Designing Your Home for Productivity and A Positive Mindset

Home is surely supposed to be your place of comfort, but when it suddenly becomes your place of work it can be all too easy to get distracted and fall into patterns of unproductivity. In a time when people are working, learning, or brainstorming how they’re going to rejoin the workforce, it’s become more important than ever to live in an environment that promotes the right mindset.

The environment that you surround yourself with plays a huge role in how you feel. There are some simple changes that you can make around your home to completely transform your space into one that will give you more energy, inspiration, and keep you focused on the task at hand.

The best thing about the tips that we’re about to give you is the fact that they can be done by anyone in any space! You don’t have to have a large home or dedicated office space to implement these ideas. All you need is the motivation and desire to make some small changes and see big results.

We are going to give you 5 ways to promote a healthy mindset at home, and then give you step by step instructions for implementing them.

1. Optimal Lighting

One of the easiest ways to fill your home with energy is to maximize the amount of light you’re getting. When you’re working in a room filled sunlight, it helps keep your body’s natural rhythms in check and makes you feel more awake. Getting enough light also reduces eye strain that can happen when you’re reading and working in dim light.

If you aren’t able to access natural sunlight in your home, grab some bright white light bulbs for your work area. You can find lightbulbs that are meant to mimic sunlight and support healthy circadian rhythms.

2. Houseplants

Houseplants not only bring some life and color into a room, but they are proven to enhance overall well-being!

• Constantly seeing and being around plants is proven to help people feel calmer and decrease feelings of anxiety
• Having a few houseplants in your work area can increase memory and cognitive function up to 20%
• Research shows that people with houseplants in their workspace are more productive than those without
• Being around houseplants decreases physiological and psychological stress. Research shows plants can supress the sympathetic nervous system and make you feel calmer and more relaxed
• Houseplants increase creativity in people by up to 15%

3. Inspirational Messaging

When every day feels like the last, it can be tough to gain the inspiration to keep going. You may begin to forget what it is you’re working so hard for, anyway. During times like those, you need something to shake you awake and remind you that you’re on the right path. You just have to keep going!

When you’re feeling uninspired, blank walls or distracting posters probably aren’t going to help. Hang up a few photos of people who inspire you or some motivational messages to remind you that “you got this!”

4. Well-Organized Areas

If you suddenly had to set up shop in your bedroom or living room, you might find that your work items are strewn about. This type of disorganization has the ability to seep into your unconscious and inhibit a proper workflow.

Even if you don’t have a dedicated desk area, and you’re dining room table doubles as your desk, there are two easy ways you can stay organized:

• Get storage boxes – You can purchase small storage boxes for very reasonable prices. Once you are able to give all of your work items a “home,” it makes it a lot easier for you to stay organized.
• Have a place for everything – Making sure you always know where your important things are (pens, chargers, headset, etc.) will help you save time and stress throughout the day. Put everything back in the same storage area each time you finish working.

5. Vision Board

Vision boards are a great way for you to organize your thoughts, set goals, and stay inspired. At the beginning of each month, sit down and figure out what you want the month to look like. What is important to you? What do you want to accomplish? How do you want to feel?

If you don’t have a printer, you can just flip through old magazines or create a vision board right on your computer. When you are able to communicate exactly what it is that you want, you’re more likely to stay focused and on the right path to success.

Here are some things you might include on your vision board:

• Inspiring people and messages
• Places you want to go
• Things you want to buy
• Images that invoke happy memories
• Your next milestone

Putting It All Together

I know we mentioned the fact that you might be working at your dining room table but designing a space for yourself that is just for working, learning, or creating is very important.

Here’s how you can do it:

• Get yourself a comfortable chair and a desk. It doesn’t have to be a fancy or super functional desk with USB ports and a bunch of drawers. It just has to have a flat top and some sturdy legs.
• Carve out an area for your desk. This can be a corner of the living room, next to your bed, or wherever you have space.
• Hang sheer curtains or move a lamp near your desk.
• Put inspirational messages and photos on the wall. You may want to get a bulletin board or use a magnetic whiteboard
• Organize your storage. If you’re working in a small area, hang a couple of shelves or get a few desktop organizers. Use labels to give everything a proper “home.”
• Set a schedule. This is especially important if you’re an entrepreneur and don’t have anyone looking over your shoulder throughout the day. Give yourself a set schedule every day for when you will sit at your desk and get work done.

Just making these five adjustments to your home and understanding how to put it all together can really improve the quality of your workspace. When you’re in an environment that you really enjoy, it can completely change your mood and get you in the right mindset to be productive!

If you need help with storage, Madera Cabinets has got your back. We have many different options for cabinet designs so you can choose something that will flow with your space and help keep it organized and decluttered! If you’re looking for custom cabinets in Phoenix, you’ve come to the right place. We provide the best Arizona cabinets at an affordable cost. Let’s get started today.