As business people, we need a constant supply of business ideas and solutions to business problems. But, one pressing business problem is that we don’t always have a lucky spot to think about our business issues. Most blog writers surveyed seem to agree that the office is the wrong place to think. Offices are good for meetings, and getting work done, especially in an environment where you need to watch people. Those who are a little more reliable often get more done working at home. But, where can you go to think clearly?
The answer is that home, home offices, and office-offices are not the best places to think. Those who work from home often claim that they get more work done at home because they are more comfortable and have less disturbances (until their kids come home.) But, coming up with innovative ideas in a place you do busy work just doesn’t usually work.
Some of the most creative geniouses of all time took long walks. Walking is a great way to spend time in nature and think. Spending time walking in the city is not as good a place to think though. You get more oxygen to the brain. In Los Angeles, we have buildings where a lot of creative work gets done. Picking up on that energy does miracles for my personal creative energy. I had a writing block for a week once. I stared at the computer and couldn’t come up with more than two blog ideas after hours. I went to my lucky spot in the media district and came up with twelve ideas in twenty minutes. I often also go to the beach at night and come up with ideas. I even have a pasta spot in the city where for some reason ideas just come to me. That place I can’t figure out, because there are no creative people who go there — at least not to my knowledge unless I’m picking up on the vibes of people who went there in 1968 (the place was open since 1966 by the way.)
Your skill as a business person is not how good you are at doing work, but how good you are at strategizing how to efficiently get projects done and missions accomplished. To do this you need to find ways to think through complicated ideas. Sometimes having the right person or team of people to bounce ideas off helps as much as a lucky spot. But, for me, an hour a week in my lucky spot does miracles.
It’s time that you find your lucky spot. Just don’t steal mine because I need elbow room.