Do you feel productive while at work? Apart from the occasional distraction and space-out, we’re expected to perform at the top of our game when working. So what do you do if you feel your thoughts wandering off when they should be focusing?

Did you know your work space could be to blame for this rather than your brain? Whatever type of office you work in (home, private, or co-working space), if you feel unable to focus at work and perform as needed, you may be able to make some changes to boost productivity.

Where you work has a direct impact on how you work. Our brains can’t possibly handle constant focus, but setting up our surroundings to increase focus is very feasible! The importance of office design is not recognized by everyone, but you can make some small changes that make a big difference whether you are an employee or employer.

Tips for Everyone

1. Give Your Workspace Life- Natural light and plants boost our energy and happiness levels in our work environment. If you have an office with no windows or don’t possess a green thumb, try artificial light and plants. Opt for ones that emulate the real thing as closely as possible. Try to use individual lighting for each work station. Indirect lights tend to be more soothing, especially for those hovering over a computer all day. Overhead lights can have a negative effect on our vision. Personalize your workspace (bosses, make sure this is possible!) with things that boost your creativity. It’s much easier to get in the workflow when we are surrounded with things we love that inspire us.
2. Keep Clutter to a Minimum- “A messy office helps my job run smoother,” said no one ever. Efficiency is a key component in productivity and you can’t be efficient in a mess. Find a place for everything, and do your best to keep everything in its place. Clutter can also be distracting when you’re trying to work; you see something and start putting your focus there, rather than where it currently belongs. Plus, your clutter could be making your coworkers miserable. Being organized can be pretty hard for some. If this is you, try to designate 10 or so minutes each day to de-cluttering your workspace. This might work best for you in the morning before you start work, or at the end of the workday before you head home.
3. Do Harder Tasks During Your Individual Peak Hours- Everyone runs on their own engine, and times that are more productive for some may be your lowest points. Learn your productivity behavior and pay attention to when you are at your most creative, and when you are the least. Schedule your day around these times, leaving the harder tasks that require more focus for when you are at the peak of your day, and the easier tasks for when you are slowly chugging along out of sheer force.

Tips for Employers

1. Make the Office Comfortable- Obviously not too comfy- you’re not looking to put people to sleep here. But you definitely want your employees to feel comfortable in the space they work in. Don’t skimp on office furniture that you are forcing others to work in. Try to provide ergonomic chairs and desks that best suit your employees needs and comfort levels. Employees should be able to feel at ease and able to focus on work, not on that uncomfortable chair you put them in that leaves them with back pain every night. Also, make sure the office temperature is regulated by someone actually in the office, so they can determine if it needs to change. Temperature can really decrease our comfort levels and in turn, our productivity.
2. Provide a Flexible Workspace- We understand some offices may not provide many solutions to this, but you want your office space to be flexible. By this we mean employees should be able to get up, walk around, stretch their legs, etc. without feeling the eagle-eyes of the boss on them. They should also have more than one particular work area if you can manage it. Maybe a nice quiet area for employees when they really need to dig in and focus without distraction, and a larger, open area with several options for collaborating with team members. This is one of the perks of trending open offices and co-working spaces. They tend to have several different areas in which you can work-both private and social- to suit the current needs of the job. Letting employees change up their work environment to cater to their tasks is a great way to keep momentum going and encourage productivity.
3. Consider Work-From-Home Days- Again, not all companies can pull this off, but if yours can, give it some consideration. A lot of positions can be successfully managed from home with today’s available technology and communication tools. Employees who are able to work from home for one or several days a week are more likely to be productive with their work. There are several reasons behind this.

Firstly, people are likely to be happier working at home. Many of us would love to work from home, in our pjs, and avoiding the morning and evening commutes. Happy people are proven to work more productively. That makes sense, right? If you are in a bad mood, do you really want to work? And can you even really focus with all of those unhappy thoughts distracting you? Happy = productive.

Another pro to working from home is that employees tend to work longer. Without two daily commutes taking away work time, employees who work from home typically start working sooner and continue through the day later. Break times aren’t as long, because they are already working in a comfortable space that they don’t need to “get away” from. Lastly, distractions like chatty co-workers and break rooms aren’t available to pull employees away from their focus.

4. Provide the Appropriate Tools- This is so important! Trying to perform tasks without the proper or adequate tools or technology is like trying to push water uphill. Talk about wasting time, energy, work, resources; just about everything you can waste, will be wasted on this. If the technology you provide your employees is not up to date, their work speed will be hugely decreased. Also, trying to get employees to use old, out of date, or pirated software is not only unprofessional, but inefficient. They are already working for you, don’t make their jobs harder. Supply your team with the appropriate tools that they need to get the job done professionally and proficiently.

Do you have a sure-fire tip to getting productive at work? We’d love to hear it! Share it with us in the comments below!

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