Over the years I’ve been in a lot of different companies and observed the differences of work spaces. With viewing these different spaces, I’ve come to realize that there is no one right way to personalize your work space. Really, it’s yours.
But, my question about your work space is this: How does your work space reflect your personal brand?
I’ve seen a variety of work spaces that include everything from the ultra Spartan desk that seems as if no one even works there to a workspace that is so overly cluttered, it almost appears that the trash has been dumped on the desk each day.
I get that we all work differently and want to have access to information in different ways. That’s totally okay! But, you need to realize that how your desk looks to others will not only be a reflection of your brand, but will be a reflection of your workplace health.
When I started my consultancy about 6 years ago, I was using a home office with a Hodge-podge of random office furniture. At the time, I had a lot of clients come to my home office for personal one-on-one career coaching. After a year of working in that work space, I realized that I needed to update the office to really reflect my personality and brand.
I hired an interior decorator to give me some direction and guidance on how to create a space that reflects my brand. Then, I took advantage of a long Thanksgiving Day weekend and totally redid my office – painted the walls, bought new furniture, etc. It felt great. With the newly remodeled home office, my confidence grew and revenue increased.
Here’s a link to blog post by Christa Pirl… you’ll see some before and after pictures.
When it comes to your work space – either in your home office or at the corporate offices, I highly recommend you personalize your space. Here are a few pointers:
- What colors represent you? How can you incorporate those colors into your work space. I love orange as a reflection of my energy and enthusiasm, so that’s why I purchased a bright orange chair. A pop of energy right in the middle of my work space!
- What is your workflow? Evaluate where you put files, office supplies, where people sit when they come into your space, etc. Look for ways to make your work space comfortable for you. There are great ergonomic specialists who can really make a difference on how you use your work space.
- How can you incorporate personal stuff? You’ll notice that I have some interesting art work in my office. Each of those items means something to me. It’s not just “pretty art”.
Ultimately, if you create a space that allows you to flow more with your day-to-day tasks and functions, it’ll make a difference in your work enjoyment. The more you enjoy your work space, the more you’ll actually accomplish and then feel more confident and successful.
Personalizing your work space increases your workplace health and enjoyment!
My office space has changed over the years and continues to evolve based on what I need currently. In fact, here’s a photo of my book shelf that used to be in a closet and is now along one wall of my office. By laying the book shelf on it’s side, I love creating the extra counter space.
Today, this book shelf has family photos, files, treasures from travel, access to books that I reference often, office supplies, client files, etc. These are all wonderful things to look at and enjoy, but I don’t like to have my desk top cluttered with photos and too many files at any given time, so I love that I can turn around in my orange office chair and access these important things quickly and efficiently.
And my cute step kids wrote me a love note on the dry erase board… I kept that love note up for a few weeks and only erased when I HAD to use the whole dry erase board for a project. Expressions of love really add to my workplace health, but maybe that’s embarrassing to you. Go with what works for you!
How are you going to improve your work space so that it better reflects your personal brand?