Want to know how to optimise your work environment? There is no point in learning all of the productivity hacks in the world, but then having a work environment that is working against you. Keep on reading to find out 7 different ways to optimise your work environment.
7 WAYS TO OPTIMISE YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT
1 – Create a comfortable working space
Now you might be someone who likes to sit whilst you type, or you might be more new-age and prefer to stand whilst you type. Either way make sure you have a comfortable, and supportive, workspace. If you are sitting in an uncomfortable chair that causes you back pain then you won’t be concentrating as well as you could on your work. Before anything else you should try, as much as possible, to ensure that your workspace is as comfortable as possible.
2 – Establish what sound background works best for you
When most people think about optimising their working environment they are inclined to think about what they see (what is on their desk and surrounding walls) and how they feel (temperature, the chair they are sitting on), but what you hear is also very important.
People vary when it comes to what sounds help them to work. Some people like complete silence, some like music, some like white noise. You might automatically know exactly what works best for you and where possible you should create that environment. However, if you aren’t sure yet then play around. Spend a morning or afternoon in silence, then listen to white noise, then try different types of music and see how it impacts your mood and productivity.
Hopefully, this example shows how by flipping the belief you can look for examples that reinforce the opposite and therefore prove that the belief is an opinion rather than an actual fact.
3 – Make sure you have enough light
Lighting is another crucial element to consider when optimising your work environment. In an ideal world, you want to have a space with lots of natural light, but that isn’t always possible. If you are in a situation where you can’t rely on natural light then be sure to have enough lighting to be able to clearly see everything you have to do.
4 – Remove or minimalise notifications on your phone
Mobile phones are massive distractors and drastically reduce your productivity. Every single time your phone beeps in some way you are likely to check it and this takes you aware from what you are currently working on. Then once you’ve finished and you go back to task, but you’ll have to get back into it. This is called context switching and you want to limit the amount of context switching you are doing in your working day.
In order to optimise your working environment, the best thing you can do is eliminate notifications altogether by having your mobile phone turned off, not in the room or on aeroplane mode. However, if you need your phone for work then as a minimum you should turn off all non-essential notifications.
5 – Have water on your desk
Keeping hydrated is key for productivity so make your life easy and have water on your desk. You can have a jug and glass or a fancy water bottle. What the water is in doesn’t matter, but just the fact that you don’t have to get up every single time you want more water. You might think that having to get up for water is a good thing because then you’ll be taking frequent breaks and moving your body, but in most cases, people drink less water if they have to get up to drink some more water in comparison to when it is already on their desk or within easy access.
6 – Clear your desk at the end of the day
In an ideal world, you’d have a clear desk all of the time, but I’m well aware that in reality that can be very difficult. However, getting into the habit of clearing your desk at the end of the day will help to minimise the items that are on your desk on a daily basis. If you are struggling to clear your desk then you’ll need to think about what extra storage you need in order to make the end of day clean happen so you can start a new day with a nice clean desk.
7 – Place your goals in clear view
The fact you’ve decided to optimise your work environment means you want to perform at your best. That would indicate that it is important for you to be productive and do great work. Hopefully, that means your work is important to you and you have clear goals that you want to achieve. So why not put your goals in clear view.
Having your goals whether they be short terms goals for the week or long-term goals for the year, or even further ahead, will help ensure that you stay focused on the bigger picture and what you are ultimately trying to achieve.
Don’t already have goals set? Learn how to set goals using the Be, Do, Have model, SMART method or the Good, Better, Best model.
That’s it! You now know 7 different ways to optimise your work environment.
I hope by following these tips you’ll be able to increase your productivity and achieve great things.
In the comments, I would love to hear what tip you are going to implement first.
