Keeping Your Distance

A friend recently asked whether working remotely and being away from the office fueled my creativity. Initially, I said it makes no difference. But there is a difference: We actually need to move around--even short distances for a few hours to revivify the places we left.

One of my Dynaxioms is "The studio isn't a place you go into, it's a place you come back to." Now with imposed isolation, I already miss the Third Spaces as they provide a quick place reset and to allow incubation. This may be why students spend entire afternoons or entire days in coffee shops and libraries, now mostly shuttered. Studying, like anything that is a forced activity can't always happen at home or in the studio. Lots of creative blockages come from being in one small windowless room or even one large beautiful place too long. Going to another place can sometimes solve impasses when trying to solve problems. Sometimes going into a place where music is playing gives me ideas because the endless loop running in my head as I'm working on something merges with what is playing in the space.

This pandemic may be an inflection point for deeper telepresence. While we may have been evolving towards virtual working or collaborative spaces on the net, our ancient wiring may still prefer to tinker in a secluded 'cave' or studio space. But still, this is the place to come back to, not a cell for solitary confinement. VR doesn't (yet) provide enough feeling of physical distance from room to room or place to place, and our place cells can't be fooled. There simply isn't enough refreshing of place-encoding while confined, even if it is in the imagination. You have to leave, then return. This is why commuting may have benefits.

On place cells (From The Efficiency Paradox, p. 130)

I once thought that Monday mornings were actually good for generating ideas for an escape from routines, but we actually need the routines. Routines are the engine of creativity--both in the sense that they spin the wheels of escape while spinning the wheels of productivity.

Coming back to the studio for 1 hour is much more exciting than being there for 8 hours or more. The reason is that incubation has taken place in the distance between the two points.

Now with forced distancing, we will really want those Third Places back. I don't think online collaboration is a substitute, and your wiring knows the difference. That's why I like the idea of Team Human.

Universals:

• Classification of Space
• Daily Routines
• Environments, Adjustments To
• Mental Maps