Why Coffee Shops Boost Creativity.

4 min readAug 8, 2016

Mostly, we want our offices to look cool. But what we actually need is for them to help us work to our creative optimum.

Some context: In 2010 there was an average of 225 square feet of work-space per employee. By 2012 this had reduced to 176 and it is projected to be 100 by 2017. With the reduction of office space, companies work spaces are not at their optimum and so work less well than they used to. They have saved money but created less productive spaces. In a study by Gensler, 53% of people were distracted.

When designing an office, the most important factors are: focus, collaboration, learning, and space. The art is to understand how these work together and which ones need to dominate. And according to a report from Orangebox, the pioneering smart-working furniture company, there is far too much emphasis on collaboration, and not enough on focus.

So how do you hack your office to work better? Well, if we followed our needs it would be designed to work like this:

54% Focused work

24% Collaborative work

8% Socialising

5% Learning

Design your office with your ears, not your eyes.

Creative work is best done at about 70 decibels whereas detailed work is better performed at 55 decibels. Once noise exceeds 85 decibels all work suffers. 70 decibels is the equivalent of the hum of a coffee shop, which potentially makes them places for creative thinking.

Is your office too loud? If everyone is wearing headphones, it tells you it is too loud to focus. If it’s too quiet, it may well kill innovation.

As Professor Ravi Mehta puts it: “Extreme quiet tends to sharpen your focus, which can prevent thinking in the abstract.’’

This is the ninth post in an eight-week series of articles all about stress and how to make it work for you and your business. Because it’s time that we start building human-based companies.

The next article will be published on Wednesday the 10th of August, where we’ll be sharing with you the 3-month money saving challenge. See you there!

Do Stress. One Day Event. London. Oct 14th.

The Do Lectures is holding a one-day event called ‘Do Stress’. It will deliver insights, future strategies, and will examine the zeitgiest for ‘human based companies’ and how ‘work’ is going to change. And what that means for your business?

There will be 10 talks from entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, change-makers and visionaries. As Dan Pink reminds us all: “Talented people need organisations less than organisations need talented people”.

That is why smart companies are creating human cultures, not corporate ones in order to thrive. How you stay ahead in the future is not the same as what kept you ahead in the past.

Why attend?

It answers the question of who leads the way in look after their people, what are they doing, why is it working? How does culture help your business? How does your purpose? How does the design of your office? Even, how you sit at a computer?

How does a human culture prevent burn out? How does it help you win the talent war? And how, just as importantly, does it help you retain your people too. What perks are the most important?

The good news is companies who look after their people are also the best businesses over the long term. Human based companies are the future. So how do you become one? Our one day event is designed to give you the answers.

The One Day Event — Do Stress

10 speakers.

2 workshops.

200 attendees.

For more information, or to register your interest, head over to our website.