How Your Workspace Can Affect Your Productivity
A dysfunctional work environment can make it very difficult to produce satisfactory results. You need to create just the perfect atmosphere to maximize your output and take advantage of your full potential. Maintaining the perfect balance is very important, and too much or too little of something can bring you back to square one. Your atmosphere includes everything from lighting, comfort, sounds to cleanliness, furniture, and distractions. So much so, even you mood has a huge impact on how well you work.
Here are some of the biggest game spoilers, and their solutions:
1) Lighting
It can be very difficult to focus on reading and writing while straining your eyes in an extremely dim light, or even when there’s just too much light and you need to squint to keep the light out of your eyes, only to realize that you now have a headache and an excuse for not working.
The best lighting would definitely be the sunshine. It’s not only refreshing, but it provides equally distributed light everywhere which does not allow your eyes to get strained. However, if time is not your side, you can set the indoor lighting according to your preferences as well. Just make sure that the lights do not create any shadows or glare on your reading and writing materials.
2) Temperature
In the beginning, you may find a hot or humid place “tolerable” enough to study in. but you don’t want “tolerable”. You need “comfortable”. And soon after, the sweating and heat will get to you and you won’t feel like working anymore. Even too cold environments can cause a lot of problems for you. You can’t expect yourself to be shivering and concentrating on work at the same time.
Make sure you have a thermostat to control the room temperature according to your need and if you’re in a public place with no access to the temperature control, you can keep a sweater or an ice cold glass of water with you.
3) Noise
Too much noise can easily distract you from your work and make it troublesome for you to concentrate. In fact, some people are so easily distracted that even the slightest noise in a quiet room can distract them.
The first thing you need to know is whether you do better in a completely quiet environment or do you find it comfortable to work in noise buzzing environments. Then you create such an environment for yourself and make sure nothing breaks the atmosphere you’ve created. You can use a “Do Not Disturb” sign as well to make sure you don’t get bothered in your working hours.
Another solution is music. Continuous, familiar background music is suitable for almost everyone. It’s much easier to tune out than the other surrounding noises and it can lighten up your mood and keep you energized.
4) Mood
Your mood is one of the most important factors which can affect your productivity immensely. You need to make sure you’re determined, motivated, relaxed and energized before you start your work.
Clear all your schedules and make sure you do not have somewhere to go or something to worry about. If something is on your mind, sit down and think about it for a few minutes to figure out how you’re going to tackle it. The next thing is energy. You can’t work on an empty stomach because this can be a terrible distraction. And low energy automatically means low motivation and dedication to work. You may just start trying to get it done in the hastiest way possible so you can quickly get a bite to eat. That will ruin both, your concentration and your productivity. Along with a proper intake of food, you need proper rest. Make sure you’re not deprived of sleep, because an unrested brain won’t do you any good, no matter how hard you try. And too much sleep will make you feel even more lethargic, and you’ll probably even have a headache. Make sure you get just the right amount of sleep to optimize your output. You can even add fresh and pleasing scents to keep you mood boosted.
5) Comfort
Another thing that needs the perfect balance. Too much of comfort, and you’ll find yourself waking up from an unplanned nap and wasted hours. Too little comfort, on the other hand, and you won’t be able to concentrate with all the squirming and fidgeting.
Look for a spot that’s not too comfy and sleep-inducing, and not something just plain uncomfortable, either.
6) Tidiness
A messy desk or workspace just shouts “unwelcomed”. You need to clear up your workspace and keep it as organized as possible. A neat place will always prove to be a more motivating environment to work in.
7) Interruptions
This basically means managing the people around you. Whether they’re spouses, co-workers or children. They can be one heck of a distraction which can make you leave your work altogether. You need to give them a polite, yet clear, signal to let them know that you’re busy and you do not want to be disturbed. You can provide possible interrupters with another suitable time to talk to you so that you can give them your complete attention without it affecting your work.
Following these steps and making changes accordingly will immediately show you the difference in mood, boost in motivation, improved concentration and better productivity. You will feel like your creative juices are flowing again at full speed. Even studies have proven that a good workspace and mood could significantly and positively influence our work. Even if you do not know how to get started, start off by knowing yourself. Try working in different levels of the above mentioned factors and see how each one affects you. Select the best suitable settings for you and you will be able to see the improvements instantly.