5 Ways to Optimize Your Private Office Space for Greater Focus

You have a private office space. You make the most of your commute every day. Maybe you even meal prep to optimize your focus throughout the day.

Even so, you may feel like there’s always something more you should do to improve your professional life, and it can be all too easy to fall into the trap of never feeling quite satisfied with your daily routine.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t reach a level of productivity and focus that leaves you feeling energized when you walk out the door at the end of the workday.

If you think of your office as a destination for productivity, it’s critical that you optimize your private office space to meet your needs. Here are five ideas to help you achieve the focus you need to be your best self.

1. Workplace Optimization Requires the Right Lighting

There’s a reason we don’t all wait until sundown to write out our best ideas by candlelight: workplace lighting matters, and studies show that it can have a tremendous impact on our ability to be productive.

Natural light has been shown to improve energy, mood, and alertness in a plethora of studies, and experience shows this is true.

Source: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

To ensure your private office is a productive office space, position your desk so that you have at least some exposure to natural light throughout the day.

Of course, while you may not have much say in what lighting fixtures are built into your private office space or whether you have exterior windows of your own, you can always supplement your workplace lighting with desktop lamps or, when the opportunity presents itself, find a new workplace that’s designed to feature natural light.

2. Find the Right Temperature to Support Your Focus

If you’ve ever worked in an open office space, you know just how common it is to find differing opinions on workplace optimization when it comes to the thermostat. That’s because different people work best at different temperatures.

In fact, a recent study from NPR showed, men and women perform best within different temperature ranges.

If you have the ability to adjust the temperature within your own private office space, don’t hesitate to do so! If not, be sure to dress in layers so that you can adjust accordingly.

3. Keep Your Office Tidy to Foster Productivity

Regardless of how you keep your home, your office space should be neat and orderly. Your desktop, like your schedule, should be free of clutter and organized around the most important tools you need to be productive.

If you have a tendency to let paperwork pile up, reserve time on your calendar every week to quite literally clean off your desktop to ensure you stay on top of administrative tasks.

4. Limit Distractions with a Soundscape Designed for Focused Work

You have a private office space because you know the importance of having four solid walls to ensure you have the quiet, confidential space you need to do your job well.

But walls aren’t the only thing you need to limit distractions from noise pollution. At Firmspace, we use a sound masking system to prevent sound leakage between private offices and support focused work.

If you don’t have this type of support available, invest in noise-cancelling headphones and try working with different variations of white noise until you find the right noise blend to help you feel focused and relaxed throughout the day.

5. Take the Time to Get Your Workplace Ergonomics Right

We’ve written before about the importance of workplace ergonomics for peak productivity, and we can’t overemphasize how critical it is to find the office furniture configuration that works best for you.

Many employers even include complimentary ergonomics consultations for new hires because they know that supporting employee posture from day one will result in better employee health and productivity over their tenure.

If an expert consultation isn’t available to you, start by reading OSHA’s resources on the subject and adjust the elements of your desk, chair, keyboard, and monitor height until you find your flow. 

Ensure Your Private Office Space Is a Productive Office Space

As many professionals return to the office for the first time in nearly a year-and-a-half, the atmosphere of downtown areas and the hallways of office buildings is once again evolving.

The challenge at hand is not simply to establish a new, productive routine but to find a routine that you can continually adjust to meet your own evolving needs.
If you find yourself looking for a private office that meets your needs in terms of space, privacy, and technology, book a tour to see if Firmspace is the right space for you.