Having A Better Work Desk Experience
If you spend a lot of time at your desk (and a lot of us do) you’ve probably experienced the symptoms of the strain it places on you. Loss of productivity, headaches, back pain, stress, and even sickness can result from a poorly managed workspace.
This suffering is unnecessary, but with a few simple changes to your workspace you can enjoy better health and better productivity. Let us walk you through them.
Keep It Tidy
If your desk is messy, your mind and productivity suffer because of it. First there’s the obvious symptoms, not being able to locate things easily. Every time you have to hunt for something you need it eats up your precious time and adds stress to your life.
Research has shown that living and working in cluttered environments causes anxiety, reduced sleep, reduced concentration and memory, and even contributes to unwanted weight gain.
Organising your desk will make you happier, healthier, and more productive.
Start by assigning everything a place where it belongs, and then make yourself return everything to its place regularly. A quick end of day tidy up is all you need to start reaping the benefits of keeping your space in order.
If you need some help assigning things to specific places, pick up some trays, draw dividers, or other organisational aids to make things easier on yourself.
Keep It Clean
Everyone living in a world that’s experienced COVID should already understand why keeping things clean is important, but we’ll cover it anyway.
Dust and germs gather in the air and on surfaces constantly, and if you don’t clean them out regularly they can build to dangerous levels. Excessive amounts of dust can trigger allergies and asthma, make you sneeze and cough, and also just looks unpleasant.
It’s uncomfortable to work in a dusty space, and it becomes dangerous when you combine it with the germs floating about the place. Every time you cough, sneeze, or touch dirty surfaces you risk picking up or spreading something nasty.
Regularly wiping down your desk with disinfectant will serve to keep these nasties under control, don’t forget to include your keyboard and mouse in that clean!
Have Things At The Right Height
We’ve all experienced the stiff neck, tired eyes, and headaches that come with spending too long sitting somewhere we shouldn’t. If that somewhere is the desk where you do all your work, you have a major problem.
The cause of these problems is bad posture, and the best way to correct that is to make sure everything you’re using is at the correct height. Your computer screen should be at eye level, and your arms should be roughly parallel with the floor when you’re typing.
If this isn’t the case, you can solve the problem by adjusting the height of your chair, adjusting the height of your desk, or adding a monitor stand or keyboard tray. Implement whatever measures work for your setup.
Add Some Greenery
Everyone appreciates a bit of greenery, whether it’s a pot plant indoors, or a nice view of the garden outside. Having nearby greenery has been proven to reduce stress and improve focus, leading to as much as a 15% boost in productivity.
An office obviously isn’t the best place to grow a plant, but something like a peace lily or a nice succulent will tolerate the limited nourishment quite well. As long as there’s just a little bit of sunlight to work with, you can find something to help
green up your space.
Get Away From It
Even if your desk is set up perfectly, you still need to step away from it now and then, especially when on a break.
Clearly delineating your work time and your rest time helps to make both of them more effective. A change of scenery is good for waking you up and improving your concentration, and it provides an important opportunity to walk about and stretch, two things that help immensely with maintaining your health.
A work desk experience means better health, better productivity, and a better life overall. Invest some time and thought into how you spend hours of your workday, your body and mind will thank you for it.
