Let’s just face the cold, hard facts about coming to work and sitting down at the same old desk every day: The same old, same old can get quite boring! Few of us would desire to sit in our bedroom all day, every day, yet life often dictates we sit at the same uninspiring desk for 8-plus hours everyday at our job.
New scenery has a way of reinvigorating the mind and body, much like that feeling we all get when traveling to a brand new city or country. Why not try decorating your desk like you would your home or property? After all, you do spend a large majority of your life “living” at it, if you’re relegated to working in a traditional office.
Here’s 7 easy, inexpensive ways to dress up your workspace:
1. Have a different coffee cup for each day of the week
For that matter, head to your local dollar store and buy a cup for each day of the month! If you’re not a coffee, tea, or hot chocolate fan, consider collecting different reusable water bottles. If you adorn your desk with the same old boring cups and bottles, your job will feel just as stagnant.
2. Get creative with magnets, Post-its, pens, pencils, etc
Paper and nick-knacks still very much have a place around the office. Clutter things up a bunch and add some personality to your otherwise boring work area or office! Grab a slew of different colors and designs of Post-its, magnets, push pins, pencils, pens – whatever floats your boat. Draw funny politically-correct pictures or cartoons on the Post-its if you don’t have any other use for them – maybe write down your most inspiring quotes on them for you and others to draw energy from?
3. Give your workspace legitimate life
Plants should be an obvious addition to your dull, otherwise lifeless workspace. Palms, cacti, ferns, flowers, and more all thrive under office lights and don’t require much maintenance to keep them healthy. Plus, they’re fun to look at, give you something other than your work to focus on every day, and they actually help to clean the air you and your coworkers breathe in – in addition to adding more life-giving oxygen to an often overworked brain and body!
4. Funny or cool tearoff calendars are a workspace must
These cheap and fun little jobbies add something new on your desk to start each workday with. From funny one-liners and cartoons, to inspiring quotes, and even pictures of your favorite pets, wild animals, cars, plants – whatever. There’s a tearoff calendar for virtually any taste, to suit whatever corporate culture might exist in your office. Tearing off the previous day’s page is a great way to signify the start of a brand new day too!
5. Move things around often on your coffee breaks
If you just can’t get your breaks in without leaving your desk, believe me, I understand! Sometimes the only way to really take a break is to completely separate oneself from their work environment. Still, it’s important to find some time to move both your practical and decorative office gear around now and again. If you’re totally OCD, maybe this one isn’t for you. For the rest, a complete overhaul will completely change the energy at your desk for the better!
6. Buy an essential oil diffuser and change the scents often
Not only will healthy essential oils make you feel better, they’ll actually make you work better, too. In a study cited in this Guardian article, typists made 54% fewer mistakes when they could smell lemon; 33% fewer when smelling jasmine; and 20% fewer errors when surrounded by the smell of lavender. Should you just cut to the chase and go straight for the lemon? That’s up to you, but I still stick by changing things up frequently to avoid letting your workspace go stale.
7. Mix sitting with standing at your desk
Some jobs allow for flexibility and movement, while others force us to maintain a constant vigil at our desks. The easiest way to get bored is to sit in front of a computer monitor doing menial tasks. It’s bad for your motivation levels and certainly bad for your health. The health complications are endless. If your employer (even if that’s you) isn’t willing to invest in a new desk, consider an inexpensive conversion attachment that can be placed on your current workstation.
Your job might be boring, but jazzing up your workstation with a few inexpensive items can sure make the day a lot more bearable.
Here’s wishing you an exciting day at work tomorrow!