On Remote Work and Productivity, Part One

On the fourth Friday of four hot summer months in ATL, Nimble. creatives pack up their chargers and head elsewhere to spend on-the-clock hours outside of the studio. An advocacy for continual design research and exploration, these Fridays serve as intentional time away for renewed headspace and energy — whether taken from a coffee shop, the park, or another city entirely.

The team starts the day with a list of actionables, taking mini-breaks along the way to completion. A benefit we’ve coined, Nimble. Elsewhere, this change of environment provides our team of creatives the [brain and physical] space needed to refuel outside of the studio.

How Nimble. Elsewhere came to be —

“Nimble. actually got its start in the co-working space, with two and a half years split between an independent Historic Roswell shared studio and (later) WeWork. As a studio dedicated to Branding For The Built Environment™, the opportunity to truly live workplace research was an invaluable learning tool for our team. Desiring more privacy and dedicated studio space to work and grow in, we settled into our current studio almost two years ago. But moving office spaces has its hiccups, ours being a CO delay due to a sprinkler leak. So, with 30 days until our re-scheduled #nimblestudiospace move-in, we embarked on a one month hiatus of sorts — a culture experiment that tested our teamwork and communication skills. And, we crushed it.

So we decided to make Nimble. Elsewhere a recurring benefit for our team to enjoy and reset.”

— Candice Riley Campbell, Nimble. Founder and CD

Why we’ve made it a permanent fixture of our calendars —

For starters, human nature requires a certain level of flexibility. And in the workplace specifically, we’ve noticed that location flexibility can actually boost productivity for people who understand how they work most efficiently. Though developing that understanding, as you can imagine, can be a challenging thing to achieve.

Our Experiment For the Next Four Months —

For those interested in exploring the possibility of incorporating flexible location into your planned calendar, we’ve decided to survey the Nimble. team over the course of the next four summer months to garner factual, personal data points in order to uncover pros and considerations for remote time in the workplace. We will publish our findings in August, during our last month of Nimble. Elsewhere. Through this research, we hope to answer your questions, ease your anxieties and ignite your bravery to try out the idea on your own turf.

Until then, here is a sneak peek of just a few of the questions we’re posing to the Nimble. team (important things to know about yourself in order to understand how you work most efficiently) —

What time of day do you work best?

Morning people, night-owls and those who fall somewhere in-between. It’s fun to talk about, but understanding when your most naturally productive window of work-time occurs can dramatically enhance your time management skills.

Where do you work best?

We’ve all met those people who possess the increasingly rare superpower of being able to tune out distractions and function optimally with a solid wifi connection from virtually any location. If by chance you aren’t one of those super-humans, don’t worry — there’s still hope. And seeking out workplace destinations that suite your ideal working environment will get you there.

What’s your enneagram?

Studying not only your own tendencies, but also the personalities of your colleagues can be a powerful communication tool. Enneagrams aren’t the only ways to measure this of course — there are plenty of fun ways to self-study, open up conversation and get to know your team.

You can find a quick enneagram test here.

That’s it for now! As we embark on this journey of self-discovery, we hope you’ll keep up with Nimble. Thinking posts in the meantime, and stay tuned for our research reveal.