Beautiful desktop organization. How to arrange a workplace? Simple and good ideas

26.03.2020

It does not matter where you work - at home or in the office, it is important how the place you spend most own life. Therefore, you need to organize it competently and beautifully, so that both mood and productivity are at their best.

Room temperature

Hang a thermometer near your workspace, or better yet, find a desk clock with a thermometer. IKEA has these. This will help keep the room temperature at 22 degrees Celsius. This is the most comfortable mode for productive work. It will be colder - you can catch a cold, hotter - the pace of work will slow down.

Noise isolation

There are several simple ways block out external noise. You can get a special architectural glass film and carefully stick it on the window. It also increases the mechanical strength of the glass, saves heat and tints, protecting from direct sunlight. You can pick up curtains made of dense materials. They not only muffle sounds, but also create comfort. If you cannot change the space, keep noise-isolating headphones at your workplace.

Color

As for the walls, it is better to stick to universal light shades. White, beige, eggshell color visually enlarge the space and reflect natural light from the windows. Bright shades are best used in small things (table lamps, mouse, paper box). When choosing colors, be guided by your goals. Need to relieve stress? Blue will help you calm down. If you do not have enough strength and energy, choose red. Pink will help to cope with irritation, aggression, loneliness and despondency. Yellow will refresh the head, and orange will increase self-esteem and enthusiasm.

Chair

The main rule is no hard surfaces. If you can't get a soft office chair, put a pillow on the chair. It is desirable to have armrests: they give rest to the hands, which means they relax the back. The armrests should be positioned so that you can bend your elbows to 90 degrees. The height of the chair must be adjusted independently (thighs parallel to the floor, feet on the floor, arms at table height), as well as the height of the backrest and its angle of inclination - all for the sake of posture. Lower back problems can be avoided by purchasing a lumbar pillow or support that attaches to a chair.

Table

The choice of table depends on the type of your work. If you spend all the time at the computer, it can be small. If you combine work with papers and on the computer, it will be more convenient at a table in the shape of the letter L or U. In any case, do not choose a table that is too large so that there is no temptation to clutter up the space. The height of the table depends on your height. It is important that in a sitting position the distance between the knees and the table top is about 20 centimeters. In terms of materials, they can be made from laminate (watch out for quality when choosing), metal (the most durable), and wood (the most stylish and affordable).

Light

It is important to combine natural, ceiling (or wall) and table lighting. It is good if the table lamp is adjustable in terms of light power and height. Choose LED light bulbs: this is the most economical and environmentally friendly option that does not strain your eyes. Place the lamp on the table, depending on whether you are right-handed (lamp - on the left) or left-handed (lamp - on the right). Ceiling light should be located directly above the workplace. It plays a supporting role, so it shouldn't be too bright.

Decor

The presence of a window is always good for performance. In other cases, it makes sense to create the atmosphere manually. Organize a personal moodboard on the wall above the computer. For this, traditional cork or chalk boards are suitable. Or you can hang cornices with hooks and hang various motivating nonsense, favorite photos or stationery on them. Ditch the dull office décor in favor of a bunny stapler, wrought iron lamps, sheepskin chair cushions, ergonomic cord organizers and textile filing boxes.

Storage system

Instead of the same type of cabinets with archives, you can use wooden ladders with wide steps. If space is tight, make use of the walls: hang minimalist shelves above eye level and arrange the documents you need in beautiful folders on them. You can use a cornice above the table (which we have already talked about), a key holder or any other holders with hooks - hang scissors, a hole punch and everything else on them. A great place to store small items such as paper clips, stickers and pencils can be a wooden jewelry box.

Plants

First, decide how much time you can devote to caring for plants. The most unpretentious flowers are philodendron, spathiphyllum, dracaena, croton, petunia. Then decide how much money you can spend on your greenhouse. An excellent budget option is to set up a small garden with herbs (mint, lavender, rosemary, thyme). And don't forget to ask colleagues to water your plants while on vacation.

Colleagues talking, calls, noise, uncomfortable workplace, chaos in the office, a mess on your own desk can instantly unbalance and aggravate the situation. Marina Makoviy tells the readers of The Only One how to effectively deal with irritants at work.

