An office should energize workers and reflect a successful business. The colors on the walls should be conducive to productivity and the entrance should be clutter-free and welcoming. Each workspace should provide supportive energy for focus, productivity and income generation. Is this the case in your office, or are things looking a little grim?
It used to be an office only needed a desk and chair, something to write with, a telephone and perhaps a typewriter. Today, the technological and electronic needs are vast. Global communication systems, cellphones and smartphones, wireless laptops and voicemail systems are just a few of the tools of a productive 21st century office.
With all of this high-tech equipment, the more subtle energy requirements are often overlooked. These provide a balanced atmosphere, allowing workers to stay focused, productive and in control of their time. A productive, success-oriented office can be achieved by incorporating some basic Feng Shui principles and personal design preferences with the high-tech requirements. This creates an office that is less stressful and more productive, which yields more profitability and personal satisfaction.
The first step in energizing an office for success is to unclutter it. If an unorganized office is energized, the clutter will be energized and even more clutter will be created. Take the paper from the desktops and organize it, file it or get rid of it. Then you are ready to move on.
Create a Balanced environment
• Energize the entrance. Eliminate any clutter here too. Have the entrance well lit, remove wastebaskets from the area and make sure the door can swing open. This is not only the entrance to your productivity, but also the entrance to new clients, new business and profitability. The front entrance and its welcoming statement affect the success of the entire business.
• Use color. Paint office walls colors that provide supportive energy for the work being done. Sales, marketing and professional offices should be a soft terra cotta or earth tone colors, which is conducive to building good relationships with clients. Avoid the hard, stress-oriented energy created by white walls.
High-tech electronic multi-tasking offices can be balanced with soft green on the walls and wood furniture. Avoid white here as well.
White does work in a small space to increase motivation. Paint the walls of your individual workspace white and surround yourself with less wood and more metal objects. When focus is a problem white will provide energetic tension needed for focus and productivity.
• Consider wall décor. To encourage focus, productivity and generate income, use motivational art and posters that energize. Art depicting success, teamwork and a winning attitude are great. Frame them in silver or gold and hang them on west and northwest walls. Family pictures in an office can be distracting, so limit them to either a small grouping or a collage in one frame – place them in the southwest area of your desk or office to energize relationships, both work and personal.
• Add some greenery. In the east and southeast area of your office, energize both new business and wealth generation by adding plants that reach upward like bamboo. Silk plants or artwork of large trees like redwood or sequoias also will add energy to income generation.
• Go with the flow. Adding artwork with water in it on the north wall can energize. Be sure the water in the picture has movement to it like a flowing river rather than tumultuous waves crashing on the shore or stagnant water with no movement. A small tabletop water fountain with a gentle bubbling sound also works well.
• Use a round table. For meetings with clients and staff members the complete energy of the oval or round table is conducive to negotiating, sales, problem solving and conducting productive brainstorming sessions. To feel “in charge” when sitting at this table, the power position is opposite the door.
Balancing the office for supportive energy and aligning design tastes with the type of work to be done can improve focus, productivity and lead to more success. Creating balance eliminates many of the energy drainers in the workplace and reduces stress.
Ideally, an office should support company goals and objectives as well as what workers need to accomplish on a given day. A balanced and properly energized office or business leads to a calmer, in control, more successful person.
