If you’re like me, your office is a special place where you get to do your best work. Here are some tips from a professional organizer. He knows how important it is to make a productive workspace, as clean and organized as possible.
Productivity comes from habits as well as physical space
It’s no secret that the physical space you work in can make a big difference in how productive you are. But what about habits and mindset? Are these also important to productivity? Yes!
In fact, I would argue that habit is the most important of all three factors contributing to productivity. Environment plays a significant role in how productive you are at work. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t have good habits installed. People could just buy all the latest gadgets for their office desks and still not be productive. They need to develop habits associated with using those tools effectively or efficiently.
That said, some things can help improve both your physical space and your habits, which will increase your overall productivity. On top of that, though, there’s also something else: mindset. Something we’ll cover later in this guide when we talk about goal-setting!
Invest in a comfortable chair
When it comes to the physical aspect of your workspace, finding a chair that’s as comfortable as possible is key. Although it may be tempting to pick up whatever chair is on sale, this isn’t an effective strategy if you want to get work done.
Instead, find a professional who can help evaluate how ergonomics work for you and determine which chairs will help keep you healthy and feeling great all day long. You might have heard the term “ergonomic” thrown around quite a bit recently, but what does it mean? And why should you care?
The short answer: ergonomic furniture helps protect against common injuries caused by incorrect posture or poor seating habits (like slouching). It also makes sure that your body can stay healthy over time. This furniture supports specific parts of your body based on your unique needs. This includes neck pain from looking down at a computer screen or lower back pain from leaning forward while sitting at a desk.
Keep only what you need on your desk
As a rule, the less clutter you have on your desk, the more productive and focused you will be. This is especially true for newer employees who are still learning how to use their workspace effectively.
If you’re one of these people overwhelmed by the amount of stuff on their desks, you need to remove all unnecessary items. Start by taking everything off your desktop and sorting through it: what can I get rid of? What am I using every day? Next, put back only those things that are useful and needed for work activities.
Try to keep everything within easy reach
To be productive, you need to keep everything within easy reach. This means that your most used items should be at the top of your desk. The things that are least frequently used should be in a drawer or filing cabinet at the back of your workspace.
For example, if only one person uses this desk (you), then it would make sense for all of their essential documents to be on top—in plain sight. But if multiple people use this desk (including yourself), then perhaps some files can go inside a file cabinet instead so that other people know where they are when needed.
Organize the things on your desk by function
An important thing in productive workspace creation is organization. Keep things that are used often within easy reach and keep things that are used less often in a drawer or cabinet.
Organize things according to their function, not just their location on your desk. For example, if you have a pen and pencil sharpener next to each other, put them in separate containers, so they don’t confuse each other—and make sure it’s easy for both of them to access what they need!
Surround yourself with things that motivate you
On your desk, keep a motivational message that you can look at when you need a pick-me-up. If you’re not a fan of inspirational quotes or cat memes, try something more personal, like a picture of yourself and your family (or maybe a selfie with your favorite celebrity). Or, if pictures don’t do it for you, try surrounding yourself with things that make you happy. If sports are what get you going in the morning, put some sports memorabilia on the walls; if it’s movies or TV shows that make your day brighter, there’s no reason why those can’t be displayed prominently. And if there is one thing guaranteed to motivate anyone—no matter who they are—it’s art! So find an artist whose work inspires and motivates them and bring some of their creations into your productive workspace so their energy can inspire yours too!
People use minimalist designs for a reason
You may be wondering why people would want to use a minimalist design in the first place. Well, it’s because they’re more efficient and help you focus on the task at hand.
Minimalist designs are great at keeping distractions out of your way. They don’t have any unnecessary elements that can pull your attention away from what you need to be doing right now. So instead of worrying about which button will open up Google Docs or if there are any new emails, all of those things are already taken care of by design itself.
This allows us to spend less time worrying about what we’re looking at on our screens and more time actually working on whatever we need to do!
Make sure your desk is well lit
It’s a good idea to make sure your desk is well lit. In fact, it’s a great idea. The more light you have, the less likely it is that you’ll be squinting at the tiny font on a computer screen or having trouble understanding what someone wrote in their note on the whiteboard.
The type of lighting you choose depends on how much light your space needs and what kind of mood you want to set. For example, if you’re a writer and need to see words on paper clearly, bright overhead lights may not be ideal because they can cast shadows or glare on pages or screens under them (and cause headaches). On the other hand, if your workspace has windows but not enough natural light coming through them during certain times of day (such as late afternoon), some sort of artificial illumination will be necessary for optimal productivity—especially if your work involves reading or writing by hand!
There are many types of lighting options out there: fluorescent bulbs (do these still exist?), incandescent bulbs (the ones made out of glass), LEDs (“light emitting diodes”), halogens…the list goes on forever! But no matter which one works best for your situation, always remember two things:
1) Good lighting should provide plenty of brightness without being too harsh, and is essential to a productive workspace.
2) The ideal combination is in between having enough light so that everything is easy to see but not being too bright so that it causes eye strain afterward.
Use a standing desk if you can
If you can, use a standing desk. This type of task-oriented productive workspace is better for your health and productivity than sitting down all day. It’s been proven that standing desks lead to more focus and concentration while helping improve posture, energy levels, and mood. If you have any doubt about the benefits of a standing desk, think back on your last time at the office water cooler. You probably heard that someone is tired because they’d spent so much time sitting down in front of their computer screen.
Conclusion
We’ve explored various options for making a more productive workspace, from the physical design to the functional layout. There are plenty of other ideas out there as well, so don’t be afraid to experiment! The key is to find what works best for you—whether that means getting rid of distractions or adding new toys and gadgets. If you liked this article, check out what else we have for you in our interior blog section.