Marina is a well-known Ukrainian business lady and general manager International recruitment portal HeadHunter Ukraine (hh.ua).

Noisy colleagues

Start by asking people around you to be quiet. People usually respond to such requests, and for a while it will work. Another way to not hear conversations is with noise canceling headphones. Well, the third way (the most radical) is to change the workplace in the office or discuss with the manager the possibility of working remotely.

Calls from other people's phones

Alien ringtones - another irritant in the office space. Put your phone on silent and invite colleagues to do the same, and conduct phone calls or Skype calls in a separate room. Of course, it will be easier to implement this if you work in a small team. In a large department, it is important to offer to do this to colleagues who are sitting nearby.

Bad workplace

Sitting with your back to the door or to the aisle is uncomfortable, because everyone passing behind you can look at the screen. Sitting right in front of the door is also not very pleasant - everyone who enters the room automatically perceives you as an information desk. It is best to sit sideways to a door or aisle. If you can’t turn the table, you can delimit the space with the help of cabinets or plants in large pots.

Organize your workspace

The ideal workplace is one where nothing distracts from work. Everything you have on and around your desk should encourage concentration and help you work better. If the desktop is cluttered, remove everything from it except for items that are critical for work: computer, keyboard, mouse, phone. Wipe down the tabletop. Sort out everything that was on the table: send all unnecessary documents to the wastebasket, put the necessary ones in the appropriate folders (and also remove them from the table). If you keep cups, spoons and plates on the table, you are guaranteed a reputation as a slob.

Planning and stickers

If you often have to memorize and write down different things, in addition to a notebook, install a planning board next to your workplace. It is convenient to divide it into several sections - "Tasks", "Priority", "In progress", "Done" - and move stickers with tasks in these columns. So all things will always be in front of your eyes.

Light, chair, table and wastebasket

Light is very important. It is good if the office has large bright windows. Firstly, sunlight adjusts biorhythms, eliminating unnecessary drowsiness and fatigue during the day. Secondly, it promotes the production of serotonin, a special hormone that is responsible for a good mood. Depression affects those who sit in the back of the office or in the semi-basement, away from natural light, more severely.

The lamp should be on the left if you are right-handed, or on the right if you are left-handed. When there is not enough light, the eyes get tired and productivity decreases. Similarly, incorrect monitor settings can affect productivity. Adjust the brightness on it, and at the same time the height and tilt.

The chair should be as comfortable as possible and with a soft surface. It is desirable to have armrests: they should be located so that you can bend your elbows at an angle of 90 degrees. The height of the chair must be adjusted so that the thighs are parallel to the floor and the feet are on the floor.

The height of the table depends on your height. It is important that in a sitting position the distance between the knees and the table top is about 20 cm.

Keep a trash can near your desk and send there unnecessary papers, candy wrappers, used stationery and other garbage immediately, without accumulating them on the table.

Storage system

If you often work with documents, you need to figure out how to store them. If there are not very many papers, one sorting tray or several folders will suffice. If the workflow is large, create folders for each type of document, sign them and sort them as you like: you can by date, or you can by topic, for example, by one counterparty. The main thing is that you always know how to find certain accounts. Put all the documents that you rarely use away: in a drawer or in the archive. Keep the ones you need regularly.

Do backups your developments, documents, projects, service information stored on your working computer, and send them to the company's server or cloud storage. How much effort and nerves do people spend because of lost information! The computer is broken, frozen, someone accidentally deleted important data.

Music helps some to concentrate, while others categorically interferes. If you are in the first category, remember those in the second. If there is someone else in the room where you work, listen to music only with headphones. This is one of the main rules of office etiquette.

Green plants are always good. It is only important to decide: how much time you can devote to caring for them. The most unpretentious flowers are philodendron, spathiphyllum, dracaena, croton. A great option is to break a "garden" with herbs: mint, lavender, rosemary, thyme. And the eye pleases, and the aroma is pleasant, relaxing.

If personal work requires energy, and the office is decorated in gray gloomy colors, add a few spots of warm shades around you. You can put a yellow rug under your arm or hang a picture in orange tones.

