5 Simple Ideas To Create A Productive Workspace
Whether your current workstation is a desk in the spare room or a laptop on the kitchen table, the key to creating a productive workspace is designing an area where you actually want to sit and work. Any working area needs to be functional - but it is also important that it is inviting if it is to keep you sitting there for a period of time. With that in mind, here are my top five quick, easy and cheap tips for creating a visually appealing, practical workspace - wherever you are!
Add a small jar of cut flowers
A small vessel of cut flowers brightens up any space and adds colour. If you don’t have a short vase, jam jars and washed out candle containers work well. Add a few cuttings from the garden - or cut wildflowers from the roadside. Lilacs are currently blooming in hedgerows all over the country and provide scent, as well as look pretty. The key here is to keep it a small posy - avoid large vases or lots of flowers that will just be too bulky and will block and clutter up your workspace.
Make sure there is scent
If your cut flowers are free from fragrance, add a small travel-size scented candle to burn while you are working. Scent is inviting and creates a calming atmosphere. Avoid overly heavy perfume smells, keeping it light and fresh with citrus or berry notes. Hints of lavender or jasmine are particularly good to lower work-induced stress. If you would rather not burn candles, then essential oil pods and natural room differs users also work well.
Small travel candles work perfectly to add a pleasing scent to your working area without taking up too much space.
Add a lamp
Lighting is important in any situation, but particularly for productivity. On darker days, avoid working under harsh overhead lighting such as spotlights and glaring pendants by adding a task lamp. If you do not have a desk lamp, borrow a bedside table light or a side light from your living space. An atmospheric lamp will make your workspace feel more cosy, comforting and inviting than working in a stark, bright room.
A task lamp illuminates your workspace, feels more cosy and is less stark than overhead lighting.
Put stationary in an attractive pot
One of the biggest problems when working from home is getting distracted. Wondering off to find a new pen or a highlighter will often involve you getting distracted by the TV, the fridge or putting on a load of washing! Have everything you need to hand before you sit down to work. Rather than having pens rolling all over your workstation and falling on the floor, locate an attractive pot to put them in. You don’t have to buy something specifically for this - just choose your favourite decorative kitchen jug, or again, an old candle container works well.
Keep organised with pretty pots for your pens and other stationary.
Keep it Clutter-Free
A messy workspace is not something anyone ever wants to stay at - keep everything you need as clutter-free as possible. An acrylic tray will keep a number of items tidy without looking bulky as it is see-through. If your workstation is against a wall, add a square piece of cork or wire mesh to create an instant pin-board for notes or placement of stationery items.
Try and keep your workspace as clutter free as possible and choose a desk tidy that is attractive and not bulky.
1. Type 80 Desk Lamp by Anglepoise via Heals / 2. Diptyque Travel Candle Set via John Lewis / 3. Ferm Living Candle Snuffer via Amara / 4. Kate Spade Polka Dot Stapler via Amara / 5. HAY marbled pot via Selfridges / 6. Vitra Desk Today via Heals / 7. House Doctor Notice Board via Royal Design / 8. Neom Wellbeing Pod Diffuser via John Lewis.
