Painting Your Home Office for Success
Anyone who works from home all or some of the time understands how difficult staying focused can be.
Even if your job is exciting, engaging, and hugely rewarding, little distractions may well affect your concentration. For example, your new coffee machine is likely to interest you more than that spreadsheet you’re supposed to update, and the temptation to enjoy a long afternoon soak with your new soaps could well be irresistible when you have a stack of paperwork to face.
Holding your focus becomes even harder if you feel low, depressed, or deeply unmotivated. However, research shows that you can create a workspace more geared for success simply by experimenting with color.
Which are most effective for your home office, and why?
Color Coding Your Mood
According to studies undertaken by the University of Texas, three bland colors were found to have a negative impact on workers: gray, beige, and white inspire feelings of depression and sadness, particularly in female employees.
This is entirely understandable, particularly in regards to gray. These colors, while attractive in their own right, hold little character or dynamism.
For males, orange and purple environments were discovered to create those negative feelings; it’s surprising to see such beautiful tones connected with sadness or depression.
These colors also, quite rightly, affect our productivity. Colors at a low wavelength, such as soft greens and blues, enhance focus and efficiency; they’re also shown to boost feelings of well-being and happiness.
When decorating your home office, painting the walls with blues or greens (perhaps a combination of both) could certainly be a smart choice. These also evoke the natural world, which may help to generate positive feelings, particularly if you see getting outdoors as a reward for a hard day’s work.
Yellow has also been found to encourage innovation and creativity in the workplace, especially in environments used by developers, designers, and writers. If your work involves any or all of these practices, consider adding a touch of yellow to give yourself a solid start.
The Power of Designer Furniture
Beyond the color of your walls, it’s vital to make your home office comfortable and conducive to productivity. One key influence on this is your furniture: an ergonomic chair, such as Crossford Furniture’s, will support your weight and enable you to make adjustments, to suit your unique preferences.
Make sure your chair is set at the right height for your table and computer, to avoid strain and aches. If you feel you have to constantly adjust your posture or try a new position, your concentration will suffer over time.
You may want to add more color by placing a throw over your chair, such as in blues, greens, or yellows. Even though you’ll have you back to it most of the time, it will still contribute to the entire aesthetic.
Experiment with the colors and furnishings explored above, and your home office will look & feel like the perfect place to work.