If you work from home, it is very important to set aside a separate space for work. This is primarily for separating work and personal life (when working from home, it can be difficult to switch from one mode to another), but can come in handy from a more practical point of view. For example, it is useful to have a separate working computer that children will not approach and that will not break at the most inopportune moment.

Finally: if you have been working for many years at a table that is littered so that you cannot be seen behind it, and with productivity, everything is in order with you - relax and work in the same mode and further.

If you have a home office, or need to fit your belongings into a cell, in this article you will find helpful tips which will make this job less difficult.

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1. Store small items in the spice rack.

Just be sure to wash them thoroughly, or your eraser will smell like cumin forever.

3. Keep papers and pens in a neat organizer made from old frames.

4. Turn the frame into a list of things to do.

5. Make these colorful can organizers

6. Stack them on top of each other to save space.

7. Coat them with chalkboard paint for easy marking.

8. Lucky to have an extra Slinky spring? Use it to store your writing utensils.

9. Keep your cables organized with this desk-mountable organizer.

It costs only $9.99 and you will no longer be humiliated by crawling on the floor in search of a cable.

10. Attach a small hook under the table to keep the cords out from under your feet.

11. Label cords with bread tags. True, to begin with, you will need to eat a lot of bread, but we all sacrifice something.

12. Use the clips to make a large cord holder.

13. Paste the card file with pieces of wallpaper. Fabric or paper for creativity is also suitable.

14. Create a shelf with space to store paper from a magazine rack.

15. Use your morning coffee wrap to keep your headphones from getting tangled. And your mornings will become kinder.

16. Store papers on the wall by attaching them to clipboards.

17. Use one for the to-do list. This person obviously has no obligations.

18. Upgrade your chair. Now, if someone wants to steal your chair, you will know about it.

19. Make a compact charging station out of a lotion bottle. No one will know what it was before.

20. Never spill liquid with this drink holder. It attaches to the edge of the table and prevents terrible disasters like the soy-latte meeting with the MacBook Pro.

21. Cover the inner panels of the shelves with craft paper to give them some color.

22. Create your own bookshelf using drawers. You can make it bigger or smaller, depending on how limited your space is.

23. This beautiful bookshelf is made from Ikea drawers using clips. You can nail or bolt it to the wall if you are concerned about its stability.

24. Perforated boards save a lot of space. Keep important reminders and photos you like at eye level.

25. Attach baskets to a perforated board to store papers. They are easy to move.

V modern world more and more people work from the comfort of their homes, for example on the NeoText copywriting exchange. Many aspiring entrepreneurs arrange a smaller version of the office in their own apartment, which helps to save on renting a room. And those people who work via the Internet do not even need an office. But working from home is not easy. Firstly, the interior of most apartments does not imply a workplace, and it is very difficult to work at the dining table or sitting on the couch. Secondly, at home there are a lot of distractions that prevent you from concentrating on work, and as a result, labor productivity drops.

How to avoid mistakes and correctly arrange the workplace at home? There are several options for the location of the workplace, its layout and organization. Thus, you can create suitable and comfortable working conditions for yourself without disturbing the comfort and atmosphere of your home. Earlier we wrote about, and made special emphasis on. Now let's consider new ideas for organizing a workplace at home.

Workplace at home in a separate room

This option is, of course, the best. If your apartment has a separate room that can be allocated as an office, then you are very lucky. For rooms with a free layout, another option is suitable - fence off your work area with a wall or shelving, highlight this place with color. You can use screens or curtains to create a comfortable working environment.

It is best if your office has a door that will not only protect you from the temptations of home comfort and regular trips to the refrigerator or sofa, but also protect you from extraneous sounds that often distract from work processes.

The cabinet should be equipped with everything you need so that you do not have to go to other rooms and look for the right items. This way you can save time and get the job done quickly and efficiently.

Workplace at home on the balcony

If you do not have a very large apartment, but there is, then you can organize a workplace there. To begin with, you will need to get rid of all the things stored there (usually the balcony functions as a pantry) and carefully insulate the balcony. Choose materials that don't take up a lot of space to save valuable square footage.

It is best to bring a battery to the balcony or make a warm floor. But you can also use mobile heaters powered by electricity.

