A Change of Scenery

Photo by Tomáš Stanislavský on Unsplash

​“A change of scenery can help everything.”
​- Drew Pomeranz

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New Path Productivity LLC · New Path Perspective Blog: A Change Of Scenery

Monotony has set in, and I need to do something about it. How about you?
 
I believe monotony is the reason why, for several months now, I've had the urge to rearrange my office. The world's COVID-19 roller coaster has taken a toll on our collective mental and emotional well-being. For many of us, concerns for our health or the health of loved ones, the sudden shift to remote work, and the resulting feelings of isolation continue to leave us feeling unsettled.

In May 2020, the journal Nature Neuroscience published study results revealing a previously unknown connection between our daily physical environments and our sense of well-being. They found people feel happier when they have more variety in their daily routines. It doesn't mean you need to invent new things to do every day of the week. Even small changes like varying your home exercise routine, taking a walk around the block, or exploring a different route to the office or the grocery store can do the trick.
 
Feelings of monotony and boredom can increase error rates and decrease productivity. As a result, we may feel over-worked, become more easily distracted, stressed, or disillusioned with our current situation.
 
How fortunate we are to have the power of choice, the ability to make even small changes that can have significant impacts. Permit yourself to exercise this power and help yourself get unstuck. It takes intention, but we can do it!

• Try working from a different room, another part of your home workspace, or even outside.
• Work for a few hours from a coffee shop or a local co-working space if you can do so safely.
• Change the paint color on one (or several) of your workspace walls.

 
Today, I commit to myself:

• In the next seven days, I will change the arrangement of my home office to allow more visibility from my window. My space is small, but I will find a way to make the change.
• Starting Monday, I will physically get up and move around my office twice per day.
• On days the summer heat subsides, I will step outside for a break at least once per day. (This one will be big for me as I'm terrible at taking breaks.)
• I will build time into my upcoming quarterly review to explore other ways to introduce variation into my daily routines.

 
Just thinking about this, I feel better already. But the key is actually to do it!
 
Small changes, that's all it takes. There's no need to upend everything. We've all had enough of that over the last 18 months, haven't we?
 
What will you do to break your monotony? I'd love to hear about it.