Space to Think

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RE:WORDED
This is where we get to write all the stuff our clients don’t let us write.
You could say it’s our place to blow off a bit of steam — and drop the occasional F-bomb.

Space to Think

Office Space and ProductivityIf you’ve ever been to our office, the first thing that jumps out at you is the 28-foot ceiling height. This differs sharply from our last office where the ceilings were a paltry nine feet.

Now, you might say, “Well, come on, does this really matter? You’re staring at a screen.”

It matters.

Because, as human beings, we’re affected by our space even if we think we’re not. To validate this, we spoke to occupational therapist April Lebovsky.

Us: So, really, can the amount of space in a room affect creativity?

AL: Absolutely. Think about how your heart rate increases when you feel constricted, be it in a small plane, among a crowd of people or in your dreams if you have that “stuck in a coffin” nightmare. That constriction carries over to your active mind; the part that helps you create. Constricted body leads to constricted mind leads to constricted thoughts — which is the enemy of creativity.

Us: And so a large space has the opposite effect?

AL: For sure. When your mind feels like it has more space to breathe, it can take deeper breaths. And a deep-breathing mind is the one that generates the best ideas. It’s free and unencumbered.

Us: That’s all fine and good, but do you have any evidence of this?

AL: I do, actually. Last year, we studied how space affects productivity. We gave 100 test subjects in the same building the same right-brained task to complete, but we put 50 of them in tiny offices with low ceilings and no windows, and the other 50 in a large atrium. Then we got the two groups to share their ideas with the other. The atrium group did their tasks faster. Their ideas were more well-received by the tiny office group than the latter’s ideas were received. We ran the experiment four times and the results were consistent.

Us: So what advice would you give people who actually have to work in small spaces?

AL: Get out of there as much as you can. Give your mind the room it needs to stretch its arms.

How Can We Help You?

If it’s on the list, we can do it. If it’s not on the list, we can probably still do it. Either way, let’s talk.

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