5 ways to improve your workplace

People tend to be more competitive when they see a briefcase or even a picture of it on the wall.
When you talk to someone who constantly uses words like “upset,” “bad,” “useless,” “frustrated," you may feel worse.
Even the barely noticeable smell of a cleaning agent makes many people feel clean and tidy.

So how do we create optimal working conditions so that our motivation, productivity and creativity are always at a high level?

1. Get rid of the clutter

If a mess on a table means a mess in your head, then what does an empty table mean?

Albert Einstein

Many creative people and scientists have a mess on their desk. However, unnecessary things can negatively affect our ability to concentrate and process information. This is exactly what neuroscientists at Princeton University discovered when they compared the performance of people in organized and unorganized workspaces McMains S, Kastner S. … Research has shown that clutter in the workplace distracts our focus, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress.

Getting rid of this habit is not easy. Clutter often does not arise from our laziness or disorganization. It literally hurts us to part with the accumulated things.

Researchers at Yale University recently found that the anterior cingulate cortex and insular lobe of the brain, which are responsible for pain, respond to the need to discard something that you are attached to Kelly McGonigal. … … These same areas of the brain are involved when we feel pain from a small cut or too hot coffee.

How do we get rid of stress and clutter?

Enter restrictions. Set a rigid framework for yourself and stay within it. This is the best way to stop accumulating unnecessary things. It doesn't matter what we're talking about: browser tabs, magazines, or Twitter followers.
Reduce storage space. According to Parkinson's Law, work fills the time allotted for it. The same can be said for disorder. Less space means less clutter.
Conduct a monthly audit. Set aside time each month to clean up and sort your backlog.
Clean up every day. Disassemble in the evenings everything that has accumulated during the day on the table. This way you can start the next working day with a clean slate.

2. Find a place that inspires you

It is no coincidence that we feel a surge of inspiration, being in a beautiful building or sitting by the window. Architecture can have a significant impact on our performance. Fresh air and natural light at work also boosts employee productivity.

Of course, we cannot always change the work environment, but there is still a way out: find a place with natural light, go outside if you feel that work has completely stalled, or just sit at a different table.

In a new place, you may have new ideas. In addition, research has shown that it is easier to develop new habits in new places. Ouellette, Judith A.; Wood, Wendy. … …

3. Use different devices for different tasks

We know that different environments affect us in different ways, so why not turn that around to your advantage? Our brains love habits, and if we associate specific actions with specific places, it will be easier for us to increase our productivity. This is called task matching: the brain knows that at a certain place we are performing a specific action.

The same method is applicable to different devices. For example, you can develop the following habit: do all the main work on the computer, do less serious tasks on the laptop, and use the tablet only for reading.

The method is so effective that it is used even in the treatment of insomnia Mahendra P. Sharma, Chittaranjan Andrade. … … In this case, patients are asked to enter the bedroom only when they are tired. If after a while they cannot fall asleep, they should go to another room and do something until they feel tired again.

If you can manage to allocate a separate workstation or device for each task, you can direct your productivity in the right direction, just by being in one place or another.

4. Set yourself up for success

It may seem that we have enough willpower to cope with difficult tasks. But in reality, we all tend to be lazy. This is not really our fault. The brain tries in every way to save energy and makes decisions for us on a subconscious level. At the same time, it is based only on whether it will be difficult or easy to complete a particular task.

So if you want to be more productive, make the most important things easy to do, and vice versa.

For example, turn off your phone and put it in a drawer. Now, every time you want to check for new messages, you have to get it out and turn it on. Even such a simple trick will help you avoid distractions.

Also try to close all tabs in the browser at the end of the working day and leave only the one you need to complete the main task. The next day, it will be easier for you to continue the work you started.

5. Control ambient sounds

In addition to physical location and workplace associations, the sounds around us also affect productivity.

Researchers have found that snippets of other people's conversations have an extremely negative effect on our ability to concentrate. In their meta-analysis, James L. Szalma, Peter A. Hancock. … Researchers at the University of Central Florida reviewed 242 studies on the effects of noise on labor productivity. They found that during mental activity (reading and working with texts, numbers), snippets of conversations have a significantly greater effect on productivity than, for example, continuous speech or other sounds. Not great news for those who work in large offices.

But there is a way out. If you can't find a quiet place, noise canceling headphones or music can help you drown out voices and concentrate.