The Covid-19 shutdown is unfamiliar territory for many of us who are not used to spending so much time at home with our families, not to mention working from home.
Beautiful, functional, clean spaces have a profoundly positive impact on our psychological wellbeing.
This lockdown is a chance for us to connect more deeply with ourselves and our needs as professionals and to be more conscious of letting those needs inform how we set up our workspaces to have a positive effect on our productivity and psychological wellbeing.
Organise your space
No matter the size of your home, how you arrange it will directly impact its functionality. The way you organise your space will also differ depending on what you need that space to be at different times of the day.
Keep your space clean & clear
Set it out every morning and take it down every evening to solidify the feeling of a beginning and end of your workday.
Evaluate
At the end of your workday evaluate and reflect on how your space served your work, how you experienced a specific space and how you moved around the space depending on the task. Certain spaces can be associated with different mindsets and it is important to adjust what is not working.
Schedule your use of space.
Agree on demarcated public and private spaces for your family and set some clear boundaries of who gets which space at what time. By scheduling the space, you are making sure that you are not excluding people from different spaces but rather sharing them.
Allocate time for specific activities.
This creates a sense of accountability for you to complete your work in a specific time frame. Psychologically it aids in creating a sense of discipline and routine which is key to productively working from home.
Organisation and storage
Create a work tray for all your work tools. In a small apartment trays can be used as desks and allow you to easily move around your home for that much-needed change of scenery and they are an easy way to keep your space organized and clean.
Use what you have.
Dressing tables are a great size and can be moved into your dedicated workspace and used as a desk. If you don’t have a dressing table, folding camping tables and patio sets also work well. Just make sure your seating is comfortable and that you are taking care of your body while working.
Be Creative with Small Spaces
Create different spaces within your home office. The ability to move to different areas assists in the thought process and allows you to rest when you take your regular breaks.
Set the mood & Tone
Make the environment an attractive space to be in. Playing music, putting flowers and natural elements inside or even using different ornaments in your office all help create ambience which helps you to associate the space positively in your mind and in turn increase your productivity.
Make it Comfortable
Light and temperature have a massive impact on us, and it has been proven that if you sit in a small dark area, it brings your body temperature and mood down. Setting up your space where you can look out of a window has a significantly positive impact on your sense of wellbeing.
