At the start of a new year there's generally always this urge to revamp our lives, and that can often extend to redesigning our living or work spaces. With work from home being the new normal, it's important to make sure that any redesign facilitates productivity; especially for those of us who WFH in our rooms or in unconventional spaces in our homes.
If you find that you've been struggling with productivity when you're at home or lacking motivation to complete your tasks, it's possible that you need to redesign your workspace to facilitate your productivity.
So how can you redesign your workspace to work for you?
Here are a few things you can do to improve your work environment:
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Clean your desk and make it clutter-free as it boosts mood and creativity. Desk organisers are great for this. Click here for my favourite desk organiser .
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Invest in good lighting. A well-lit, nicely designed work space is needed to boost creativity and motivation. Click here for my favourite desk lighting .
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Put your phone inside a drawer, or in the other room, or somewhere where you cannot access it while working.
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Make sure there’s not excessive noise in the area.
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Invest in motivational art pieces to create a gallery behind your desk.
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Try to mirror your office routine of getting up to stretch your legs for a coffee/tea to keep yourself moving.
Based on the above tips, what are the key areas you need to focus on when redesigning your workspace to be more productive?
Organisation
Nobody knows you better than yourself, so it's important that you pick the right organisational tools for you to boost your productivity. If you prefer pen and paper, you may find it necessary to invest in a wall planner, whiteboard, notepad and pen, and post-stick notes to stay on top of your productivity.
If you prefer a digital approach, you may find it necessary to be familiar with great apps like Notion for planning, Toggl for time tracking, Key Notes for your digital diary, and Asana for task management.
Lighting
Lighting is important to help keep us focussed. Natural lighting is typically best, but if that isn't possible, you may want to invest in a good desk lamp: Click here for my favourite desk lighting .
Noise
Everyone has a different level of tolerance to noise, you may find that you work best with Dexta Daps, Tom Misch, or Beethovan, so you need to figure out what works well for you. You need to determine your optimal noise level and ideally create an optimal playlist that you can regularly refer to to help you get into the zone.
Routine
If you've watched my Day in The Life of a Trainee Solicitor video, you'll know that I start my day with some light yoga. This is because we spend so much time sitting down that it's important to keep the body moving. Try to maintain a similar routine to what you would have in the office by getting up to stretch your legs every 1.5 - 2 hours.
Hopefully you've found this useful, and as ever, there's always more on my Instagram: @Successwstephuk.
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