How to be more productive in the workplace, by 20%!
We all want to be more productive in the workplace, whatever our job title, level on the company hierarchy, or employment status. Put simply, if you increase productivity at work, chances of promotions edge closer, you can enjoy a more rewarding and fruitful working day, and you can ultimately earn more money. So how can you increase productivity at work?
A significant part of the answer can be traced to where you work.
As Life Hack writes in its blog about office design tricks that help increase your productivity at work:
“Where you work has an enormous impact on how your work – on your ability to focus (and stay focused) and your overall ability to be productive.”
There has been numerous studies and research carried out about how a working environment can directly affect productivity. It is widely suggested that a well-designed office cam increase productivity by as much as 20%.
According to a detailed statistical analysis of its Workplace Performance Index (WPI) data, which researches large volumes of employee data on workplace performance, Gensler, a leading US design and architecture firm, found that the most significant factor in workplace effectiveness can be found within the working environment.
It has been scientifically proven that the following factors within the design and set-up of a workspace can have a significant impact of an individual’s focus and their productiveness at work.
Daylight
There has been a number of studies conducted that link light exposure in the workspace to improved sleep and ultimately increased vitality at work.
One such study was carried out by researchers at the Interdepartmental Neuroscience program at Northwestern University in Chicago. The research concluded that employees working in offices with windows received 173 percent more white light exposure whilst at work than workers who conducted their working day in offices without any windows. Being exposed to a larger amount of white light meant that the workers had an average of 46 minutes more sleep per night.
Speaking about the outcome of the research, the study’s co-author Ivy Cheung, a Neuroscience doctoral candidate at Northwest University said:
“The extent to which daylight exposure impacts office workers is remarkable. ‘Day-shift office workers’ quality of life and sleep may be improved via emphasis on light exposure and lighting levels in current offices as well as in the design of future offices.”
Fresh air
As well as letting swathes of natural daylight flood into the office, windows can of course be opened enabling fresh air to circulate around the room. Breathing in fresh air can positively affect our mood and make us think more clearly, as a report published in Your Standard Life highlights:
“The increased oxygen level in the body brings with it increased energy to do the things you need to do.”
“More oxygen also brings greater clarity to the brain, which needs twenty percent of our body’s oxygen to function. When you breathe fresh air you can automatically think better compared to when you remain inside a room for a longer period of time,” continues Your Standard Life.
With this in mind, not only will working in an office with plenty of windows to enable fresh air to circulate in the room help increase clarity of thought, but being located in an office where you can go outside on your lunch hour or on breaks will have a similar positive effect.
For example, being set within 100 acres of idyllic landscaped grounds, Carrwood Park’s office space encourages workers to take breaks outside and reap the benefits of spending time outdoors during their working day.
Views
Another benefit of offices with windows is that they provide workers with views and something to look at outside. According to a study conducted amongst workers in Belgium, 99.1% of those surveyed felt that offices should contain windows, with views being an important factor. As the study stated:
“Having visual contact with the outside was an important factor, with 92.3 per cent of respondents citing this as one of the key positive aspects of windows.”
Comfortable office furniture
Of course having windows installed in a ‘window-less’ office is a fairly major constructional change and it might be easier to consider moving into office space designed for optimum productivity which has plenty of windows, such as Carrwood Park’s offices in Leeds. However, there are more simple productivity tips and more minor changes you can make to the design and set-up of your office that will play a significant role in increasing your productivity.
For example, having comfortable office furniture can help increase productiveness.
As we wrote in our blog about setting up your office for maximum productivity, investing in comfortable office furniture, with well-cushioned chairs with arms and workstations with plenty of room, will play an important role in enhancing employee morale and general productivity.
Tidiness
Another straightforward method to improve productivity levels at work is to lose the clutter. As Mashable writes in its advice about designing an office to optimise productivity, “Keeping a clutter-free desk will greatly increase productivity and organisation.”
Simple measures such as having folders on your desk to put important papers and stationery in and even scanning documents onto storage on your computer so your desk is ‘paper-free’, will help de-clutter your desk and ultimately help ‘de-clutter’ your mind.
Cleanliness
The same rule can be applied to the rest of the office. It stands to reason an untidy, cluttered and, worse still, dirty office won’t do employees’ productivity and morale any favours.
As we wrote on our blog about avoiding staff sick days with a clean office, dirty, cluttered offices can lead to stress and it stands to reason, a stressed workforce is far from a productive workforce.
Cleaning up your office or moving into one like Carrwood Park that prides itself of maintaining a clean and tidy working environment, would be an invaluable way to increase your productivity at work.
For more tips and advice about how to be more productive at work, subscribe to the regularly updated Carrwood Park blog. Meanwhile if you are looking for high quality office space, Leeds based Carrwood Park offers exceptional office space designed for boosting productivity.