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Five Ways to Optimize Your Workspace for Productivity
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Reduce the stress of clutter
- Apply constraints and stick to them: to tabs open in your browser, notebooks, magazines etc.
- Use small storage spaces: Less room means less room for clutter.
- Set time aside to clean, sort, and discard every single month.
- Clean your desktop at the end of every workday so to-do items don’t linger and you’ve got a clean slate to start with the next day.
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Find places that inspire you
You might not be in a position to choose your workspace, but there are quick fixes: look for a spot with natural light from a window or skylight, take a walk outside when you feel stuck, or simply explore a new location.
A new environment can quite literally lead to new ideas.
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Task association
It's when your brain knows that when you’re in a certain place, you’re taking a certain action.
Take advantage of the way different locations affect you. Our brains love habits, and if we can associate certain qualities with different places, it can help us get into a better working flow.
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Designing for laziness
If you want to create a workspace that’s productive, focus on making it easier to do the things you want to do, and harder to do the tasks you don’t.
Our brains have been taught to conserve energy at all costs and make subconscious decisions for us based entirely on how hard or easy it is.
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Noise and productivity
If you can’t find a spot that’s silent, noise cancelling headphones or music that drowns out speech can help regain that focus, especially if you work in shared spaces or offices.
The sounds around you and the music you listen to can have a huge impact on your productivity.
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Organize your office
- Start with a purge to create an office that is free of clutter.
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Your workspace matters
When you spend hours at your desk every day, even the smallest features of your workspace – such as the position of your monitor or the height of your chair– can greatly affect your productivity an...
Optimal Workspace Lighting
- The best kind of light you can have in your office is natural light. It helps our bodies maintain our internal "clocks" or circadian rhythms which affects our sleep and energy.
- Poor lighting, whether it's dim lighting or harsh lighting from overhead fluorescent lights, can cause eye strain, stress, and fatigue.
- Don't sit with your back to a window unless you can shade it.
- Don't sit facing a window because that will make reading a monitor difficult.
- If you use a task lamp at your desk, position it so the bottom of the lampshade is at about the height of your chin when it's on.
Office Plants
- Indoor plants prevent fatigue during attention-demanding work.
- Even just having a window view of live greenery can be restorative and keep us focused.
- A peace lily plant requires little sunlight to survive and you only have to water it when the soil is dried out and is also great for cleaning the air.
- Cacti and aloe plants are other low-maintenance plants to consider.
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Your Desk: The Optimal Choice
The “sit-stand desk” is the optimal choice, because you can sit for a portion of the day and stand for the other portion.
Put your monitor high enough to keep your neck str...
Keeping An Organization
A cluttered desk sometimes triggers a cluttered mind. That's why everything should have its place, even if that place is just “the right-most stack.”
A desk system that matches your personal organization style saves both time and headache.
Organizing Our Worskapce: The Influence of Colors
- Red accelerates the heart rate, giving you a jolt of energy. Your eye is instantly drawn to red, and it promotes physical activity and emotion.
- Orange is a social color, encouraging interaction. It works well in meeting rooms or other social spaces.
- Yellow stimulates creativity and optimism.
- Green is calming, and also causes zero eye strain over long periods of time.
- Blue is calming and stable, it helps most people focus on intensive tasks.
- Purple stimulates problem solving, despite not being a very popular color in workspace decor.