The surroundings and environment that make up our work space can have a powerful influence on our level of success and enjoyment of work. It has a direct effect on our motivation and drive, energy level, productivity, stress and anxiety, and overall emotional state of mind. Bottom line is our work environment has a direct link to whether or not we overall enjoy or dread our time working.

You may not have the option to remodel the office or work from home to lower your stress level but that doesn’t mean you can’t make some changes to your personal work space for a more positive work environment. The average person spends 40 hours a week at work so the space you work in is a very important element in your life.

Sometimes it’s the small things we never think about that can have a major impact on us. Here are 5 key elements you can address in your work space to make it a positive, effective, and inspiring work space.

5 key elements to creating a positive and inspiring work space

1. Organization: Control your work, don’t let your work control you. Working in an organized and clean space can keep your anxiety and stress levels down and efficiency and productivity up. Surveys show people spend 15-45 minutes a day looking for things. This equates to 2-6 weeks a year of lost productivity. When you’re physically organized, your thoughts are more organized because you know where everything is and what work needs to be done. This also applies to computer files.

2. Position of power:   Take control of your space. Where you sit and what direction you face can have an effect on your comfort level. Having your back facing the entrance to your work space causes higher stress levels and lack of concentration. Studies have shown business settings with open floor layouts that are heavily populated reduce the comfort and privacy an employee needs to be effective and leads to decreased productivity and increase in anxiety and stress. The goal is to have the right amount of personal space and privacy to conduct your work with little outside distractions to pull you away from work load.  Working from home has become a popular topic and offers more space and privacy but usually has increased distractions unless you can create a work only space in your home to limit the personal distractions.  The goal is to have adequate space to feel comfortable with your work load and peaceful surrounds to inspire motivation while keeping distractions outside your job function to a minimum to maximize the efficiency and enjoyment of the work.

3. Lighting:   Good lighting can help lower eye strain, increase energy, and even brighten moods.  Florescent lighting is not the best lighting to use but is typical found in an office space layout because of low energy cost. What you can do is supplement the fixed lighting in your work area with a desk light or lamp.

4. Bring the outside in:  To add comfort and have a lower stress work environment, here are 3 things to consider adding to your work space to bring the outside element indoors. 

• Plants- They reduce stress, project energy, and filter the air of pollutants.

• Outdoor View- Create a visual escape and open up the work space beyond the 4 walls by choosing a work space with a window, and if you can’t, then add pictures. You can add amazing landscapes of just about anything with a theme calendar or large picture.

• Element of Water- This is a proven stress reliever. You can add the element of water into your space by simply incorporating it into pictures in the space, or having a desk top water fountain.

5. Comfort and Personal Touch: We all want a work space that is comfortable to work in and adding your personal touch to the space can actually make you feel more comfortable and more productive as long as they don’t become distracting.

Here are 3 key things to help maximize your comfort level and add a personal touch.

• Personal Pictures and computer backgrounds- Use pictures for emotional triggers to remind you of loved ones, good times, inspire motivation, and what we’re working for. Use a picture that promotes the energy you NEED and WANT in the space. If your child is your inspiration, perhaps a picture of your child playing in the yard to keep you smiling through the day and remind you of the joy they bring. If you’re looking for motivation, try using a picture that speaks to you with excitement and energy like a picture of a hobby you enjoy doing.

• Sound- Control the sound in your surrounding area by adding or limiting sounds. Sometimes adding music in your work space can improve moral and help block out other distractions. You can use a small fan for the white noise. They offer to help drown out distractions or alter the silence of the space.

• Words of motivation and Inspiration- Words of inspiration in the work space can have a powerful effect on our emotional state of mind and energy level.  Adding a small inspirational sign or favorite inspirational quote can help increase work drive, acting as a motivational trigger.

Now it’s time to take charge of your work space. Make a list of what you want for your ideal work space with this article in mind. Then take a look at your space and see what changes you can make to create the inspiring work area you want, and start enjoying your work.

Article source: https://www.danskarie.com/blog/5-keys-to-creating-a-positive-inspiring-work-space Author: Dan Skarie © Oct 2017 www.danskarie.com