This article originally appeared in the August 26 Issue of officeinsight.
Lifestyles, or preferred ways of living, define our days and direct our choices. Like to stay active? You’re probably the proud owner of a bike or running shoes. Lover of the arts? Maybe you signed up for a museum membership. Do your best thinking in silence? You chose a home far away from the fire station.
In this new era of work, workplaces must be refashioned with lifestyle in mind, from hybrid models to evolving ideas about the function and value of physical offices. The best of these new work environments will be designed to constantly shift and change according to evolving needs and will take their cue more from lifestyle than from work itself.
COVID taught us that scores of workers can perform some work well outside the office, and that employees’ preferred work settings and styles vary widely — some blaze through emails from the sofa or easy chair; others do their best brainstorming from a third place like a café; and some truly do crave the “change of scenery” of a physical workplace, with the option to collaborate in person.