Take a look around you. Is your office hurting or helping your productivity? Is it neat and uncluttered or messy and cluttered? Is it filled with knickknacks or empty and devoid of life? Your office can have a big influence on your productivity whether you realize it or not. Read on to discover ways to create a productive office.
Is Your Office Hurting Your Productivity? The 9 Tips To Help You Fight Back Are:
1. Organize Your Desk - Make sure that you use filing cabinets, desk organizers and other tools so that everything has a place. Use a desk organizer to help you keep track of your work in progress, prospects to follow-up on, etc. Filing cabinets can house the jobs you are not currently working on as well as, forms and other important documents that you do not need to have on your desk.
2. Organize Underneath Your Desk - Keeping your cords wrapped up and organized not only prevents you from getting your feet tangled in them, it also helps create a neat environment which helps inspire productivity.
3. De-clutter - If you have a ton of knickknacks on your desk, now would be a good time to pare them down. It is nice to keep a few things that remind you of home but too many can be distracting and take up a lot of your desk space.
4. Personalize Your Desk - While you do not want to have too many personal items on your desk, you should not have a bare desk or work area. Hang up at least one picture that inspires you, whether it be your family, friends or a relaxing scenic picture. Also, keep a fun knickknack around such as a brain teaser for when you need a few moments to regroup your thoughts. Taking a mini-break can help you be more productive and help you refocus on your task at hand.
5. Spring Cleaning - It doesn't have to be Spring in order to clean up. After you de-clutter, take the opportunity to clean your desk thoroughly. Computers tend to get very dusty and too much dust can eventually harm your computer. Vacuum, dust and clean your entire workspace as often as necessary to avoid this.
6. Go Green - Add some green to your office with a plant. Not only is it nice to have a plant in your office, it also helps the quality of air. Good air quality is important to a productive work environment. Furthermore, having a plant around contributes to a comfortable atmosphere in which to work in.
7. Be Comfortable - Be comfortable, but not toocomfortable. Your chair should be firm and ergonomically designed. Your desk and monitor should also be ergonomically designed to minimize repetitive stress syndrome. If your chair or desk is uncomfortable, you will most likely find a lot of excuses to get up which will lead to reduced productivity.
8. Be Efficient With Paperwork - Make sure that your desk is big enough to allow you to work on your paperwork without having to move things out of the way. The best thing to have is an L-shaped desk. This way you can swivel your chair between your computer and your work area whenever you need to.
9. Stay Organized - Now that you have a place for everything, keep everything in its place. It is counter-productive to start piling things up again (or doing whatever you used to do). Take the time to file everything away so that it is easily accessible. Filing at least once a day will help you stay organized and help prevent you from falling back into old patterns.
Summary: Your work environment has more impact on your productivity than you might think. Follow these steps to create an office that is conducive to being productive. Also, remember to take mini-breaks every so often to get refreshed and refocused. Keeping your office clean and clutter-free will help you feel better as well as help you get more accomplished.
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