Having a boring work environment blocks your creativity. Your brain is constantly in a war zone to make your clients happy, but it becomes challenging when you lose your creativity.
If your workplace is dull, you will constantly feel low which results in decreasing productivity and less creative ideas.
Ideas are the outcomes of thinking, but a person’s capability to think is affected by the environment they are exposed to. How many times have you thought of writing that article, finishing reading that book that feels abandoned now, or starting working on a weekend hobby? Have you given a thought to how you can reignite the same feeling when you first started on them?
Confused for sure!
Here are the 15 ways to improve your working environment to encourage creative thoughts and innovative ideas.
1) Keep coloring books with you
You can clear your mind for a few minutes and forget about any worries you may have. Coloring books have become increasingly popular over the last few years, and for good reason. Coloring books have been found to potentially reduce stress, spark creativity, and improve focus.
There is a therapeutic calming effect that happens when coloring in a set of lines that can help the brain relax and create a state of mindfulness.
When you’re coloring, you have to decide which shades to use and where.
By inspiring creativity through coloring books in the workplace, You can learn to utilize your right-brain creativity to come up with solutions to problems using an approach or perspective you have not previously considered.
2) Surround yourself with inspiration
Reading inspirational notes can add a level of empowerment and implicit coaching needed to overcome work challenges. Adding inspirational messages to your office design or workspace will enable you to make better decisions, thus increasing productivity.
3) Keep Sketch Book & pencil with you
Whenever you have a random thought, capture it. Even if it seems utterly ridiculous, there are no bad ideas.
Craig Bruce once said, “Nothing surpasses the beauty and elegance of a bad idea.”
Next, when you have downtime, organize these thoughts. Some might be worth pursuing. And the ones that aren’t can be thrown out with the trash.
4) Clear the workplace clutter
Productivity is not just about managing your devices and software tools smartly.
It is also about keeping your physical space clean and clutter-free.
A crowded and cluttered workspace can hamper your productivity and slow down the work.
It affects creative people like designers even more because it distracts you in more than one way.
Assess your work area regularly and clear everything you do not use and need.
Have plenty of light and space so that you have your creativity flowing.
Some greenery for your workspace can also make you feel more positive and productive.
Even if you work from home, make sure that you have a dedicated workspace that is clean and clutter-free.
You will experience the difference once you start following the practice.
5) Place A Plant On The Corner Of Your Desk
Want to reduce your stress and anxiety? Want to boost your morale and productivity? Want to transform your workspace from sterile to inspiring? Add a plant.
This simple and inexpensive office hack is a low-maintenance solution that will make you happier and more at ease, resulting in increased focus and engagement.
A small bonsai tree or cactus is ideal for this office hack. They are hearty, easy to transport (they fit in a backpack or tote bag), and don’t take up a lot of space on your desk.
6) Essential Oils to Awaken Your Creativity
It is believed that aromatherapy can be especially beneficial for the artistic soul. Essential oils can increase creativity by stimulating certain messages to the brain and enhancing relaxation and positivity. Leonardo Da Vinci was said to use aromatics as a method of inducing inspiration, and his essential oil of choice was Neroli oil. Neroli is a citrus-based fragrance with the ability to elevate the mood and relieve anxiety.
the lovely scent then promotes balance and harmony while reducing stress and negativity. Even just a quick spritz of this essential oil around your office will help block out bad energy and stay focused on your projects. A study from 2017 showed promising results when using bergamot oil to promote positive feelings in the waiting rooms of mental health treatment centres.
If you’re having trouble tapping into your creative mindset, many essential oils can help you out. Whether you prefer aromatherapy or absorption, these natural oils can provide endless benefits for mental clarity & productivity.
7) Implement a Right to Light Policy
Natural light is the most sought-after element in the workspace. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a significant issue amongst workers, and women are 4 times more likely to suffer from it than men. Implementing a Right to Light policy is a simple route to ensuring your employees are experiencing the benefits of natural light. Tear down the cubicle, break down unnecessary walls, install glass, mirrors, and skylights to bring in the light. The Human Spaces Report also stated that people working in environments with sunlight and greenery are 15% more creative and 6% more productive.
