Peace, Harmony, Tranquility, Advertising
Posted by Lizzy Bogacki | April 12, 2011
As my first three months here at Denuo come to a close, I can’t help but compare my new environment to my old. I began here as an administrative assistant in January, leaving behind a career as a massage therapist. I went from working at a small but busy spa one mile from my apartment to working in a giant building in downtown Chicago. My five hour work days that began at 3PM have become 8.5 hour work days that start at 6AM. A casual stroll to work has become a full-speed walk to trains where I sit for 50 minutes trying to avoid eye contact with everyone around me. And really, let’s not even talk about the elevators.
The spa environment is very relaxing, from its looks to its smells to its sounds. Everything is just so serene it is enough to make you crazy. It is so relaxed that after awhile you feel like you are going to turn into mush. There were times I was not sure if I was awake or not. I almost head-butted a client because while sitting on a stool at the head of the table working on her neck…I fell asleep. True story. To some, this may sound like the perfect environment; it is dark, lavender-infused, and soft music plays all the time. Ugh…I am over it. I felt like my mind stood still for a good two years before finally I said I need something new, something different.
Did I ever get different! Advertising and marketing is absolutely wild! The travel, the ideas, the meetings booked one on top of the other on top of the other. It is as if people here are constantly running: to trains, to airports, to cabs, to meetings. It is exhausting. The energy that fills the halls is palpable. There are times where it feels like my head will explode, and let’s be honest, I am the Admin, and I am not going on the trips or to the meetings. All I have to do is book them. Again, to some this is the ideal environment; it is bright, fast-moving and never boring. The Stanley Cup was here this week. NEVER BORING!
While it is all new and fun for me now, what about three years from now? I loved the relaxed environment and quiet of the spa, but it got old. Will this grow old too? Then I had a moment of clarity. What the spa needs is an energy room and 35 WW needs a relaxation room.
At this point the spa is all about relaxation, which is great for clients, but not so great for employees. You are too sleepy, too relaxed and then you get lazy. You don’t want to do any work at all because your brain is not being challenged. The office, on the other hand, is a place full of energy and deadlines and fast movement. It causes your brain to be over-excited and frazzled. At times, it makes you unable to work, because there is just too much going on, and you can’t think.
So, why not take the energy rooms of the advertising/marketing world and replace them with the relaxation rooms of the spas, and vice versa? When you feel yourself sitting at your desk with your mind going a million miles a minute, you can take a 20-minute break and sit in a room with the colors of the sky and sea. You can breathe in the aromas of lavender and allow the sounds of waves or Native American drums to come lightly into your ears. You can clear your mind and become more relaxed and therefore function a little better then before. Conversely, when you feel like you are falling asleep and getting lazy in the spa environment, you can take a 20-minute break and go to a room the colors of fire and ice and play air hockey. Play some Tetris and make your mind speed up a little. Get a little of that energy back!
The Proverbial saying: “Too much of a good thing, is a bad” is true. I urge you massage therapists: Play Angry Birds! Executives: Get your Om on! We will all function better.
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