Give Some Love to Your Workspace

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired! The theme of this week’s Spark an Idea Thursday is Sparking an Idea to Improve Your Workspace

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Ok, confession, I’ve been on vacation for about 3 weeks.  I’ve been ignoring my home office, because we’ve been having a great time.  But now, it’s time to get back to the normal routine.  My workspace needs some love, STAT!

Have you ever been there?  Your workspace is uh, er, not looking it’s best.  There are a lot of small things you can do, but the first thing you can do to improve your workspace is…

Organize it.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I’m all about this.  Some would even say I’m a little obsessed, and I honestly couldn’t really disagree.  It changed my life a while back – seriously.   An organized workspace helps you work better, feel better and gosh darn it, just makes you like where you work.  People often wonder where they start.  Here’s a few quick tips to whip your workspace into shape.  (If you need even more help, you can get help with that too. )

Start with your desktop.

You’re looking at the mess, and it’s driving you crazy!  So take a few minutes and deal with it.  Put things away, recycle the junk mail and get on top of it.  There’s that saying that a clear desk = a clear mind, I agree to a point, but it just makes you feel better.  Right?  Ok, then.

Is your workspace really working for you?

Is it too loud?  Too cold?  Too hot?  Too dark?  Take that one little thing and improve on it. Don’t discount this, you’d be surprised how much of a difference these little things make!

Get some systems in place.

Don’t be scared. It only means to have routines and things that help you stay on track, like a checklist that helps you stay on top of things.  Need to file?  Set aside a day of the week to do it.  Need to update client records?  Set aside a day of the week to do that too.   Make it easy on yourself so things get done.  This will help you with that nasty paper tiger problem as well – which just gets out of control way too easily!

Love where you work.

If you hate your workspace, you’re going to be miserable, and it will show.  Improving your workspace doesn’t have to be expensive, but make it a place you love to be.  Use what you have.  Shop a garage sale.  Cruise the clearance racks at an office supply store.  Recognize the value it brings, the income it produces and the satisfaction that comes from a job well done.  Your workspace is where that takes place, so take care of it and it will take care of you.

What can you do to improve your workspace?