On Location: My Kitchen

If you regularly read my posts, then you know that I often write from "exotic" locations like Barnes and Noble, the Senoia Coffee Shop, and other such places.  Today is no different, as I am here sitting at my newly minted kitchen table I literally just finished.  In those posts, I typically write about how productive you can be getting out of the office, but it would seem as though all I really finish is a cup of coffee and another post!  So let me first mention that in the two hours I have been working at home this morning, much has been accomplished that I have been trying to finalize for some time.  Blogging, while important to me, always takes a back seat to my client's work.  It just so happens that when I'm away from my desk, time magically seems to be on my side.

There is a simple reason why I can get so much done in a different environment.  People actually learn more and focus better when not entirely comfortable.  The level of discomfort can't be huge, but it needs to be enough to let our brains know "hey, something is different.  Better concentrate."  Doing the same thing over and over will lead to laziness, and as the phrase goes, insanity is expecting the same results.  So when you feel a rut coming on, stretch your legs or stay at home for a few hours and feel the rejuvenation come over you.

Being a former educator and musician, I am familiar with this technique.  f you keep students slightly off balance, theyI will stay on their toes.  Even changing from block to 8-period days has some effect on students initially because the style of teaching must be different.  Once the brain knows what is coming, it stops paying attention and you lose sharpness.  If you apply a proper stimulus, like the crowd at a coffee shop or my little girl's toys (which are currently in full noise-making effect), you can focus better because the brain knows to provide more energy to the task at hand.

Miles Davis, known for putting together some of the best small jazz ensembles in history, knew the importance of pushing his musicians.  He understood that if his players were comfortable, they would play the same stuff they were known for, but if uncomfortable, they would create sounds that none had heard before.  While others, such as Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, made names for themselves as performers, Miles was making everyone around him great, too.  And by making his musicians great, he too excelled in ways not possible without the

I am not comparing myself to great educators of the free world, but the concept is dead on.  When I work from a place that's not my office, I get more done in a small period of time.  This doesn't last very long, of course, because the new eventually becomes the old if you keep doing it.  Sure, if I work from my kitchen table every day, I will eventually stop working in favor of play time with my daughter or a walk with the dogs.  But every now and then, a little change makes a big difference.

JD

John D. Duncan is president of J.D. Duncan, PC, founding partner of Prater, Duncan & Craig, LLC in Newnan, Georgia, and is Esquire by Day.  You can find him at www.jdduncanlaw.com, or follow him on twitter and Facebook.