7 tips to improve your office workspace

Your office workspace may be at home or within a massive corporate building. Whatever the situation, it is a good idea to make your office space a little more personalized and a lot more efficient. If we leave the personalization side of it to you and concentrate on the efficiency side, here are seven tips you can use to improve your office workspace.

 

1 – Install more filing cabinets

They are great for files and also great for storing just about anything. Other more decorative drawers are stupidly inefficient, whereas filing cabinets can hold a lot of items, and look perfect in the office. They are the most efficient use of space you can hope for, so buy lots of them and use them to store everything.

 

2 – Have a hardfloor or very thin carpet

You need this because your chair should have wheels, and you should be using them. You would be surprised how much time and effort is wasted by getting up and down from your chair. If you need something out of your coat pocket, then roll over to the coat hook and roll back. If you need to shut your door then roll over, shut it, and roll back.

 

3 – Keep cleaning material in a small closet/cupboard

This is important because you need to clean your office after every work day. This is a massive productivity aid because walking into a messy office is the worst way to start your day. If you keep the cleaning materials anywhere other than a small cupboard within your office, then you can bet your bottom dollar that you will not clean your office every night before you leave.

 

4 – Learn the value of shelves

Especially high up ones, because your walls are wasted space. You do not even need to fill the shelf space, just make sure that you have it available. Because anything that creates a semblance of order and stops desk clutter is going to save you hours of unproductive time.

 

5 – Have your PC screen on a different surface to your desk

Looking at anything that is close to you for an extended time is going to make your eyes less able to focus on things further away. You will also find that it you will get aches and pains from sitting in the same position all the time. Place your monitor on a movable surface so that you can place it in different positions, including further away and closer, at the drop of a hat.

 

6 – Learn to love the headset and microphone combo

They are great for use in a busy office where there is lots of noise. Put on the headphones to cancel out a bit of background noise and turn on a bit of music if the office has suddenly gotten a lot louder.

Online chatting is also going to reduce your phone bills, and the headset earphones and microphone combo are very cheap in shops. You can buy yourself a set and start having a few more conversations online in order to save money on phone calls.

 

7 – Invest in two office chairs

Lots of business people do this but they have a clever way of hiding it. All you do is buy two chairs and have one of them at the other side of your desk so that people can sit down when they visit.

You need two office chairs that are of different styles as it will increase your productivity. Buy a chair that has no arm rests and a very strong and very upright backrest. This is your productivity chair and it is the one you use when you have a deadline. Our minds wander naturally from between 30% to 70% of the time (it is the human animal in us). You can reduce this time by not allowing yourself any comfort.

If you have arm rests then your chair cannot be pulled fully towards the table, which is going to cause you to stretch out your arms and make you tired quicker. The arm rest are also little time vampires that draw your arms to them like bottle to the mouths of AA attendees. The hard back of your productivity chair will also force you to sit upright which will increase your productivity.

On your lazy work days you should switch your chair for a more comfortable one. One that is padded, that has a flexible back, and that has arm rests. This will allow you to take a break from the stress filled busy days and enjoy your work.

 

Author: Sonia Jackson