Whenever I need to escape for some quiet writing or thinking time, I go to Ninho - one of Lisbon's best kept secrets. This member's only club makes its home in a stunning 19th century palace, hidden in plain sight behind an unmarked gate in one of Lisbon's toniest neighbourhoods.

I'm a huge fan of the idea of having a "secret office", and have been for years. (Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek blew my cover when they wrote about my original secret office habit in their book Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives way back in 2008!)

Your secret office could be a members club, a cabin or a kayak. The place doesn't matter. What does is the habit of selectively limiting access to yourselves. At our point in life, the temptation to be "always available" can rob us of our most valuable creative time.