Did you ever consider how the view from your desk, and your workspace surroundings impact your mood and productivity?
My aha moment came one night while scrolling through my Instagram feed. An image of a bookcase organized by different colored sections caught my attention and captured my imagination. There was something about books arranged in hues reminiscent of rainbow colors that was transforming. These uniquely arranged books suggested a solution to a problem I had not even realized was sitting in front of me on a daily basis at my own desk.
Facing my office shelves with books scattered in disarray, I may have been consciously or unconsciously throwing off my work performance. Had I become so accustomed to the disorder, that I stopped seeing it? The health coach in me shuddered at the possibility. Seeing the rainbow-inspired bookcase on social media propelled me to, as a 1997 Apple Advertisement advised, “Think Different”. What if you could re-arrange your books in swaths of color like a rainbow and create shelves that inspired creativity and imagination instead of unrest?
I flipped on the light in my home office late one night, and began to sift through books arranging them in sections by color. I couldn’t hold myself back imagining the possibility of making a change in the way I looked at things from my desk. What felt like a bit of spring-sprucing went deeper than that. This rainbow connection had legs.
When I next walked into my office space, I stared at shelves which invited more ideas, more dreaming, and happier thoughts. In Gretchen Rubin’s book ‘Outer Order, Inner Calm’ , she notes that “careful curations” of stuff in our own spaces, allows us to become more capable, and “outer order creates a sense of possibility.” This led me to the realization that too much ‘stuff’ piled carelessly, can be paralyzing and cause feelings of insurmountable stress. Decluttering is renewing. It makes room for more future options and makes us significantly more purposeful.
Whether inside an office cubicle, a shared space, a spacious corner office or a home workspace, keeping conscious inventory of the things around you that feed or starve work performance is game-changing.
A FEW MORE ADDITIONS TO STACK THE DECK OF GOOD INTENTIONS AND CALM THE PSYCHE:
Bring nature indoors and fresh oxygen into a room with living, easy-to-maintain plants. By using the energy of sunlight, plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breath out oxygen – instant mood booster.
Self-care should be ongoing during the workday. Creating stress-free moments is an investment that pays immediate dividends. Along with your portable, reuseable water bottle, ear buds and an inspired playlist, try plugging a USB Personal Aromatherapy Diffuser into a computer, a car and while traveling. Mini-fan technology emits subtle bursts of feel-good fragrance into the air in your proximity. Just a few drops of 100% essential oil and no one around will know, except by your calming (lavender) or energized (peppermint) persona, the secret to your good vibrations.
We can’t always choose the office furniture, but we can surround ourselves with comforts that can assist in productivity, reduce stress and provide colorful, calming energy during an overly demanding day.
It serves us all well to create new spaces where good karma can seep in and build new stepping stones for thriving while we work.
As for the rainbow connection, Kermit the Frog in the 1979 Muppet Movie said “someday we’ll find it,” or maybe in nurturing our highest self throughout our day we already have.