Interim Order on Home Office Scent Reset
Home office scent reset addresses the observation that the olfactory environment of a fixed workspace affects the quality of concentration in ways that are difficult to quantify but easy to notice.
MEETING: Home Office Scent Reset Working Group
Date: June 2021
Attendees: The person who works from home, the person who shares the space during certain hours, the question of whether this is worth discussing
Status of Prior Action Items: The candle was purchased. The candle has been lit on eleven of the past fourteen focused work sessions. No formal tracking was established, but the estimate is reliable.
Item 1: Purpose of Home Office Scent Reset
The working group reviewed the stated purpose of home office scent reset, which is to create a distinct sensory marker between the state of being at the desk and the state of not being at the desk. In the absence of a commute or a dedicated workspace outside the home, the boundary between work state and non-work state is otherwise managed by opening the laptop, which is insufficient.
The candle serves as a transition marker. It is lit. Work begins. The association, after several weeks of consistent application, is reliable enough to function as a signal.
The candle serves a function. The function is not decoration.
Item 2: Complications Noted
The working group noted two complications without recommending revision.
First: the candle also functions in the other direction. Lighting it in the evening for reasons unrelated to work has produced a brief cognitive preparation for a focused session that was not intended. This is an acceptable failure mode.
Second: the scent selected was chosen because it was available and not unpleasant. A different scent may be more effective. The working group elected not to research this question, as the research would generate more friction than the current candle's minor limitations.
Item 3: Open Question
The meeting discussed whether scent reset was a productivity measure or a comfort measure and concluded that the distinction was not operationally relevant. The outcome is the same in either case.
Action Items
No new action items. Reorder candle when current supply falls below two. Maintain current practice.
Meeting adjourned.