Pay special attention to wiring, lighting and the required number of outlets. To create a workplace at home on the balcony, you will need a small table that you can fit along a small wall. We also advise you to purchase a small closet or several spacious shelves where you can store important documents, reports or necessary manuals.

Workplace at home in the pantry

No balcony? No problem. Many apartments have small closets that different owners use in different ways. If you have a small dressing room or storage of blanks in your pantry, then you won’t be able to use it as a workplace either. But in most cases, the pantry is a room with very strange functionality. Usually it stores things that people do not use. You can continue to store junk that no one needs, or you can clear the pantry from it and use it. Creating a mini-study in this room is not easy, but it is quite possible. Try to use the entire height of the pantry as much as possible to unload your work surface. Do you often use the printer? Do not put it on the table, but lift it on the shelf. This way you save space, but also leave the printer within reach.

A great option for using storage space is hanging fixtures, on which you can arrange the things you need.

Try to use light colors in the decoration of the workspace at home in the pantry, as they visually expand and enlarge the space. Avoid bright colors, patterns, and lots of different materials.

Particular attention should be paid when designing such a workplace. There is no window in the pantry, so there will be no natural light either. Try to place the lamp above the work area, and not on the ceiling. In order not to take up useful desktop space, attach the lamp to the wall or build it into a shelf above the table. The light source should be either directly above the workplace, or on the left side. Choose a light bulb with the right brightness. Remember that cold white light is more attuned to the working mood, but more tiring.

Workplace at home on the windowsill

This version of the design of the workplace is very common, because it is easy to implement. If in your home, then you just need to buy a suitable office chair and place a rack or cabinet next to the workplace. If there is a battery under the windowsill, then it is best to move it, as it will prevent you from being comfortable.

In many modern homes, window sills are narrow and do not allow them to be used as a work surface. There is a simple way out of this situation - to visually extend the window sill, replacing it with a countertop. You can fix the tabletop against the side walls. If the window sill is very long, then you will need another attachment point in the middle. This role can be assumed by the curbstone. Thus, you will get not one, but two whole jobs. Above the window and next to it, you can place several shelves for storing documents. The advantage of such a workplace is in natural light and a pleasant view outside the window.

Workplace at home: ideas

You can arrange a workplace at home without having a balcony or a pantry. Proceed from the possibilities of your apartment. If you have a niche in the wall, then use it. If the room is disproportionately narrow, then block one of the sides so as to get a small study room and give the second room the correct shape.

In a spacious and wide room, you can create a niche yourself by placing your workplace between two cabinets. If you like appearance closet, then you can decorate your workplace even in it! Your working day will not begin with a long trip by transport, but with the turn of the key. And it will end with them.

It is worth noting that for fruitful work at home you will need endurance and self-organization. Therefore, try to equip the workplace at home with everything you need so that you do not have to leave it.

Workplace at home - photo

The modern pace of life is sometimes difficult for even the most progressive and hardy of us, so offices and mini-offices within the walls of our own home are becoming a frequent occurrence. The workplace, equipped in an apartment or house, makes it possible to organize an acceptable schedule and not waste time on the road under the motto "home-work-home".

About how to create Better conditions for freelance activities at home or to organize an office in the city center, we will describe further, pointing out common mistakes in the design of the work area.

Errors and solutions

Wrong fit

First of all, when arranging an office or workplace at home, you should not place the table in such a way that the window remains behind the seated person, especially if it is alone in the room. Periodically, you will need to look at the view behind the glass to relieve eye strain and just get a little distracted.

Right:

It is better to install a full-fledged desk perpendicular to the window: this way you will be provided with a free view of the landscape outside the window, as well as watching the entrance to the room in order to feel comfortable.

Enhanced brightness

Quite often, an area near the window in the kitchen, living room or bedroom is allocated for a home office, placing the table close to the windowsill. We have nothing against such a decision, but if you work with a computer, you should not place its monitor parallel to the window. So, intense daylight and the brightness of the screen on, will inevitably lead to a feeling of heaviness and tension in the eyeball.

