My husband and I went on the Modern Home Tour in Atlanta this weekend. We had a ball. Modern design is right up our alley. We were drooling over these contemporary houses. Right after we came home from the tour, we started talking about how we can change our plans to renovate our attic to reflect a more modern sentiment. Our current house is contemporary inside and reflects our taste, but the homes on the tour were our dream houses-sleek and open, with huge windows that let in a ton of light. I felt right at home in these spaces, like I was outside and very close to nature. The windows were huge! I miss the floor to ceiling windows of our old Chicago condo.
From this experience, I remembered how much your home is a reflection of who you are, or should be. I never realized how important space is to our well-being until I married my husband (interior architect), and worked for my dear friend Jane Tompkins on space planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Being in the homes this weekend reminded me of how important our home and work space is to our health in every way. Is your home a true reflection of who you are, or even–who you want to be? And if not, what changes do you want to make?
This goes for your job too. Do you work in an environment that’s conducive to your personality and physical desires/needs? One of the components of the satisfying career model I use with clients and in my Career Seekers Teleclass is a Conducive Environment. Here are some questions to help you define your ideal work environment:
- What types of people do you want to work with?
- What kind of management style do you prefer?
- Consider your personality and what kind of environment is conducive to your personality. Do you need a lot of structure, just a little, or none at all? For example, if you are a person who likes things to be organized and have a process to them, you may need to have a more structured environment.
- Where do you want your office to be located? Do you want to work from home, from an office, or have a mobile situation where you can work from a variety of places?
- What size organization do you want to work in? Large, small, medium?
- What do you want the company culture to be like?
Atlanta Career Coach Hallie Crawford
