Feng Shui Your Workspace for Increased Health, Happiness, and Productivity
Want to improve your health and your productivity and happiness level? Then it’s time to Feng Shui your workplace. Today, psychology confirms that our emotions are affected by our environment. Think, for example, of how sunlight can boost your mood and energy levels, or how you tend to feel more energized around happy people.
Increasingly, the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui is used to create a productive, inspiring, and peaceful workspaces. After all, we spend most of our time at work, so our workspace is actually where Feng Shui is most needed to boost motivation, creativity, and productivity, as well as to manage stress.
Try these Feng Shui principles at work:
Evaluate
First thing first, start by evaluating your workspace. Does it match your career and job requirements? Is it chaotic, relaxing, or super organized? Does your space reflect your passions, personality, and achievements?
Take a few minutes to reflect on this.
Adjust your desk and chair
Place your chair and desk so that you have a wall behind your back and face the entrance to your office. People and business enter from there and you should not have your back towards them. This way, you will not be surprised and prepared for whatever comes through the entrance. If you are not able to move your desk, hang a mirror in such a way that you can still see the entrance.
While facing the entrance, place your desk to the left or right of it to ensure positive energy and to being the first one to receive whatever comes in, whether good or bad. The spacious feeling of an open pathway also provides those who enter with a welcoming feeling.
If possible, avoid sitting under a low ceiling. Feng Shui likes neither low nor high ceilings. Somewhere between 2,4 and 3 meters is preferred. High ceilings don’t contain chi well; energy easily rises and can get trapped in the heights. Low ceilings, on the other hand, constrict chi, and push down on your energy field.
Make sure your back is well-supported. As you sit in it for long periods at a time, especially if you have a desk job, consider getting an ergonomically designed chair to prevent neck and back strain.
Declutter
Not only does stuff take up space, it also takes up energy. Studies show that being surrounded by physical clutter can result in stress and depression while a clean, organized space can create a sense of inner calm and boost productivity at work.
Regularly take some time to tidy your workspace. Instead of stuffing things away, consider donating or recycling any items you won’t miss.
Add plants to improve air quality
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), air pollution indoors is often between two and five times greater than outdoors. Indoor air contains pollutants from both the outside and inside of a building, such as fumes from cooking or cleaning products, any caused by the building materials used, and from electronic equipment such as printers, copying machines, and other items.
Choose from one of more of these plans to promote better air quality in your workspace:
- Aloe Vera
- English Ivy
- Spider plant
- Ficus
- Snake Plant (Also known as Mother-In-Law’s Tongue)
Diffuse essential oils
Aromatherapy is used in Feng Shui to encourage balance and harmony, and to trigger a specific emotional response – smell is perhaps out strongest sense and influences those areas of the brain that process our emotions and learning capabilities. Aromas also have a powerful effect on the flow of chi in your workspace. For example, the scent of lavender can help you relax, while the scent of grapefruit stimulates your memory.
Experiment with diffusing essential oils and discover how they can boost your energy levels and productivity. These essential oils score highest for their ability to raise brain power, memory, mental activity, and productivity:
- Cinnamon
- Lemon
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
Use colors
The use of color is one of the easiest ways to shift the energy in workspace in order to create good Feng Shui. Not only does color psychology affect you’re and your colleagues’ performance, it also affects how visitors perceive and remember your business.
Depending of your line of work, consider the following colors and their effect:
By using principles of Feng Shui, we can improve our health, productivity, and happiness by consciously tending to the space that we work in.
