Design Your Ideal Workspace

When it is time to generate ideas, focus, be productive, and get creative, you need a workspace that will help.

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

A great workspace inspires you and is designed for the way that you learn, think, and work. Design a comfortable, well-lighted and well-supplied area for thinking without distractions. Organize everything you need to be convenient, with your most used tools closest to you.

A workstation that is ergonomic is very important. Check your workstation with OSHA guidelines and a How-to Guide from Mayo Clinic.

Check the room temperature and lighting. The ideal temperature for most people is 77 degrees F (25 C), and natural light is best, with bright direct lighting where needed.

Set the sound for the way you work best. One study determined that people were 35% more creative with 70 decibels of ambient noise. You may respond well to nature sounds, or instrumental background noise. For more focus, silence can be the best choice, or try classical music that enhances brain waves. See more about music. There are four types of brain waves. Alpha waves reflect a calm, relaxed, yet alert mind, and are the most conducive to learning. See Surfing the Alpha Waves at DIYPlanner. In an open office situation, noise-cancelling headphones may be helpful.

Consider color: Blue is generally considered a relaxing color, while red may be energizing. Visual surroundings can offer inspiration or distraction, depending on the nature of tasks undertaken.

Add scents: a lemon scent creates alertness, while vanilla or spiced apple can reduce stress symptoms. Rosemary, cinnamin, and vanilla scents help concentration and creativity. You might like scented oils or candles.

Be inspired: Surround yourself with tangible evidence of your success and creativity. Include images, quotations, and poems that inspire you. You might want to hang a picture you made, a cartoon that makes you smile or a quote that touches your heart.

Learn to use all of your brainpower. Access the creative right side of the brain, which includes imagination, visual and musical abilities. Then apply the reasoning, judgment, language, and logic abilities that reside in the left brain. Give yourself permission to unleash your untapped powers of creativity! Get a creativity prompter based on 101 ways to brew up a great idea. To get your mind moving, try taking a shower, going for a walk, throwing darts or working puzzles. Determine the time of day that is your peak for energy and efficiency to learn, work, or think. Ideas are wild creatures, so have a plan for their capture. Meditation and prayer, journaling, and reading inspirational literature can help us connect with ourselves.

To brainstorm ideas for goals in different life areas, switch on your imagination. If money and time were unlimited, what would you most want to do? If you get stuck, look at these goal plans and example goals.

Brainstorming guidelines:

• Work rapidly
• Free association
• Large quanitity of ideas
• Unlimited possiblities
• Suspend judgement
• To be evaluated later

See also:

• The Ideal Office at Huffington Post
• Optimize Your Environment from the Buffer Blog
• Ergonomics from Mayo Clinic
• Workspace Design at 99u
• Getting Organized from Entrepreneur
• Workspaces at Pinterest

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.