When you look around your office, you might think that you have everything you need to do your job. A lot of workers and business owners fail to realize that their environments lack several key components for making work less difficult and stressful. If your offices lacks any of the following elements, add them today:
Bright Light
Since poor lighting can affect your productivity, mood, motivation and vision in a negative fashion, it is critical that your office have bright lighting. Add desk or floor lamp lights. Additionally, if your office has windows, invest in window film designed to look like etched glass. Beyond letting in a lot of natural light, privacy film that has an etched appearance makes a space appear more professional.
White Board
Children grow up using whiteboards in classrooms to brainstorm and organize projects. It almost makes no sense at all that adults stop using whiteboards and become dependent on software-based tools. An electronic whiteboard is the best of both worlds. It makes it possible for you to write something on your physical whiteboard and then share it electronically with the rest of your team.
Resting Furniture
At several points during your workday, you are going to need to rest. You might even tax their mind and energy so much that you need a nap. Whether you have a small or large office does not matter. Resting furniture is any type of furniture that you can relax on, such as a couch, futon, bench or exercise mat. Make certain that you also have a blanket and small pillow stored in the room so that you can rest more comfortably if you decide to nap.
Colored Paperclips
The color of the paperclips you use to organize documents might not seem to matter, but many people find organization easier when they separate categories by color. For example, you might use green paperclips for documents related to approved upcoming or successfully finished projects. You might use red paperclips on documents that have errors, need drafted or signed immediately or relate to urgent upcoming project deadlines. Yellow paperclips might serve as a reminder that documents relate to projects that need more input or that remain on hold.
Music Player
According to several research studies, certain types of music improve productivity by blocking out loud office noises, such as copiers, fax machines and printers and people talking in groups or on phones in open, low cubicle wall floor plans. Music usually helps workers focus better on their tasks and make fewer mistakes by triggering pleasant responses in the brain that increase feelings of motivation and lower negative, distracting thoughts. Some workers respond better to music that has no words. Sometimes workers need music with a beat to feel more energetic.
All of these things can not only improve your productivity and mood in the long run, but also your ability to retain important information and meet deadlines. A healthy, happy worker or boss is also better able to cultivate better professional and private relationships with coworkers, vendors and customers. Over time, you might find yourself facing a promotion for no other reason than you impressed someone with positive changes in your attitude and work that came about by adding these five seemingly small and unimportant everyday things to your office.
