Mastering Your Workspace
Understanding the dimensions and dynamics of your workspace is an essential first step when you give your office a makeover. With the advent of the pandemic, many of us have had to adapt our workspaces to accommodate partners or family members, often leading to a chaotic mix of folders, stationery, and tangled computer cords.
While the convenience of transforming any available spot, such as the dining table, into a workspace might seem tempting, it’s likely to foster distractions. Instead, creating a dedicated workspace significantly boosts your focus and productivity.
If you’re sharing your workspace, it’s essential to establish clear boundaries. Allocate specific shelves or entire units to each individual. This structured approach not only limits distractions but also enhances productivity by providing everyone with their own organised space.
For those who already have a personal setup, consider implementing tools like filing boxes or mobile storage units to streamline your space. Remember, the area under your desk can also serve as a convenient storage spot.
Investing in custom office storage is an efficient way to maximise your workspace and maintain order. After all, effective storage is the backbone of a well-planned and productive environment. Harness the potential of your workspace to fuel your productivity and creative thought process.
Office lighting can have a tremendous effect on your mood and your productivity. Having a clearly defined workspace is definitely helpful, but the type of lighting you use can sway your performance.
Low lighting can strain your eyes, tiring you out. Lights that are too bright can cause migraines and even interfere with your sleeping patterns. Either way, your productivity will be impaired.
Recently, LED lighting has become a popular, energy-efficient alternative to fluorescent lights. As well as being more sustainable, they have a longer life span and have been known to increase an individual’s attention span and improve mood.
If you’re looking for a quick lighting solution, something as simple as changing your light bulbs can be extremely beneficial. Some offices have found that using warm, yellow coloured light bulbs at the start of the day creates a relaxing space that helps employees ease into a more alert state. To continue to grow more alert, these offices have then switched to cooler blue lights, which encourages concentration.
Your workflow will follow a more natural progression by alternating your lighting, and your day will gently wind down.
The desk is the heart of the office. It’s the space you are most connected with, so it’s essential that it is designed to fit you.
If you find that changing your lighting is improving your work output, consider using a standing desk as well. Stilling down all day can cause ‘sedentary behaviour,’ which affects both your mental and physical health. Standing desks can often boost your engagement and improve your overall mood.
However, another option is to fashion a desk to be precisely how you want it.
If your home office does have a traditional desk, consider replacing it with a wall shelf. This allows you to free up space while giving your office a more polished look. The length of your desk can be customised to fit your computer, files, or even plants you want to use to brighten up the room. The desk’s height can be decided based on your height or the amount of storage space you need underneath.
Drilling holes in the back of your customised desk to feed cords through will eliminate the tangled, distracting mess that multiple electronics often create.
By assigning areas of your home office for different household members, making use of the lighting, and tailoring your desk space, you will help establish a more productive and effective workspace. Customised and creative office storage solutions will not only improve your work performance it will also mean having a more stylish office.
