Whether you’re a graphic designer, an office manager or a retail associate, the space in which you conduct your work is absolutely integral to your productivity and happiness. Perhaps we dont always realise it, but creating an ideal working environment for ourself can improve almost every aspect of our working life, from relationships to happiness to output and speed. We’ve probably all been guilty of not paying much attention to anything other than our computer screen or other outlet for work, but there really is no excuse for it when it has such a massive effect.

So what makes the ideal working environment? Of course, it’s different for everybody, but there are things almost everybody can do to make their workplace more pleasant and useful. Here are our tips:

1. Get Rid of Clutter. We all have things cluttering up our work space that really dont need to be there. Get rid of them! Minimalism is definitely the route to productivity, and getting messy documents and other random items out of the way means that we are able to tackle tasks one by one. Out of sight, out of mind.
2. Add a little cheer. A photograph of your kids or loved ones will do the trick, or perhaps even an adored celebrity. Something that brings a smile to your face or helps you through the day will make a big difference. Keep it on your pinboard, computer or even just in your wallet.
3. Let there be light. Get some natural light flooding in, for goodness sake, or else your eyes might go square. But seriously, natural light is good for the body and good for the soul, try and let as much of it in via windows as much as you possibly can, instead of relying on those awful cheap tungsten lights. Or if you’re lucky enough to have a job that lets you work outside at times, take full advantage.
4. Be comfortable. Wherever you work, comfort will increase your productivity. Just dont get so comfortable you fall asleep. Make sure you’re not working on a chair that feels like you’re sitting on a bed of thorns.
5. Stay inspired. If you dont have a reason to be at work, it can be truly soul destroying. Make sure you stay inspired and remind yourself why you are there in the first place. Dont be afraid to keep quotes on you or inspiring photos, it will help you out when times get hard.