Personalizing Your Workspace

Whether you have an actual office, or you’re a cubicle-dweller, or even if you work in an open play office, it’s important to feel that you have your own space. Most people spend about half their waking time at work, so it’s important to feel that there’s something about the workspace that makes it your own. There aren’t any real rules; nothing is etched in stone. You can be creative and you can do something interesting even with the smallest space and the most modest surroundings. Here are some things you can do to personalize your workspace.

Feel Free to Be Yourself

If you’re putting your personal stamp on your workspace, begin with some attractively framed photos of your family, friends, or places that mean a lot to you. Pictures of your pets can be great conversation-starters. You can add a few other touches as well. Perhaps you’re passionate about elephants? Bring in a few ornaments – nothing too overwhelming; you don’t want it to looks as though you’ve cleaned out the dollar store. However, a few well-arranged items can say a lot about who you are as a person, and can give you something enjoyable to look at when you’re ready to give your eyes a rest from the computer screen.

Sansevieria Plant

Add a Touch of the Outdoors

Often a touch of greenery can bring a bit of life to what might otherwise be a sterile environment. Plants have the added benefit of improving air quality by removing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. Many plants will thrive in an office, under fluorescent lighting. Good choices are English Ivy, Philodendron, and Sansevieria (snake plant), which can tolerate low levels of light. If your workplace permits, you might even want to add a small aquarium. Live fish can provide another very restful way of taking your eyes off the computer screen.

Fake the Outdoors

You could hang a mural or a big photo to mimic a window. Frame it with window molding, and it will be almost as good as the real thing for offices that don’t have the genuine article.

Customize Your Walls

Even a cubicle with half-walls can be spruced up with a wallpaper border, or perhaps a bit of fabric. Wall treatments can be attached using Velcro so that if you move from time to time, you can take your decorative treatments with you.

Enhance Your Lighting

Most office spaces are lit using fluorescent lighting – it’s cost-effective and easy to maintain, so it’s usually the best solution. However, fluorescent lighting causes some people to develop headaches. If this sounds like you, just adding a small lamp to your workspace can make a great deal of difference by providing a calming effect.

Use Your Imagination

Keep in mind that these are just suggestions. You’re a creative person, and you can probably think of other things that you can do that will create a more personal environment for you in your office or cubicle, or even just at a desk in an open area. Make sure that you check out what you want to do with your supervisor first, though – some workplaces have restrictions on some of the suggestions we’ve made (plants, for example), and your employer does have the right to determine what can and can’t be brought into the workplace.

Enjoy!

Have fun with personalizing your workspace – you’ll find that once things are arranged the way you’d like, and your space is uniquely your own, work will be more enjoyable. You may even find that you’re more productive, and that’s something no employer can find fault with.