Originally published in The Drum Magazine
With the world still working from home, in late 2020 I decided it would be a smart idea to renovate our offices. This was, in part, a good idea, however, rather obviously in hindsight meant my ‘office’ became somewhat of a building site…
Over the last 2 months my place of work has been a dusty, half-built shell with cables and carpet in random areas, not somewhere one would immediately imagine creativity or growth to stem from. Thankfully however, as I write this, I sit in a padded room with foam floor to ceiling and no it’s not a jail, it’s our new podcast studio and I can tell you for free, it’s a far better than the building site!
As content becomes ever more abundant and our client base grows, as a business we’re expanding rapidly. Part of this expansion has meant investing in a facelift of not only for the office but the brand also. It has also meant having a lot of fun along the way building out some rather awesome studios for our clients to play in once this is all over!
One of these studios has, for the interim, become my new part time office. I thought why not, whilst the team are away the boss shall play, that’s the saying right?
With each wall padded with foam to absorb echo, a large 75inch screen on the wall, 2 studio speakers and 4 podcast microphones walking into the ‘office’ each morning feels like I am about to present the morning breakfast show to the nation, worlds apart from the normal desk and glass office, that said, I rather like it!
For me the reason I continue to go to the office (or studio) is more because I am a creature of habit, that and I am unable to work from home ever since my girlfriend has decided to take over every inch of space in the flat. Needs must I suppose.
With each day starting at 05:30am (ish) I tend to have most of my energy and certainly the greatest amount of patience before noon. My complex, high IQ tasks I try to push through as early as possible in the day with less strenuous tasks being scheduled for the afternoon.
Remarkably over the last few weeks since working from the studio I have noticed time slipping away, it’s incredibly surreal working in a location with no windows, no noticeable echo and no clock, my only reference of what time of day it is occurs when I go to get a coffee or glance up at the clock in the top right of my mac screen, if not for that, I could be anywhere in the world at any time of day.
What struck me however working in such a measured environment is just how much more focus I have and how incredibly productive my days are. There are no distractions out of the window, no questions from passing team members and no cars beeping outside! Whilst I couldn’t work in a foam box for ever, I have to say, it’s been quite nice for a change!
With light at the end of the tunnel and the easing of lockdown only weeks away, the studio I frequent so often will soon be buzzing with vibrant creatives thrashing ideas around. At least, this is what I am hoping for now we’ve an all singing all dancing coffee machine, there really is no excuse!
You can hire our new podcast studio, by clicking on the link below: