If you think improving your work environment costs too much and/or may take too much of your time, then please, think again.

By improving your work environment, you are making it easier for yourself to be more productive, effective and efficient at your work.

Additionally, making time to improve your environment is usually a one-off cost with a consistently growing return on your investment. This means that you will continue to reap the benefits of the improvements for a long time into the future. What’s more is that it doesn’t have to cost too much for most of the things that you can do to improve your environment.

Without further ado, let’s dive right in and discuss 5 ways you can improve your working environment. For more helpful IT career tips, news and job listings make sure you subscribe to Codeslaw, here.

Make your workspace comfy

There are a few key things that you can do to make your working environment comfier, including choosing the right chair and desk.

First, your chair should be ergonomic to support good sitting posture and to protect your back and neck. It’s a good idea to spend well on the best office chair that you can find because a good chair can literally last you a lifetime and prevent costly trips to the orthopedist. It will certainly be more economical to spend more on a good quality office chair than to buy several cheap chairs over time.

As for your desk, there are many options. Some swear by the automatic desks that can be adjusted for sitting and standing positions, while others prefer a good old desk with the proper height and enough space for the tools that they use.

Additionally, if you have space, having a couch where you can relax and take a quick nap is a good idea as well.

Let there be light!

Under perfect conditions, having large windows that can bring in lots of natural daylight is optimal. Daylight has been known to keep spirits high, prevent drowsiness and tiredness and a whole lot more to boost productivity.

If you can’t find a way to get the sun to shine in your workspace, you could try out some extra lights with adjustable fixtures.

On a slightly different but related note, if you use a computer monitor, protecting your eyes is also of paramount importance. Bright monitors (or laptop screens) can make your eyes tired and dry and this can highly reduce your productivity.

If you don’t have one of those really expensive monitors that can protect your eyes, then you should invest in one. In the meantime, turn down your monitor brightness, adjust the contrast and try using an awesome desktop app called flux or its equivalent. The app filters blue light from your monitor and makes it more comfortable to use at night.
 

Bring calm into your environment and get rid of distractions

If your work environment feels like it could do with a little bit of atmosphere and charm, then a great way to add some character is by incorporating some plant life. Plants in your working environment can also make you calmer.

There are of course many different plants that you can choose from to enhance your work environment. Just make sure that you choose a plant that you can take care of and easily manage. The choice of plants ranges from a Bonsai plants that need manicuring and lots of attention to cactus plants that need almost no attention.

Additionally, plants can add oxygen to your room and take away carbon dioxide which is very good for our health.

On the other end of the spectrum, having too much in your office can be a distraction that can reduce your productivity. De-cluttering your office and making sure that you only have deliberately chosen items to boost your productivity is imperative.

Nurture a friendly environment

Making your office comfortable is not just about buying or adding new stuff and moving stuff around. Enhancing your workspace by making it mentally, emotionally and spiritually nurturing can be of great help as well.

One way to do this is by nurturing your work relationships. In essence, it’s a lot easier to work with people that believe in you and inspire you to do better. That being said you need to put in the work to nurture these relationships.

There are several ways you can enhance and nurture your work relationships including:

• Expressing your appreciation and asking respectfully
• Engaging in evocative and meaningful dialogue.
• Being spontaneous at times and having some fun
• Listening to other people’s ideas and thoughts with patience and
• Trusting the people that you closely work with

Relax or focus with the right music

Another way that you can enhance your mental, emotional and spiritual environment is through music. Indeed, music has been said to be the food for the soul.

Depending on what you like to listen to, there is plenty to choose from. That being said, there are some types of music that are known to be perfect for a good working environment and you should certainly give them a go.

For example, classical music and especially baroque is great because it has a repeated rhythmic pattern and doesn’t have peaks and bottoms that can easily distract you. Additionally, music without vocals or instrumental music of your choice can be great to listen to when you are working.

If you have other people around you, be kind and respectful enough to use headphones so that you don’t distract them.

Improving your working environment in 5 key ways mentioned above is bound to bear fruit sooner than later. In fact, in some instances, you will experience immediate boosts in your productivity. Try these solutions and see what difference it makes.

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