November 10th, 2011
by Jennie Jacobs
Do you ever begin the process of working on a project to later become so seriously distracted by your disaster of a workspace that you just give up?
Yep, it happens to us all.
I am a firm believer in the power of the mind and that the physical can affect us in a multitude of ways. The state of our physical bodies and physical spaces can have great impact on our thoughts and in turn our behavior. And, no, I did not just make this up. Feng Shui is a great example of this same exact philosophy (and it’s been around a really long time). The idea is simple: spaces affect and reflect our physical, mental and emotional states of being.
This lesson in the mind and space connection should not be swept under the rug (nudge, nudge). It applies to every aspect of our lives including the world of business and marketing. Clean and clutter free work spaces (that includes your computer hard drive, people!) can increase productivity and creativity because your mind is given the chance to focus on the important things, not just the dust bunnies swirling around your monitor.
So take this nugget of wisdom and mull it over a moment:
Put your space in order to regain clarity, rather than trying to order and control your thoughts in an unordered, unorganized, messy space.
Wow. Makes sense right?
I put myself to the test. Feeling overwhelmed and scattered this week I decided to spruce my workspace up a bit. It all began with an image my sister posted to my Facebook wall calling me to action:
“Make your office look like this!” my sister exclaimed. I gave it my best shot in the ten minutes I had available.
The Before Shot:
The after shot:
In the time I had, I made my space feel open, happy and clean, with a dose of creative inspiration taped up to the wall, resulting in the perfect blank canvas for my mind to get working. I challenge all of the Healthy Marketing Advice blog readers to this clean space, clean mind challenge and I would love to know if you felt a shift in your thinking afterward.
On a closing note, I wanted to share some images of beautiful and inspirational work environments I found online via Pintrest and Office Snap Shots.
Liz Grady
(November 12th, 2011 at 9:36 am)
I couldn’t agrees with you more. An organized work space is a happy workspace.
Also, I constantly go through my computer, deleting and better organizing my files.
I don’t think I could work with a cluttered computer or workspace. I’m distracted and occasionally overwhelmed as it is, at least those 2 things I have control over.
Thanks for a great article.
Jennie Jacobs
(November 14th, 2011 at 12:04 pm)
Thanks for the comment Liz!
I think continual organization of computer files is so important. Just like our physical desks, a clean and organized desktop (computer) can increase productivity by getting rid of distractions and making it easier to find what you need! When I was tutoring students I always advised them to think of their hard drive as a filing cabinet and to think about where they were saving files and placing folders. You wouldn’t put tax documents in your recipe folder, right? But you would be amazed at where my students were saving their stuff and then forgetting where they saved it! It was a waste of time and stressful for most of them.
Thanks for reading!