10 practical tips; improve your workplace

Recently at the Facilitair fair in Antwerp, we asked visitors how they would like to improve their workplace themselves. This campaign with #verbeterjewerkplek has provided many valuable answers. It appears that with a few simple interventions, you can enormously improve your workplace (and thus your productivity). We've taken a closer look at all the spontaneous answers and listed the most important ones for you. We would like to share these with you in the form of 10 practical tips.

1 — Good light:

There is no better light than natural light. Light affects your alertness and state of mind. Provide your workplace with as much daylight as possible. So keep the curtains open if possible!

2 — Tweak your temperature:

According to an analysis of 24 studies, the optimal temperature for your workplace is 21.5 degrees. If the average temperature of your workplace is higher, it's time to lower it.

3 — Adjust the height of your screen:

Ideally, the top of your monitor should be at eye level. Some monitors have height-adjustable stands. You can also buy them separately or make them yourself.

4 — Add color to your work day

Color affects your state of mind and motivation. This goes a bit further than “green has a calming effect” or “red makes you aggressive”. Our response to colors is more complex than that. We need a variety of colors. This includes photos with a lot of color, such as flowers.

5 — Reduce noise

Workplace noises can distract you considerably from your tasks. This is easy to solve with acoustic solutions, such as wall panels, ceiling panels or partitions. Combine this with a colorful print and you have two birds with one stone.

6 — Work with plants

By placing an outdoor environment, we have less of the feeling of being in an artificial environment. Plants can also improve air quality.

7 — Coffee and tea in the right place

Everyone needs a little break from time to time on a workday. But it's sometimes hard to stop when you're busy and in a flow. To force yourself to move, you need an incentive. Coffee or tea are ideal for this. Make sure you don't sit too close to coffee and tea, so you always have a walk and a short break when you go out to get coffee.

8 — Inventory your own location motivation

Sometimes you find that you work better in certain places than at your regular workplace, for example at Starbucks, on an airplane, or in a hotel lobby. Make a list of the ingredients of these workplaces and try to add them to your own workspace (such as furniture, lighting, colors, sound, smells, etc.).

9 — A tidy workplace.

The clutter in your field of vision (on your desk) is the biggest potential distraction from your attention. Organize your desk. Throw away anything you don't need. Put the things you do need in handy containers or in an old coffee mug. A tangle of cables can also cause distraction and unrest. There are many useful solutions for this. Clutter can also be digital, such as the icons on your computer's desktop. Although they are not physical, they are distracting. Plus, they make your computer slow. Clean up your desktop at the end of each day.

10 — Switch places

Even though your daily workplace is perfect, a bit of variety helps you stay productive. Try to create “sub-spaces”; different zones within your office. For example, a comfortable lounge area can help enormously to clear your head and then come up with the bright idea.