Your workplace may not always be the picture of paradise, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do your best to make it a more enjoyable place to spend your days. There are a lot of reasons why you can be bemoaning your office or cubicle, and thankfully there are just as many that you can find to make it a place that you actually enjoy.
If you’re fed up with walking into a drab and dreary office every day, it’s time for a serious change to this environment so you aren’t dragging your feet in through the doors every morning. Here are some excellent ideas to help freshen up your workplace and make it an overall pleasant place to spend your workday.
Add Some Greenery
The first step is to add color and life to the office. A good and easy way to do this is by simply adding some plants to your desk, windowsill, or hang them from the ceiling. Plants don’t cost much, and it gives you a little extra incentive to be attentive around the workplace because you want to care and cater to them and keep them alive. It adds some life to your office, plus some plants can offer refreshing air purifying qualities. Next time you look at your office space, consider what kind of plant would go well there.
Consider Some Wildlife Too
We’re not suggesting you move a goat into the office (unless your boss is okay with it), but there are small ways to add some more life to the workplace beyond just a plant. The easiest one and likely only one is to consider adding a fish tank or aquarium in your workplace. You can find artificial or natural additions to a tank, whatever you think is more appealing and whatever works for the fish, as well as adding a little water feature for more feng-shui. Having fish is another good incentive for always being there at work to make sure they’re well-fed and happy, just like you should be, coincidentally.
Open Up the Windows
You need to make sure you’re getting some real fresh air. Your office has an AC unit and ventilation, but that’s just recycling stale air for all you know. If you can, try to crack the window open now and again because the real air is much better than dusty office HVAC circulation. This also helps out in the summer or spring when your plants need to get some natural air as well. The freshness can clear out lingering smells and make your space much more enjoyable.
Cover Up the Trash Can
If you have an exposed wastebasket, you need to ditch it for one that isn’t going to be wafting curious smells into your nose all day. It might go unnoticed because it’s tucked under or beside your desk, but throwing away your lunch and other random objects into this waste bin can end up smelling really bad over time and leaving you wishing you hadn’t brought a tuna sandwich for lunch. Get a covered trash can and try to throw food out in the kitchen garbage instead, for your own sake.
Use Air Fresheners
If that doesn’t work, and opening the windows doesn’t either, you have to consider that maybe you need a little help keeping the air nice and fresh. Air fresheners are a dime a dozen so really you can’t go wrong with most. You can get some that attach to the AC unit that wafts the smell from the unit, or you can get an automated air freshener that spurts out some fresh scents on a timer so you aren’t getting overwhelmed. There are a lot of scents that can help make your workplace more pleasant so it’s all a matter of choice.
Add More Natural Light
You also need to make sure you aren’t constantly being bombarded by the unnatural light of fluorescent or LED bulbs. Natural light from windows should be encouraged to try anything you can to maximize it. One interesting technique to make a room feel bigger and to bounce light around to illuminate it is by using a mirror to reflect incoming light. If you can’t get natural light, there are artificial bulbs that are softer to help mimic less harsh white lights found in an office.
There isn’t much to celebrate in the way of comfortability in a workplace, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do your best to change that. Using these ideas, you can make your office area much more inhabitable, fresh, and pleasant.
