An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
What's really interesting about sitting is that it requires movement. The folks at Knoll tell us that "the freedom to move is vital, because it inspires collaboration, bringing together individuals' talents and creativity to drive business." When you come right down to it, while our life and career choices are inspired by our aspirations, our workdays are also about action—making calls, making coffee and making decisions. Making a series of small moves and tweaking the dial here and there to find the right frequency.
In this round of our Knoll x Core77 Secret to Your Success contest, a lot of you had some really useful ideas that will make our workday more fun, more interesting and, ultimately, more effective. We'll be adding a few of these to our to-do list—
@SaraNordmann I start my workday by asking my colleagues for feedback on yesterday's work, then I plunge into improving it.@melappel Keep track of what you do all day, even if not a consultant. It will help you improve time management.
@BDJdesign Music calms the savage beast... Have variety of tunes for stimulation, assertion and calming. Not necessarily in that order!
@darwinmarrero Work and sports share the same passion for some of us. I always have a stock of no-calories energy drink by my desk!
@cruzmandesign Getting up at least every 30 minutes keeps me from sitting too long. Gotta move to keep the groove!
@lindadong Always have a short statement of what you believe design is. Then if a stranger asks, you're response isn't "uh..."
@davidsalonen Seriously, never set your coffee down on the train. I mean it.
And, on the top of the list—to start the day off with some focus, even before we start the day—we'll be adding Jeremy Leeds-Frank's tip—
@Jeb_Leeds Wake up early and take 10 minutes in bed to think of a new design or solution if you are stumped on a project.
A graduate of Philadelphia University in Industrial Design, Jeremy has had some great experience and is currently at Cool Gear International in Massachusetts where he takes design research and planning through sketch analysis and manufacturing for Cool Gear's wide range of BPA-free products including hydration bottles, food storage containers and innovative travel products.
Thanks for the tip, Jeremy. And enjoy your new Generation Chair from Knoll—a chair designed to support your mobile and flexible work environment where you can turn those early-morning brainstorms into successful design solutions!
And, keep those tips and insights coming—our next secret will be selected on October 18!