Achieve a healthy balance.
The pressure of work and the stress of an upcoming deadline often means that “you time” and staying healthy tends to take a back seat. This is where we all need a bit of perspective as its our health that keeps us working, affecting our mood and how we think. More-over it affects our ability to stay creative and ultimately stay productive.
Achieving a healthy balance doesn’t mean making sweeping changes to your daily routine. Indeed, its often the small things that can have the most profound affect. Whether you are always on the go, or spend a lot of time at your desk, the commitment to staying healthy starts with you.
Here are a couple of pointers from Formetiq’s resident design gurus to help you out:
“I like to move it move it!”
Here at Formetiq we’re very lucky to have our own gym, complete with treadmill, weights bench and punch bag. Whilst not every office can feasibly have its own gym, you can avoid the mid-afternoon slump by simply staying active. Instead of a working lunch at your desk, go outside for a walk – do anything that raises your heartrate and gets those endorphins pumping! These small breaks are not only enjoyable but help clear your head ready for the next task. So do yourself a favour, break up long periods of sitting with occasional walking and standing. Height adjustable desks, sit-stand workstations and balance boards are hugely effective at keep you mobile whilst working.
Work to live don’t live to work.
When was the last time you got a good night sleep? Have you caught up with old friends to reminisce about old times? Are you making precious memories with your family? These are important questions to ask when thinking about your health. Time management can be difficult and very often, work commitments can extend into personal time. Whilst its good to be ambitious, to be the very best you can be, part of having good physical and mental health is maintaining a work-life balance. Personal time and rest enables you to process your thoughts and allows you to make long term goals whilst setting priorities. Sleep deprivation, stress and anxiety can make you forgetful, decrease productivity and generally make you more susceptible to illness. In short, don’t forget to put your wellbeing first, you’re not doing anyone any favours by doing anything else.
There’s no place like home…
In many a case you’ll spend more time at the office than you do at home. So why wouldn’t you give your workspace the same care and attention as your living room at home? What feels like home for one person could be very different for someone else, and businesses are no different. The style of your office can vary – you could aim for a plush, high-end luxury finish or a Shoreditch-cool warehouse setup.
What these very different but domestic-inspired offices have in common is a move away from the sterile, uniformity of a typical office and a move towards something more bespoke with domestic style finishes. Soft touches like cushions, sofas, lamps and coffee tables can provide a more relaxed atmosphere by providing a “softer design” more akin to a living room than an office.
By increasing the similarities between the office and home, staff can feel more at ease and in-touch with their surroundings. It becomes a place where they want to be, rather than a space they have to be in to work. By creating spaces that people want to work in, you improve the ambiance and the comradery that makes people feel happy at work and proud to be a part of your business.
