Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make your own corner office. Whether
Speaker 1: you started working from home this year because of COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen or not, we all need a space to think
Speaker 1: about our careers and to remind ourselves that what we
Speaker 1: will accomplish in life is not limited to our current jobs.
Speaker 1: You are the architect of your own career, and creating
Speaker 1: your own corner office at home can be a key
Speaker 1: part of that. This tip comes from my new book
Speaker 1: The New Corner Office, How the most successful People Work
Speaker 1: from Home. I note that in the normal corporate world,
Speaker 1: having a corner office is a sign that you have arrived,
Speaker 1: you are in charge. But even so, in an office
Speaker 1: you're often subject to group norms about what time you
Speaker 1: work and what you look like while you're doing it.
Speaker 1: You may not even be able to control that much
Speaker 1: about the office itself. Can you paint a wall purple
Speaker 1: or situate your choice of plants right outside? If not, well,
Speaker 1: that's life. The mistake is in applying this mindset to
Speaker 1: your career in general, that your income is what the
Speaker 1: company says it is that your career path is what
Speaker 1: is spelled out by the organization. That if you are
Speaker 1: hired to be the numbers guy, well that is what
Speaker 1: you are. Before March two, working from home was on
Speaker 1: the rise, but was still seen as a slightly strange
Speaker 1: thing for any ambitious person to do. Then COVID nineteen happened,
Speaker 1: and in a span of days, whole organizations went virtual.
Speaker 1: One Gallop poll found that the proportion of workers who
Speaker 1: had worked from home doubled between early March and April.
Speaker 1: All this happened in a crisis, and so many organizations
Speaker 1: just tried to replicate their model virtually. And that makes sense,
Speaker 1: But long term working from home allows for new ways
Speaker 1: of thinking about work. If you're not in an office,
Speaker 1: then you can separate yourself slightly from group norms. You
Speaker 1: have to be self directed about your work, and that
Speaker 1: allows you to be more self directed about your career
Speaker 1: in general. If you had to start working at home
Speaker 1: overnight in March, you probably just grabbed whatever spot was available.
Speaker 1: A desk, great, a door sounds perfect. But much as
Speaker 1: we wish life could go back to normal, it's wisest
Speaker 1: to assume that this new reality could be with us
Speaker 1: for a while. So to day, spend a few minutes
Speaker 1: creating a new corner office at home, one that helps
Speaker 1: you dream big about your career. An actual corner of
Speaker 1: the house is good, particularly if that puts you in
Speaker 1: a room with windows on two sides, even if you
Speaker 1: have to portion off a section of another room with
Speaker 1: screams or room dividers. Make your own space. Get a
Speaker 1: good chair, get a big enough desk but you feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: Put some plants within eyesight, and some reminders of your goals.
Speaker 1: Who do you see yourself becoming? What visual reminder can
Speaker 1: you create of that goal? Make sure the view out
Speaker 1: your window is inspiring. You can control this in a
Speaker 1: way that you just can't in a corporate office. Park
Speaker 1: Control the temperature, control the sound, You can even control
Speaker 1: the smell. You will not get away with burning a
Speaker 1: cinnamon spice candle at headquarters, but if that scent is
Speaker 1: your secret weapon, well burn away at home. Even if
Speaker 1: you don't see yourself working at home long term, it
Speaker 1: helps to have some space at home where you can
Speaker 1: think about your professional goals apart from the restrictions of
Speaker 1: an office. You are not just who your manager sees.
Speaker 1: Many years ago I interviewed a young woman who was
Speaker 1: working in something that was not yet her dream job,
Speaker 1: but in the morning she spent a few hours working
Speaker 1: from home on her own projects. Every day she at
Speaker 1: a job, she told me, but in the morning she
Speaker 1: had a career physically apart from the office. She was
Speaker 1: the architect of her professional life. And you should be too.
Speaker 1: You don't have to wait for your employer to give
Speaker 1: you a corner office. You can create your own today.
Speaker 1: Think about how you might do that, literally and metaphorically.
Speaker 1: And hey, if you enjoyed this podcast, consider checking out
Speaker 1: the New Corner Office, the podcast and the book. There
Speaker 1: are lots of tips there for working productively and ambitiously,
Speaker 1: because you know, I want to see you succeed in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: face Book, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b
Speaker 1: E the number four then Breakfast p o D. You
Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast
Speaker 1: at i heeart media dot com that Before breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.