Create a Work Space to Increase your Productivity

Having a work space that you enjoy working in will have a direct impact on your work output and quality. We  know productivity can be affected in many ways. In my opinion, one of the biggest influences on our work and productivity is the space in which we work. Whether your work space is overlooking a beach, a small 3×3 cubical or an ultra modern open plan high-rise, there needs to be one common factor … you need to like it! Enjoying the space where you work doesn’t mean you need to be in fairyland all day. You just need to find your working environment a pleasant and creative domain to spark ideas, knuckle down for deadlines, and liaise with clients.

I’m sure you have probably heard of the Google offices and how much emphasis they put on their employee’s workspace. If not, lets just say, having a meeting room with cable-car style cubicles actually rotating around the room is probably not something the majority of us can afford to do. I’ll try and list some of the factors that I think most of us can change in our work environment, that could be affecting your productivity.

Rent an Office Space with Room to Grow

If you’re a business owner and in a position to rent your own office, you obviously want one where productivity and creativity are going to thrive. You are going to need desks, storage, meeting tables, but also think about the things that might help you and your staff unwind or focus when it counts. You could have some beanbags around, a comfortable lounge or some bar stools. Having somewhere else to sit other than your desk gives you timeout from your computer and another area to think, reflect and unwind. When you’re renting an office, think about what you can add to make it more appealing to work in. If you can’t afford to buy extra furniture when first renting, that’s no problem – you may be in a better position a few months down the track. Just keep it in mind when your looking around – plan for the future – and for productivity.

Unwind at Work

Have you ever been so stressed out at work and have so many things to do you don’t know where to start? Well, if you have, you could probably do with some sort of wind down at work. At our web design studio we have a lounge, a tropical fish aquarium, a plasma TV and an XBox games machine to help us unwind. You may think “how do you get any work done?” … well we do, and lots of it. We can break up our day with a lie down on the lounge, a quick game on the XBox or clear our minds by staring at the fish swimming around and then come back to our computers feeling rejuvenated and focused.

It’s also good having something to look forward to, during the day. If you set yourself goals during the day, knowing there is a reward of some sort when you’re complete, you’ll find you work harder and are more productive. You may even lose track of time. Quite often I’ve thought I had been working for an hour when really it was three!

Some experts believe that you should take any potential distractions away from your work environment, so your mind doesn’t wander. In my experience, the opposite is much more effective. I like to call them positive distractions. If your mind is wandering while working, you’re probably not doing your job at 100% and you need some timeout. So, take a break, do something to clear your mind and come back to it.

Declutter, Declutter, Declutter

One very simple way to increase your productivity is to declutter your work space. If you’ve got folders or stacks of paper on or around your desk, process them and put them away. The same goes for your computer desktop. Clear your desktop of unused icons and if you have time maybe look at your folder structure and see if you can add any shortcuts or change things around to make file browsing easier.

If you work at a desk which has its own drawers, (I’m going out on a limb here!) but it’s probably full of unused junk. Take five minutes to go through it and throwout those pens that don’t work, the staples that are to small for the stapler and the three year old blue-tack that is now like concrete.

With a uncluttered draw, clean desk and streamline folder structure, your mind should feel that bit more clean, uncluttered and streamlined.

The Small Things Count

There are many small aspects in your work environment that can leave a negative impression on what you do. You could have a squeaky chair that is irritating you, a flickering light that distracts you, or even a painting you don’t like on the wall. These may seem like small things but if they irritate you, your work could be suffering because of them.