Studies have shown that your surroundings influence your mood, productivity, and efficiency. Simple tweaks like changing the layout of your office or applying a fresh coat of paint can make you work more effectively, leading to a healthier work-life balance. To improve your workspace and mental health simultaneously, either at home or at the office, use the following doctor-backed tips.
Aesthetics: Organization and Meaningful Objects
Tidy spaces can make you feel content, while a cluttered desk will lead to stress and make one feel overwhelmed. You can keep your remote work environment or office clean by removing anything that doesn’t add to your happiness or isn’t required for work. Remove all distractions.
At the same time, you don’t want to devoid your space of any personality. Most offices allow you to place objects on your desk or pin papers to your cubicle. As long as you don’t feel tempted to play with these objects, feel free to add mood-boosting, meaningful items to your environment.
Sensory: Lights, Temperature, Smells, Sound, Color
The 5 senses play a prominent role in how related, comfortable and safe we feel. For example, loud noises and harsh lighting can exacerbate our agitation and anxiety, while cold, dark spaces can make us feel unmotivated. To start, wear earplugs or headphones to block out noise.
At home, adjust the temperature or wear warm clothing until you feel cozy. Keep the room bright, either with natural lighting or UV lamps. Paint your room using warm colors, like yellow, orange, and red, because they evoke feelings of energy, optimism, happiness, and alertness.
In an office, you won’t have too much control over the overhead lighting or paint, but you can bring the outside indoors. Online flower shops, like Bouqs, have a section filled with blooms that qualify for their same-day flower shipping. Smelling flowers reduces feelings of fear and anxiety.
Culture and Values: The Work-Life Connection
An often underlooked aspect of personalization is workplace culture. No matter how much you love working in your space, a poor work culture that doesn’t share your values will inevitably make you feel misunderstood. To be appreciated at a deeper level, you may need to change where you work. Otherwise, feelings of depression and isolation can arise.
People: Consistent Communication
Does your personalized workspace allow for open communication, or are you cut off from the rest of your office? Is your remote work setting isolating you from your peers? Either way, creating a space that encourages people to speak to you will boost your mood.
Constant conflict, inconsistent interactions, and indirect communication will make you feel like you’re around unreliable people, which can be stressful to manage. Sharing a space with someone you trust, whether it’s a partner, friend, or roommate, will make you happy.
Familiarity: Knowing Your Environment
Have you ever moved to a different apartment building, house, or city and instantly felt like you didn’t belong? That’s a normal reaction to a change in environment. After a few weeks, you’ll start to feel more comfortable, content and willing to socialize. Eventually, life returns to some semblance of normalcy, but at the time, that uncomfortable feeling was likely difficult to shake.
At the same time, an event could change your perspective on the space you occupy. If your workspace was the location of a severe argument or it reminds you of a difficult time that can trigger negative feelings, you can switch this negative association to a positive one by adding photos, family keepsakes, or familiar objects that boost your mood.
