the cooler winter month.)
Sitting up here, I have a different perspective of a familiar location in our city…a plaza outside of a pretty new building called “One.” Most of the time I see that from street level. But being “Aloft,” I can notice a few more things.
In our professional life, we can easily get stuck in a rut and start seeing things only from one familiar perspective. Maybe we should take a differenct look at the things that can overwhelm us? Let's do that, and tie in the idea of ONE:
People: are you getting tired of working with certain people? A variety of people are passing by the plaza below, although it’s still on the cool side here so it’s not as full as it would be. It's almost lunch hour and I bet it will change! Take a different look at that person you just can’t stand. Can you find ONE thing that you have in common with them? Maybe you both have dogs or like coffee or have both worked at your organization more than 10 years. I dare you to start a conversation over something you have in common.
Workload: I’ve seen workers pulling a tree for landscaping, pushing a trash bucket, and making a delivery. Others are having coffee or clicking away on computers. Everyone probably feels overwhelmed with their workload from time to time. So what ONE task today do you really enjoy? Even if you have a lot of it to do, what about it do you enjoy? Concentrate on the joy.
Environment: as I sit here, while I love the uniqueness of the view, it’s not an ideal environment for working very long. Music is playing that isn’t my first choice for work. An outdoor fireplace is running, but it’s just a bit too far from a table to feel its warmth. The sky is both blue and cloudy, and the wind is active, but the sun can’t seem to stay out. But I am determined to embrace this environment today. I’m getting over being sick for a week and wanted to be out in fresh air. And you know what? I did some client work, I started this blog post, and I handled a business call, even though the environment wasn’t perfect. What ONE way can you be more productive today even though your work environment may not be perfect?
You see, it’s up to US to change our perspective. Sometimes it means we venture to a different location to do some work, or strike up an unexpected conversation. What ONE thing will you do today to make it better?
As for me, I packed up to go to someplace warmer for a lunch meeting.
