I’ve got two weeks in China. The first was spent between Shanghai and Beijing with Leo, mostly drinking prodigious amounts of good tea in tucked away teahouses. The second week I figured I’d catch up on work.
With nothing much besides work on the agenda, I picked a cheap hotel in a good location. The hotel is nestled in one of the hutongs, or alleys, in Guloudajie. The bed is just like the one I have in my RV, meaning that it’s nothing more than a futon on a hard mat, which suits me fine. Just a few minutes walk from the front door is a long alley full of food stalls and restaurants, including a healthy Korean one I’ve had lunch at three times now.
My first day alone in Beijing, I was eager to start working through my todo list. I sat at the desk in my room, opened up my computer, and then spent ten minutes trying to get comfortable. The desk seemed to be more for show than utility, as it’s carved out of wood and paired with a matching wooden stool.
I gave up on the desk and got into bed, sitting up against some propped up pillows. That was comfortable enough, but it left me in a bad position for typing, so I was constantly deterred from actually doing any programming. Instead I clicked around, reading emails and checking reports. I tried sitting cross legged, hunched over the laptop. I tried lying on my stomach with the laptop in front of me.
I got some work taken care of, but it was a frustrating and inefficient experience. Never once did I get into a groove. Tired out from all the shifting and discomfort, I ended up just taking a nap.
The following day was even less productive. I left the room only twice for meals, but barely got anything done at all. I felt frustrated the entire day, wanting to work and feeling incapable of willing myself to do so.
Whenever I have a low productivity day, some part of me sis terrified that I’ll never be productive again. Most of my life has been defined by poor work habits coupled with low willpower. These past few years have been mostly excellent, but on days where I just can’t get work done, I worry they’ve just been a fluke.
All the napping kept me up late last night, so I slept in this morning. I didn’t get out to lunch until two. Before leaving the restaurant, it occurred to me that I should do anything possible to not have a repeat of the previous two days, so I got my backpack and looked up Regus (shared office) locations. After lunch I took the subway to one.
Not all Reguses are very good, but the one here in Beijing is excellent. They have these “Thinkpods” that are tiny 10 square foot pods that contain nothing more than a small desk, a comfy chair, and a power plug. The lights above are warm incandescent bulbs instead of the blue fluorescent ones in my hotel room.
As soon as I sat down, I got to work. No facebook, no reddit, no semi-productive procrastination. It’s funny how we do all of those things, but they don’t actually make us feel good in the same way that work does. It’s just like how junk food makes us feel worse than eating a nice healthy meal.
Anyway, all of this really threw into focus for me how important it is to have a good work environment. I think that it’s important to be able to work in any environment, and good to train to do so, but when important work needs to be done, it’s a huge benefit to have a nice environment in which to do it.
I love working in my RV because I’ve built it into a perfect work environment over the years. Next week I’m going on a cruise, which is exciting for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it represents a perfect work environment. These things matter more than we might think.
If you find yourself restless or uncomfortable when you work, you may want to evaluate how good your workspace is. Is it clean? Does it have good lighting? Can you sit comfortably and type? Is it free of distraction? Is it quiet? Are all materials that you need within reach? Sometimes even small changes can make a huge long-term difference.
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Photo is some dragonwell tea in Hangzhou. Honestly not the greatest I’ve had…
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