8) Know your Room colors
Coloring is a big factor in how effective space is for fostering creative thought. Though many consider coloring to be subjective, studies have shown much correlation between color and emotion. According to research, blue colors affect your mind while yellow affects your emotions. By understanding the effects of color interpretation, you can design your workspace to achieve maximum productivity and creativity.
9) Opt for the right amount of noise
We always thought that accessing an endless supply of caffeine is why so many people choose to work and study in coffee shops. But there’s at least one more reason: research shows the noise level in coffee shops supports abstract thinking.
“A little bit of ambient noise (between 50 and 70 decibels – the average noise level of a coffee shop) slightly disrupts the mental process, which one study showed to help people engage in more abstract thinking during a word-association task,” writes Cody C. Delistraty in The Atlantic.
“A high level of noise, however, around 80 decibels – the sound of a dishwasher or garbage disposal, for instance – becomes so disruptive to information processing that it becomes hard to think at all.”
Adds Belle Beth Cooper at Buffer Social: “It turns out that a moderate noise level is a sweet spot for creativity. Ambient noise gets our creative juices flowing unlike silence, and doesn’t put us off the way high levels of noise do.”
If you can’t get out to a coffee shop, you can bring the ambient noise of one to your computer speaker or earbuds using Coffitivity.
10) Dream a little (day) dream
Much to the chagrin of your parents or elementary teacher, permit yourself to daydream. According to a study in the journal Psychological Science, those who let their minds wander have a higher capacity for working memory. Possessing this allows us to think about multiple things at once — it also factors into IQ and reading comprehension.
Why’s this the case? It may be because “people who have additional working memory resources deploy them to think about things other than what they’re doing,” study researcher Jonathan Smallwood, of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science, said in a statement.
How can you let your mind wander? One of the simplest techniques would be to let yourself get bored. For instance, read tedious reports or stand in the checkout lane sans your phone.
11) Ambient sound for creativity
What impact does listening to music have on your brain?
Certain brain cells and chemicals are stimulated during listening to music, in particular, Dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is affectionately referred to as the brain’s “motivation molecule” and is involved in sending reward signals to our brains. In essence, listening to music increases the brain’s level of dopamine and dopamine makes us feel happier and instils a “go-getter” attitude within us.
Modern science suggests that every person has the cognitive ability to come up with creative and original ideas – a concept referred to as divergent thinking. And we all can choose from a list of ideas, which one is most likely to be successful, which is called convergent thinking. Though we may all have different levels in the different types of thinking, we can all become more skillful in being creative problem-solvers.
12) Bubble wrap to overcome stress
Popping bubble wrap helps relax that muscle tension. It reduces stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that, sometimes, the human brain receives feel-good chemicals like dopamine after popping bubble wrap.
Having a bubble wrap at your desk will help you to overcome back & forth client changes.
13) Make It A Discipline
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
If you’re serious about growing your creativity muscle, you can take things a step further by building a practice right into your day. Strategic Coach co-founder Dan Sullivan does this by setting aside a few minutes every morning to write down 10 ideas. (Though he admits, “The first four ideas are pretty easy … the next six are hard.” Sounds like every workout I’ve ever done!)
The point is, anything worth doing takes effort. And if you’re someone who wants to contribute, to make a difference on your team and even in your family life, then taking your ideas seriously and setting aside time to capture them is the very best thing you can do. It doesn’t matter whether every idea is great. What matters is the practice, the mental exertion.
14) Set Mini-Goals
Your workload can seem overwhelming if you’ve got a bunch of big projects on deck. Put yourself back in control by breaking up those tasks into smaller goals.
So instead of writing “launch campaign”, for example, break it all down into specific actions like “retouch photo”, “post to Instagram”, and “write email newsletter copy”.
Crossing each of these off your list will give you the fire to keep this train going.
15) Label Everything & use funky
To transform something ordinary into art is both fun and challenging. A little décor in your workplace can be a serious boost for productivity. Pick some old cardboard boxes and paint them with attractive colors. Get an old mug and make it into a pen holder. You can also transform an old tissue box into something cool and fun. Just be imaginative about ideas and have fun.
Using modern & funky stationary helps your brain to relax & get more of a creative edge.
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