Productivity is the heart and soul of work, and one of the most important ways to increase it lies in the way you prepare and structure your work environment, because it has a psychological effect on your mood, which in turn is reflected in the extent of your work achievement. And because we are keen to increase the rate of tasks that you perform daily and become more productive, here we are today sharing with you a set of tips and ideas for improving the work environment that you can do to achieve this goal.
Ideas to improve the work environment
1- Select the appropriate furniture for the work environment.
Most jobs necessitate long periods of sitting at a desk for long periods of time, which can result in back and neck pain and other issues if you spend long periods of time in one position while using an uncomfortable chair or piece of furniture.Of course, you do not want to suffer from scoliosis or any other health problems related to the spine at a young age, so you should be careful to choose a comfortable chair that maintains the correct position of your back in the work environment.
You can search for what is known as a medical chair. What distinguishes it from a regular chair is that it has a structure that helps keep the back erect in the correct sitting position.
As for the desk, there should be space for your feet if you want to extend it instead of staying in a sitting position for a long time, which affects your knee, and it should not be too high to become uncomfortable for the shoulder and arms in order to use the computer. The main criterion for selecting furniture in this case is comfort and practicality, not a flashy look and feel… and that’s it.
2- Choosing the right place for the work environment
You must choose a suitable place carefully for the work environment, and there are criteria to determine whether the place you have chosen is suitable or not. What are the criteria for choosing the right place for the work environment?
- Good lighting
Lighting is a very important element in shaping the personal mood, so you should take great care of this aspect. It is important that the lighting is sufficient and bright enough to suggest work and support mental activity.
It is also important to avoid yellow lighting, which is uncomfortable for the eyes. One of the important things is also to adjust the lighting of the computer screen so that it is comfortable for the eyes. The computer screen lighting should not be so bright that it hurts the eyes, nor should it be very dim.
In the case of working in the evening, the computer screen must be set to night mode. - Good ventilation
It is better to have a balcony or a window in the work environment where fresh air enters, to change the room’s air daily, and to obtain good ventilation.
Also, it would be great if the work environment could be exposed to sunlight… The suffocating place where you cannot see the sun will make you feel suffocated, and you will not be comfortable in it. - Calm
Noise causes nervous tension, headaches, and distraction, which will hinder you from carrying out your tasks, so it is important to choose a quiet place away from street noise and others. So look carefully for a place where the three aforementioned criteria are available, and if two of the three are available, try to provide the third as much as possible.
3- Add more personality to the work environment.
Adding some personal items and belongings to the work environment can increase your emotional connection to and attachment to work.
However, it is critical to choose these items with care so that your workspace does not become cluttered, distracting you and making you uncomfortable while you work.
So it is also very important to first get rid of things that you don’t use often and that take up space on your desk. As for the personal things that you can add to the work environment, putting a favorite calendar that you buy yourself with a set of pens in your favorite colors will help you arrange your time, add important dates, and remember important dates.
Or you can put a picture of your family inside a small frame on your desktop, which will motivate you more to work, and some also put things that mean something to them personally or carry a beautiful memory. It may be a small doll, something handmade, or a notepad, while others write motivational phrases on a piece of paper and pin it where they can see it clearly.
It is also possible to print pictures that express your future dreams, such as the car you want to buy or the house you dream of living in, etc.
It is worth noting here that you can also add a personal touch to your computer by setting a suitable background and configuring your favorite browser the way you prefer.
4- Keep your desk clean.
The cleanliness of the work environment is one of the most important factors affecting productivity. If you are sitting in a messy place, you will most likely only think about how messy the place is and how you can clean it up quickly, which may be so messy that you don’t feel like cleaning it now and lose your desire to work.
Instead, cleaning your desk every day after you finish work and getting rid of things you don’t need will help you get more work the next day.
The view of a clean office will make you feel comfortable, and it may be your motivation to do work when you do not feel like doing it.
In addition to cleaning the office, making a list of what you need to do the next day will save you time from thinking about and preparing for it tomorrow. Some tasks or works may necessitate prior steps that should have been completed the day before, so you will be unable to complete them and must postpone them to the following day.
Imagine your desk is a new document or folder you just created on your desktop; an empty folder will allow your mind to focus better with less effort. Now imagine the same folder filled with various types of files, including photos, videos, and books; then you will find it difficult to find the file you want to find, and the same logic applies to the unorganized office.
5- Set aside space to keep the phone out of your sight.
Smartphones, tablets, and other electronic devices can help you stay organized by providing dedicated apps, but they can also be a major distraction and time waster.In the era of rapid technology, many screens compete to get our attention, and to overcome the temptation of those screens and notification sounds, it is necessary to allocate space in the work environment in which the phone and other smart tools can be kept. The drawer is the best place in the work environment to keep such tools. But are you afraid that your resolve will weaken and you will stretch your hand to the drawer and open it before completing the work? If you have these concerns, you can do the following:
- If there is a drawer lock or key to lock the drawer, lock it and keep the key in another room until you feel lazy enough to go there just to get the key to open the drawer and waste minutes of your day.
- You can use an application that prevents you from accessing your phone for a certain period that you specify, during which you can only access your phone for certain applications or for several seconds. And one of the best of those applications that I recommend to you is the lock me out application, as this application is characterized by denying you access to the phone except for a few seconds and obliging you to pay for full access to the phone before the end of the specified period.
6- Place some plants in the workplace.
Adding some live elements to your work environment, especially the color green, will refresh you and give you a sense of life. Green is one of the most popular and eye-pleasing colors, according to studies, and it calms, soothes, and reduces stress. It is even used in the treatment of nervous exhaustion, and many companies have recently resorted to providing employees’ offices with some plants because of their positive effect on the psyche of employees and their productivity.
And if you can’t get plants in the work environment, you can paint at least one side of the room your preferred shade of green.
And if you are good at drawing, or you can hire a professional to paint your favorite plant for you, or add at least a few leaves on the wall, this will give a better final look to the work environment.
Read also: Which is better, self-employment or government work?
