Boost Productivity By Setting Up Mission-Specific Zones For Your Workspace

Specific places instantly trigger different responses in us: sinking into a favourite chair, we automatically relax; entering the gym puts us in active mode. Using this principle and setting up special zones in our workspaces, work activities could be more effortless.

Photo by Nick Keppol

Creativity blog 99% says that ideally you would have different locations for each type of activity. For example, deal with email on the train, do your core responsibilities at your desk, and strategic planning at the coffeeshop (or another location).

For being confined to one place, having two desks or an L-shaped workspace would be ideal: you could do creative work on one, for example, and other types of work at the other. But even if you’re dealing with a very limited amount of space, you can still use the mind-space association to trigger different frames of mind or activities:

You can trigger your mind to change activities with other small physical cues such as: standing up instead of perching on your chair at your elevated desk; moving your mouse from one side of the keyboard to the other; or sliding your chair over to a different portion of your work surface.

For more suggestions on setting up an optimal environment, see the article from 99%. Do you have a set up like this or think it could work for you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Setting the Scene for a Productive Day [99%]