Add Variety to be More Creative

Nagayama found that having multiple worksites can boost our creativity.  Via a survey they probed  “the relationship between MLW [multiple-locational work] . . . and worker outcomes, such as engagement, creativity, and well-being. . . . The results showed a positive association between MLW and all three outcomes, with the strongest relationship being observed for creativity. Additionally, locational feature diversity . . . .  amplified the positive association between MLW and creativity. . . . MLW can enhance creativity through the exposure to diverse stimuli gained from utilizing distinctive locational features.” Multiple work locations studied included both options within a workplace and options outside it, such as cafés and coworking sites.

Also, “Studies have shown that collective creativity is significantly lower online than in person because workers tend to focus more on their computer screens than thinking of ideas, or because team synchronicity is undermined.”

Susumu Nagayama. 2023. “Does Working at Third Places Work?  Multi-Locational Work for Engagement, Creativity, and Well-Being.”  Journal of Creativity, vol. 33, no. 3, 100070.