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How to Set Up an Office to Promote Productivity

<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-11546" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;07&sol;productivity-1024x681&period;png" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"665" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>by Brooklin Nash<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">How do I stay productive at my job&quest; The question is almost timeless &&num;8211&semi; it’s at least as old as the oldest job in the world&period; Of course&comma; the question is made more complicated in the age where working at an office desk is the norm&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"CENTER">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;"><i>Sitting at a desk all day long can get tiring&period; However&comma; if you set up your space just right&comma; it doesn’t have to be&period; In fact&comma; a few small changes can make major differences in maximizing performance and productivity&period;”<&sol;i><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p align&equals;"CENTER"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">~ Rose Leadem&comma; writing for Entrepreneur magazine<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">Whether you are anticipating your first day in the corporate office or figuring out how remain productive while <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;how-to-succeed-while-working-remotely&sol;"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;1155cc&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;"><u>working remotely<&sol;u><&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;a><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">&comma; the key is to prepare ahead of time&period; As the saying goes&comma; failing to plan is the same thing as planning to fail&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">The good news is there are plenty of great ideas floating around the interwebs about how to set up an office to promote productivity&period; We’ve distilled them into a handful of actionable tips that you can take this week&period; Even if you put just one or two into place&comma; you are sure to see the difference in your productivity&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"western">Tip &num;1&colon; Set Up Your Environment How You Like It<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">Lighting&comma; room color&comma; temperature and noise level will all affect your productivity for better or for worse&period; If you can&comma; introduce extra light to your workspace and change temperature how you like it&period; Adjust as much as you have control over&period; Get a throw blanket if you need to&excl;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">At the same time&comma; you can try out a few desk hacks and see how they work for you&period; Using noise cancelling headphones&comma; chewing gum&comma; or using anti-stress toys are all great options&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"western">Tip &num;2&colon; Don’t Forget About Your Digital Tools<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">Setting up your office space to stay productive isn’t just about the physical space&period; There are dozens of productivity apps that will help you stay on top of your projects and keep your attention focused&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">Collaboration tools can help communication with teammates&period; Notification and website blocking apps will keep your attention where it needs to be&comma; especially when you’re in deadline mode&period; Time trackers <&sol;span><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">can help you review how you spend your time&period; Finally&comma; task management apps will work as a visual reminder of what you have each day or week&period; <&sol;span><b> <&sol;b><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1 class&equals;"western">Tip &num;3&colon; Move Around Whenever Possible<&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">If you have the option&comma; work from a different space every so often&period; Even taking 30 minutes to hash out that pesky email in the breakroom could give you a much needed break from your cubicle or typical workspace&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">It’s not like you need an open office plan to make this work&period; Make do with what you have&excl; Even if you can’t work in another spot&comma; make sure you get up and walk around every couple of hours to keep the blood flowing&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">Whatever you do&comma; make sure you introduce a rhythm to your motion&period; Keeping a schedule that includes movement is a great way to promote productivity&period; For example&comma; you can organize your work into <&sol;span><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fastcompany&period;com&sol;3010035&sol;to-have-a-productive-day-make-work-a-series-of-sprints" class&equals;"broken&lowbar;link"><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;1155cc&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;"><u>90-minute sprints<&sol;u><&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;a><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; medium&semi;">&comma; taking scheduled breaks each time you complete a time block&period; Limiting yourself to these windows will help you stay in a flow state&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;222222&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;"><i><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;222222&semi;">Brooklin Nash writes about the latest tools and small business trends for TrustRadius<&sol;span><&sol;i><&sol;span><&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;222222&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; small&semi;"><i>&period; When he’s not writing&comma; you can find him reading YA dystopian fiction &lpar;with guilty pleasure&rpar; and cooking&period; <&sol;i><&sol;span><&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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