Organize Your Office for Relaxation
There are lots of easy and simple ways to liven up the personal space in your office environment. Most people spend as much as one-quarter of their lives in their offices, so making the space as comfortable and relaxing as possible goes a long way to improving quality of life. Here are some ideas.
Let the light shine
Probably the most important factor in a relaxing environment is lighting. Of course, you can’t always make big changes to the lighting in your office. However, there are a few things you can do to improve illumination, even in corporate buildings.
Whether you are in a private office or a cubicle with shared overhead lighting, you can watch for flickering in the fluorescent tubes. Even a slight flicker can cause stress to your eyes and overall energy. Report any faulty tubes and make sure they’re replaced. If you can control your individual space, then consider getting some filters or shades that transform the quality of the overhead lights to something more relaxing and enlightening. Many companies specialize in these types of lighting solutions for the office.
Plant life
A little bit of life from the outside goes a long way toward relaxing people in an office environment. The best way to bring life into your office is with plants. You can find plants that thrive in all sorts of environments. Even a cactus is a reasonable option. An alternative to living plants can be flowers or cut foliage. Some of these will survive more than a week if you change their water once or twice. Experts agree that dead or dried plants are not good options for adding fresh, renewed energy to an environment. However, artificial plants can provide a visual upgrade to any space.
Clear the clutter
If you’re the type who accumulates clutter, then it’s important to find a way of keeping the mess from becoming a daily stressor. First and foremost, get the clutter out of sight. If you have stacks of papers on your desk, then get them off - even if you just transfer the stack to a box. If you must keep the items in view, then try using a bookshelf to stack the papers and materials instead of having them take up precious space on your work surface. With a little planning you can transfer a horizontal file system to shelves.
Add some personality
The most relaxing environment is one that makes you feel at home. So bring in a little of your home into the office:
Bamboo works fabulously to lighten up any space.
I added a small fountain in my office. The gentle sound of water running down the beautiful fountain is certainly relaxing.
I have a small vase and I put one or two flowers in it once a week. It looks pretty and lightens my desk and day.
Well, I don’t exactly have an office at work but I do share a common area with my fellow airmen. I make it a note to keep the place clean and orderly everyday. I also took it upon myself to stay late one day after everyone was gone to completely rearrange the furniture. It wasn’t in the most space-optimizing configuration so I just had to do something about it. The place looks great now, I managed to section off the work area from the computer area from the lunch area. People are happy.
I am a stay at home Mom so my office is a place for coupons, billpay, and all the other random paperwork that must be kept up with in a family.
I cleaned through and shredded most all papers, organized my coupons, and made my own desk out of a closet door.
May seem small, but having by bills organized efficiently gives me a feeling of security.
My idea is to buy lcd photoframe, upload to it some Nature videos from http://www.relaxwithnature.com and place it in lunch area for example.
That site is really nice! I just went to it a little while ago— even having that “zen type” of music on in the background is so serene and comforting. I recently re-decorated my entire bedroom. The walls are a calming blue, and the bedspread is actually called “Botanical”.. It is a clean, modern look (ivory) with green and blue almost.. bamboo leaves. I find these colors to be sooo relaxing. After a tough day, it’s great to come home to a room that almost makes you relaxed upon entering. I also added a few chinese lanterns (white) to get a nice glow. I have a dimmed bulb (maybe 25 watt) in each lantern. :)
Mirrors and soothing pictures add to the space of my office
I read somewhere that fish have a soothing effect on their environment so I went down and bought a beautiful dark blue betta fish that swims in a clear bowl with white rocks and white fake plants. The combination is very dramatic and people seem to be drawn to him when they walk into the office. I also have a ivy that sits around his bowl. I wish I could play music during the day but my co-worker veto’d that idea.
ooh I have Bamboo! But I need to do a lot to organize my space… it’s a mess… thats a goal for me…
I have all of my children’s artwork and little misc items. Loosk like a dorm room really. In the winter, I burn candles to either relaz or energize.
I love the LED frame idea!