To do our best work we need three things:
clear goals, time to focus, and a distraction-free workspace. Hi I'm
Matthew Encina and in this video I'll share my perfect productive workspace,
which I use for writing, editing, and designing. I'll also share a few of the
tools and processes I use to stay focused. I've been working in this office
for about eight years. While it was beautiful at first, overtime I
accumulated tons of stuff and let it get a bit messy. I felt like I needed a
refresh. Luckily a new office in the building
opened up, so I took the opportunity to start with a clean canvas and design it
from the ground up. For my job as the chief content officer at The Futur, my
time is split doing two things: making content, and managing the team. So I
wanted a space that would allow me to do deep work, and incorporate systems to
help me focus on the most important day to day tasks.
To start the office design
process I blocked out the space in my favorite 3d program. I know it's super
nerdy. This helped me figure out the general layout before committing to any
big efforts or purchases. Personally, I like dark minimal spaces, so I decided to
paint two of the walls dark grey. Which I color matched to the other areas of the
building.
Once the space was cleaned out and painted, I began getting furniture
and accessories to meet my essential needs. To start off I needed the perfect
desk. I've previously used a standing desk for five years and it's helped me
with my posture and relieve my back pain. So now I was looking for an upgrade that
would look handsome in my new space. Luckily, the good people over at Ergonofis had sent me the Sway desk. It's a motorized sit-stand desk that's
made of solid walnut and has black detailed finishes. It gives me a lot of
real estate to work on, and has programmable settings so I can lock it
in the optimal height for both sitting and standing.
When I'm doing management tasks like reviewing work or emailing, I prefer to be standing. Yhis adds a little
more immediacy to the task and gives me a reason to get up several times a day.
When it's time to create and do some critical thinking, I move into a seated
position. To sit comfortably for long sprints I use the Herman Miller Aeron
chair. This allows me to forget about my surroundings and dive into some deep
work. To keep me focused I use a project management tool called Notion. In it I
have a custom document that I use to track my big goals as well as daily
tasks week to week. For the rest of the space I wanted to keep a consistent
aesthetic so I tried to match the rest of my accessories to pair with the
walnut wood at my desk and the dark paint on my walls.
To maximize my desk
space I have this Ergonofis office desk shelf to elevate my monitor and use this
vertical dock for my MacBook Pro. On my desk I have an Apple Magic Keyboard,
Logitech MX2s Master mouse, and a set of accessories from Grovemade to bring it
all together. I also use this Native Union dock to
charge my iPhone when it's not in use. Because I work on video content,
monitoring audio is very important to me So I got the set of AudioEngine
speakers, which sound amazing and connects to my laptop through
Bluetooth. One of the key accessories on my desktop is this Echo Spot which I use
to set timers for my critical thinking work.
If you've seen my other video on
productivity you know I break up my day into
90-minute focus sprints of uninterrupted work.
During that time I set a sprint goal and blocked myself off from all
distractions. I close the door, turn off notifications and emails, and
set a timer for 90 minutes of deep work. While having focus is very important,
little breaks throughout the day are just as valuable. I designed this cozy
corner to help me relax and add a little warmth to the space.
This corner of my
office is especially designed for decompression. A big comfy Barcelona
chair surrounded by beautiful green indoor plants. The round rug on the floor
helps to visually anchor the open area and the organic shape of the plants
break up the straight lines in the room. This corner helps me rest my brain and
collect my thoughts in between sprints of work. To promote mental clarity, I
wanted to keep the space visually minimal. But with all the devices I use
come many many wires. To tame this mess I routed everything underneath and behind
the desk using these adhesive cable clips, and velcro ties. For power, I
mounted a power strip underneath my desk using this 3M frame adhesive and screwed in an additional power strip on the side. For easy access to keep my desktop
clutter-free I installed this matching drawer to have quick access to my
writing tools. To connect my MacBook to my setup I've hidden this USB C hub
behind my monitor and attached it using the same 3M adhesive strip.
I also
mounted this catch-all by Grovemade which I used to hang my keys and empty
my pockets as I get in. To the side of my desk I have a vintage coat rack to hang
my jackets and to hold my backpack. Across the room I built this industrial
style storage unit from Ikea. In it I store the books I reference often, ideas
of the past, and a few boxes for things I rarely access.
To light my space I was looking for a flexible system that would adjust as the
day transitions into night. To accomplish this I invested in a set of Philips Hue
lights.
I use these play lights behind my monitor, and added these bulbs in the
lamps I had in the room. The cool thing about this system is that I can access a
wide range of colors with the app and control it using Alexa voice commands
through the Echo Spot on my desk. This gives me plenty of ambient lighting,
which I can adjust for cool temperatures during the day for focus, and can shift
into warm temperatures at night when I'm winding down.
And that's my perfect
productive workspace. There's a lot of empty space in the room for potential
shelving or decorations, but for now I thought I'd keep it minimal and live in
the space a bit before I add anything more. If you're interested in anything
featured here I've left links for you in the description. And if you want to see
more content from me don't forget to subscribe and check out my other videos.
I also want to thank Ergonofis, Grovemade, and orbit key for sending me their
goods to help me optimize my space. If you have any questions, leave me a
comment and I'll do my best to answer them. With that out of the way it's time
to get back to work.