(Guest post by Matt Pierce at Chairoffice)
You bundle into the office a couple minutes before 9am, with a large coffee in your hand and a look of worry on your face. With deadlines to fulfil and clients to meet, keeping yourself productive throughout the day can become a task in itself. While many of us do actually enjoy our jobs, finding that productive rhythm can be a struggle at times.
But there are things we ourselves (and our managers) can do to help us keep on top of our workload without the fear of stress building up. Many of the items listed below are simple items which people can bring from home and can give a significant boost to our overall productivity levels. The other items can be provided by your place of work (if you ask nicely).
1. Company Cell Phone
Issuing employees with company cell phones is a great way to keep their personal lives personal and their professional lives, professional. Unless an emergency occurs, personal problems should be steered clear from office life and a company cell phone will go a long way to ensuring this happens.
Employees minds will be more focused on the job in hand, rather than worrying about personal issues.
Not only that, with the technology built into cell phones these days, they can become an extremely powerful organisational and communication tool (whether it be via voice, instant message or email).
2. Laptop
Depending on the nature of your job a desktop computer may be the best way to go, but for some, using a laptop can add to the freedom of choice when it comes to choosing when and where you sit yourself down for work.
For big organisations with large open office layouts, you may find it hard to concentrate with everything going on around you. People on sales calls, others on an early lunch or people just generally having a chat can all become a distraction.
Having a laptop however will alleviate these problems as you can move yourself to a quieter spot within the office which will allow you to concentrate on the task in hand.
3. Water Bottle
Being fully hydrated throughout the day is key to staying productive and keeping your concentration levels up. Our brain is 80% water, while our bodies are 65% water, so it’s easy to understand why we need to keep our water levels topped up.
Common dehydration problems for workers:
- Headaches
- Sleepiness
- Irritability
These common problems can easily affect productivity so it is wise to keep a water bottle close by for whenever you need to quench a thirst. Even if you are not thirsty at the time, having a full water bottle ready well help encourage you to drink more water.
4. Headphones
Music is one of those things that a lot of people seem to be divided upon. For some, listening to music can help productivity while for others it causes a distraction.
But research has shown that music can actually help increase productivity, especially when coupled with repetitive and mundane tasks, such as answering a lot of emails
The reason I suggest that headphones should be used instead of the whole office collectively listening to the radio for example, is that some research argues that it isn’t the background noise of the music itself, but more that the improved mood from your favourite music is the source in a bump of productivity.
Imagine yourself listening to some music you really despise because a co-worker likes it, do you think your productivity would be improved? I highly doubt it.
So whenever you are faced with a repetitive & boring task, plug in your headphones, select a playlist and listen to all your favourite tunes.
5. Notepad
Whether you’re sitting at your desk, in a meeting or chatting to clients, you should always have a notepad on hand ready to write down important information thrown your way.
You never know when you might have to jot something down of importance, and when you do actually need to recall the information, you can just glance over at your notepad.
Productivity will be increased as you will be taking less time trying to remember things and more time acting upon information given to you.
6. A Pair of Trainers
It’s very easy for us to sit at our desks, eat our lunch and browse the internet on our lunch breaks, but we should be more productive with this time given to us.
Keep a pair of trainers with you at work and pop them on at lunch and go for a walk. Breathe in the fresh air and let the sun hit your face.
By the time you come back from a 20 minute walk, you will feel more refreshed, more awake and more energised to tackle your afternoon challenges. Not only that, it will help keep you fit and healthy.
7. An Ergonomic Chair
For us office workers, the majority of our days people will find us sat down in our office chairs. Sitting for long periods of time can cause numerous health issues, especially if we don’t sit correctly and/or have a poor office chair that doesn’t support us properly.
Supplying employee’s with specifically made ergonomic chairs will not only improve the day to day productivity, but as a whole, the yearly productivity as employees will have less time off due to health issues caused by poor seating.
8. Snacks
Healthy snacks should be present in any office up and down the country. Snacks help keep workers happy, motivated and full of energy.
Hungry people tend to become tried, impatient and are unfocused. Thankfully there are some great brain and energy foods to keep us in check during the course of a working day. Here are some suggestions:
- Almonds – Great brain food
- Figs – Helps maintain high energy levels
- Flaxseeds – Great for your eyes. Stops them feeling dried out and helps you feel fresh
9. A Calendar
Having either a calendar hung on the wall or having one stood on your desk can be a great boost to productivity. Calendars are instant reminders of when things need to be done by and since it will be within your eyesight for the majority of your day, keeping one just makes sense.
Simply having a physical calendar will help alleviate the stress of trying to remember when deadlines are to be met, and in turn, make you more productive and organised.
10. Plants
Plants can have a surprising effect on people within offices. You as the worker may not realise at the time, but having plants in the office can up your productivity by 15%. Studies have even shown that employee performance of memory retention and other basic tests improves substantially.
Employees can either take it upon themselves to feature a desk plant on their work station, or employers can help by placing plants throughout the office to help the office with their overall productivity.
Conclusion
While for many of us, we can be productive as much as we want to be, it doesn’t hurt to surround yourself and your employees with items that help encourage productivity, either consciously or subconsciously.
We all work in different ways and are spurred on by different things, which is why I suggest you take these items listed here with a trial and error focused mind. You cannot force yourself to use these items in the hope that they will magically make you more productive.
You can however use them for their intended purpose and stick to it for a period of time and gauge whether they have made a difference in your professional life.
About the Author Matt Pierce is a content marketer for Chairoffice.co.uk. Building content from writing articles about office life and productivity to creating fun and informative infographics. Connect with him on Twitter!
Image via Unsplash under C.C.0 license
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