Right:

If it is not possible to select another, less lit area for the table with the monitor, simply turn the latter perpendicular to the window. This simple action will significantly reduce eye strain, in addition, you can cover curtains or blinds while working with a computer in the daytime.

Snow-white interior

It is undesirable to use white color in large quantities in the design of the office, because it will create the same effect as in the case of a monitor opposite the window. The intense light that surrounds you throughout the working day is tiring, in addition, white has the ability to reflexively reflect other colors and sunlight. That is, if, for example, the sun is shining outside the window, then it will be very difficult to work in a white office, and when it is raining outside, the space will seem cold and dull.

Right:

Use White color provided that the cabinet is made in a warm natural palette: woody, herbal, black and brown, terracotta and sand colors. So, snow-white accents will not harm, but will only create a more solemn and light atmosphere.

visual void

Boring walls, dull colors, simple geometric shapes - this is the scourge of most urban office spaces. In such conditions, it is quite difficult to work productively without falling into apathy and despondency.

Right:

Remote work today makes it possible to plan your schedule more flexibly and make adjustments to the established image of the average office. At home, it is possible to adapt the workplace to personal needs and habits, so you should not ignore such a privilege. For example, you can decorate the walls with paintings depicting landscapes in a natural range of shades (these will help your eyes relax during a break), black and white photographs (they do not distract from work and advantageously complement the interior). We also recommend using lamps and decor in the design. unusual shape and texture, pleasant to the touch.

Not an ergonomic chair

Poor perseverance can develop for quite a prosaic reason, for example, due to hard, deep, too low or high sitting.

Right:

The right piece of furniture for sitting at a desk is a chair with a back slightly tilted back. The feet of the seated person should freely touch the floor, the legs should be bent at an angle of 90 degrees, and the back should be leaning against the back.

Keep in mind that the seller of the furniture store may not tell you this, but there are different types of chairs: some will be comfortable for men, others are suitable for women, due to differences in the location of the centers of gravity

Lack of local lighting

A workplace or a table in a separate office cannot do without additional lighting, because quite often you have to work in the evening. So, the light from the monitor will obviously not be enough to see the characters on the keyboard, or write down the necessary information in a notebook.

Right:

Coming to work at dusk, or succumbing to creativity at dawn, is a little easier if the home office is equipped with a table lamp or an architect's lamp.

No storage sections

It is difficult to maintain order in the workplace if the table is hidden under a pile of papers, and boxes with folders, stationery and other accessories are scattered under your feet. A significant disadvantage in the design of the workplace is the lack of space to accommodate the most necessary things in the work.

Right:

If you do not want to clutter up the space with cabinets, cabinets and other heavy furniture, you can attach several shelves along the wall above the table, on the sides of it, and even under the tabletop. This will help organize the work area, and just make it more tidy.

dilapidated furniture

When it comes to furnishing a home workplace, many people make the same mistake, using furniture that was used and borrowed from neighbors, bought at a flea market, or brought from a city office. It is good if these items are vintage, in excellent condition, made of durable materials. Worse, when an office is formed from a wobbly table and chair, broken drawers and pencil cases without handles, in the hope of soon replacing old items with new ones. As a rule, this “soon” does not come for a long time, and you suffer from your own short-sightedness.

Right:

The choice of home office furniture must be approached carefully, and even if it is not new, it must be tested for strength and quality so that later you do not regret the money spent and the time spent searching for items.

An excess of colors

Beautiful cheerful colors energize and inspire you to work harder and yet, the office does not need to be oversaturated with flashy colors. Some of them are too active (yellow, red, fuchsia) and make it difficult to focus on the main tasks.

Right:

If you apply bright combinations correctly, they will not only not hurt, but will help restore strength during a work break. So, you should not place bright color spots on the desktop and the wall in front of it: it will be difficult to focus on something else. It is better if the color finds use in the upholstery of the chair you are sitting on, on the rug under your feet, on the wall behind you.

cold floor

Being in a sitting position for a long time, we lose flexibility, quickly freeze and get tired. These discomforts can be exacerbated if there is tiled flooring or other floor material that is cold to the touch underfoot.

Right:

You are not ready to replace the coating or use a warm floor system, but it will not be superfluous to lay a soft and warm rug, fur bedding or mat.