Ever since the earliest lockdown restrictions left the vast majority of the world’s workforce operating from home, many have realized just how challenging it can be to stay motivated and productive in a remote environment. With so many distractions nearby, it can be tricky to keep on track with your work schedule when all the ingredients for banana bread are just a few meters away.
Fortunately, most remote professionals have learned to adopt the essential practices needed to stay focused when working from home. Time management, setting work boundaries, and keeping a routine are techniques that make productivity possible.
However, office productivity goes beyond productivity hacks and sleep schedules as environmental factors also influence productivity. The overall look, layout, and functionality of your home office space will have a considerable influence on how productive you are in general. Therefore, it makes sense why considerations like interior design, furniture choice, tech devices, and lighting are fundamental.
So, we’ve listed some practical approaches to switch up your home office space for boosted productivity.
Upgrade The Lighting
Lighting has much more impact on productivity and motivation than most of us would imagine. But beyond this, if the lighting in your work environment is not suitable, you will also be harming your vision health over time.
Natural light is always a good idea. Studies on the link between productivity and sunlight suggest that sunlight plays an essential role in employee mental wellbeing, productivity, and even job satisfaction. That’s more than enough reason to let the sun illuminate your workspace.
However, sunlight alone is often not enough, and there is also the concern of screen glare. Furthermore, if you don’t have an additional light source in your office, gloomy and stormy days will entail working in a poorly lit office. It’s wise to opt for bright white or cool white overhead lighting and task lighting such as a desk lamp.
Consider Creating A Coffee Nook
You might be wondering how a coffee nook could benefit your productivity. And while most benefits are associated more with drinking a healthy amount during the day, having a coffee station inside your office means you’ll have less reason to leave your office. So, you’ll lose less work time.
All you’ll need to create a functional station is a coffee machine for your home office, a few mugs, coffee ingredients, teaspoons, etc. While you don’t have to invest effort into creating an interior design marvel, you can decorate the station to your preferences.
A Daily Task Vision Board
Vision boards are pretty fun to make and can be exceptionally decorative. What’s more, instead of adding long-term visions, hopes, and ambitions, you could have a vision board to showcase your daily workflow tasks and responsibilities.
If you have everything from your schedule in front of you, you will be more likely to stay on track with the day. Decorative boards, large chalkboards, or even large whiteboards are all suitable options for a workflow task board.
Assess Your Office Tech
There’s no doubt that you need a variety of tech devices in your office for it to be functional in the 21st Century. The most common device essentials include routers, laptops, PCs, printers, scanners, and wireless gadgets.
If your office tech is outdated or not working correctly, productivity is likely an uphill battle; we can all genuinely relate to the frustration of a lousy internet connection or a printer that refuses to print.
When it comes to the key task of choosing the right tech, you’ll need to consider quality, cost, and functionality.
Blocking Out Sound Disturbances
A pretty common problem among remote professionals is the struggle to concentrate in a noisy environment. Unfortunately, unlike corporate buildings, residential properties are exposed to a pretty endless variety of noises, from traffic sounds and other external noises to those that may exist within the home.
If you have a family or animals, your home probably gets a bit rowdy from time to time; dogs bark, children play, and a variety of noisy tech is included in just about everyone’s day.
The best way to block out these noise distractions is to invest in a good pair of headphones. These will be handy for virtual video calling, so consider them a wise investment for your career. You can also consider an indoor water wall to counter sound disturbances with soothing white noise, keep your office door closed, and use an area rug as soundproofing.
Invest In Air Quality
With pollution on the rise and climate change worsening, it’s more clear now why clean air is so important. Air quality impacts everything surrounding physical health.
Improving indoor air quality can boost your mood, improve your sleep quality, boost blood circulation, and even reduce stress and anxiety. And when these areas of health improve, productivity is possible.
There are also several different approaches to improving air quality. You can invest in an air conditioning unit that will filter air constantly and also control temperature. These can be pricey, though, so smaller portable air purifiers are also an option.
Furthermore, plants also naturally filter the air, so simply using a few indoor plants to liven up your home office is also an effective way of improving air quality.
Decorate Like A Minimalist
The ideal home office is neat, organized, and void of clutter. And because decor items can double-up as clutter creators if there are too many things, it’s best to decorate like a minimalist.
It’s essential to have some decor to lift your mood and add to a positive atmosphere, although too much decor can be a visual distraction.
In addition to the above approaches, you should also invest in an ergonomic chair, or alternatively, a standing desk. Posture also impacts productivity substantially, so furniture choice is crucial. That said, the more you invest in transforming your office into a functional and productive environment, the more effortless it will be to adopt a routine that pushes your productivity levels up.
