Our office atmospheres have a huge effect on our overall motivation, performance, and energy throughout the day. Whether you’re at a desk job or are constantly moving during work, each person’s mental health can drastically change depending on the corporate structure they are placed in. Everyone has a slightly different working preference, so finding an approach that perfectly fits each worker’s needs is difficult for any company to accomplish. If you happen to be stuck within closed doors or worse, at the dreaded cubicle, we have a few tips to help improve your employee health and make office work a little more bearable. Depending on if you are an entry level worker or a team leader, there are structures and practices that you can place on a daily basis to help elevate your environment. With enough practice and dedication on your part, you can maintain a high level of productivity and motivation to push through even the highest mountains of office work.
Promote Productivity
While most companies have pretty strict expectations on their hours, most feel burnt out from constantly working from 9 to 5. Treat your breaks as an important part of the day and take the time to move around outside, stretch or read a magazine. It can make an enormous difference in your motivation. According to Business News Daily, our productivity lowly diminishes the longer we crank out projects without time to recuperate.
Another great way to help increase your performance is to streamline your space and de-clutter anything that is on your desk. Having a neat and clean environment to start helps your thinking process and produce better results in the end. Adding bright pops of color or even live plants can also help boost your mood after you’ve organized your notes into their designated areas. For example, according to some interior designers, adding pops of the color blue creates a feeling of calmness to help with reduced creativity. On the flip side, adding the color red to your work space helps boost awareness of projects that require higher levels of accuracy and close attention to detail. Take the time to research what can work best for you and make changes on what you personally enjoy the most!
Create Comfort
Not everyone has a corner office and plush chairs to match at their workplace. An easy to help make your office work day a little better is to make your space just as comfortable as it is neat. Constantly staring down at your computer screen can create a strain on your neck and negatively impact your mental health over time. One fix to is to invest in a laptop riser to make it eye-level or add a foam cushion to lean on. Some workers are known to even add a foot rest or replace their chair with a yoga ball to make their space more customized. Office jobs can also be notoriously freezing, especially to women. Bringing a cozy blanket, extra sweatshirt, or scarf to leave by your desk will save discomfort and frustration in the future.
Remember Why
Whether it’s a framed picture of your loved one or favorite vacation destination, leaving mental reminders of why you are working so hard can help you push through the hardest days. Whenever you feeling burnt out, just take a few minutes to step back and reflect on those influences in your life. It never fails to make you feel happier and get through your office work with a boosted sense of vitality.
Another way to keep yourself focused to finish your task is to create specific to-do lists to check off throughout the day. Many successful professionals account their productivity to making lists first thing in the morning and marking them off one by one. The sense of satisfaction of completing each task is worth it, and can keep you feeling positive to keep up the drive. An easy start is to prioritize each task and start with the most difficult one to knock it out of the way as soon as possible.
Practicing Mindfulness
While it is not exactly possible to change all aspects of your work environment, with these tips you can change your perspective and elevate your mood, motivation, and energy levels throughout the day as a result. There’s also many other proven methods to prevent your desk job from killing your drive. Remember, being successful and sustaining productivity starts with making a change within yourself!
