Your office desk is not just another piece of furniture. It is your loyal alley and assistant who is supposed to help you be more productive and efficient at work. Modern office furniture is an active participant in the work process. A properly furnished office is a safe, comfortable space where people actually want to come every day, communicate, exchange ideas and achieve their professional goals.
The more productive and involved employees are in the work process, the more efficient and successful is the whole company.
In this article, we shall reveal 5 stunning office furniture hacks that will help you significantly improve the atmosphere of your workspace.
1 – Get white office furniture
Buying office furniture, most of us primarily think about ergonomics, storage options and materials. In our heads, office furniture is something entirely practical. The looks of your curved desk, its colour and decorative elements seem much less important than its shape, adjusting and storage options.
However, experts claim that the colour of your office furniture may be as important for your productivity and even safety at the workplace as its materials and structure.
The principles of colour therapy are an integral part of modern office interior design. Psychologists claim that certain colours can stimulate particular emotions and even alter our moods. For example, certain shades of green can soothe and even make people feel sleepy, red can help you work up an appetite, brown is a colour mainly associated with authority, etc.
From this point, white office furniture can be a powerful tool that will help you boost up productivity and be more efficient at a workplace. White helps you concentrate and stay focused. It is a neutral colour that does not distract, but at the same time, any note, reminder or to-do list put on a white table will always remain visible and draw attention.
2 – Explore storage solutions
Many modern companies have the so-called “Clear desk policy”. It means that employees are not allowed to clutter their office desks with papers, stationery or any other objects and need to make sure that their workplaces stay clear and tidy.
It is a very efficient approach that indeed helps people get more organised and focused during the workday. You can adapt this idea even if your particular company does not implement the same policy.
Once you have a habit of always keeping certain papers in certain trays or putting pens in a particular drawer, you will spend less time searching for things and feel less stressed once the deadline approaches.
You can get a simple letter tray, add some drawers to your office desk or place a mobile stand under it. Modern office furniture offers numerous nifty solutions to help you keep your workplace clean and tidy.
3 – Prefer natural light
The recent research from Cornell University Professor Alan Hedge shows that using natural light at a workplace is much healthier than artificial lighting.
Daylight reduces the risks of eyestrain, fatigue and migraines. As a result, companies that primarily use daylight and find solutions that help them reduce the need to turn on artificial lighting in their offices are 47% more productive and successful compared to their competitors.
In case you don`t have large windows in your office, purchasing white office furniture can be a great solution that will help you get the most out of the natural lighting that your office gets during the day.
White colour reflects light, making the space look and feel brighter. The same research shows that office workers are usually much more efficient in the first several hours of the workday in the office that uses mainly natural lighting and extends its effect with white office furniture. It means that you can adjust the work hours in the office and let your employees go home earlier, while they will still be most efficient during their workday in a naturally-lit office.
4 – Get plants
Another research published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows that having plants at a workspace can significantly improve the atmosphere in the office and help employees be more productive.
This effect is a combination of colour therapy and psychology. On the one hand, as we have already mentioned, green colour can soothe your mind and help you relax. At the same time, watering a plant, moving it from one place to another to help it grow or simply watching it grow will help you reboot, clear your mind once you feel stuck at some tasks.
5 – Keep the office clean
The recent Pandemic of COVID-19 has reminded us of the importance of personal hygiene. However, washing hands regularly and using sanitiser is one thing and keeping an office workspace clean is another.
Sometimes it can be really hard to make sure that your office desk is sanitary clean. We work at our office desks, eat there sometimes, have our colleagues or clients visit us there. Eventually, an average office desk has at least 800 different bacteria per square inch. It is 15 times more than a seat in a public toilet.
Getting white office furniture can be a great solution in this case. It will encourage you and your employees to keep the workspace sanitary clean, remove dust, stains and all other possible contaminations instantly, preventing the spread of bacteria and disease.
Statistically, companies that have white office furniture face 30% less sick leaves, which makes them more efficient and successful in their fields.
