We've all been there. You arrive at work ready to get on with your latest design or write a 1000-word article to impress your manager, you sit down, and…nothing. You're having a complete mind blank when it comes to creativity.
Whether you work from home or in an office one thing is true - your office environment has a bigger impact than you probably think on how much you get done and the quality of that work.
Not only does your office environment dictate how comfortable you are, but you can also adjust it to be tidier and to have more inspiration around in the form of posters, quotes, and data. All of these support not just your productivity, but your creativity, too!
If you feel like your creativity is suffering, rather than beating yourself up or doubting your own skillset, look to your office environment.
Without you realising, your place of work may have been stale, boring, and uninviting - an environment that's not at all conducive to coming up with the 'next big thing'.
With that in mind, let's explore how to create an office environment that inspires creativity in just six easy steps.
1. Make it Accessible
If you run an office where employees come to work, it should be as inclusive as possible to everybody, no matter their needs. While this might sound unrelated to creativity, it's actually a must if you want to make sure you're getting the best ideas out of your employees.
Purchasing a height adjustable desk can support wheelchair users by allowing them to adjust their desk until it can comfortably fit a wheelchair underneath. Similarly, make sure the bathrooms are inclusive as possible, with enough space to fit a wheelchair and handles to help people manoeuvre themselves.
If you have any disabled or neurodivergent employees, ask them what changes you could make to the space to make it more inclusive for them.
2. Prioritise Comfort
Being comfortable is seriously underrated. All too often, people set up their home office or workspace to be stylish, but forget about the substance. The reality is, office furniture can be both comfortable and stylish.
By prioritising comfort, you make your work environment a more pleasant space to spend time in. The more comfortable and happy you or your employees are, the more likely it is for good ideas to be flowing.
One easy way of making the space more comfortable is by investing in the right furniture. A height adjustable desk allows users to change the height of the desk to one that suits them better.
When looking for an office chair, it's also worth considering how you can make a choice that helps everyone feel more comfortable. Consider an ergonomic chair, which is specially designed to make sure everything is in proportion and allows you to work in a way that doesn't impact your posture.
3. Set Up Collaborative Spaces
Creativity often works best when people work together to create something new. Unfortunately, not all workplaces are set up for collaboration. To help creativity flow through your workplace, set up collaborative spaces, such as circular tables and chairs or booths where a couple of co-workers can go to chat about plans in private.
4. Use the Walls
Are you spending your days working in a dull, colourless space with no inspiring images on the wall? Then it's no wonder your creativity is waning!
Instead of having bare walls, fill them with images of marketing campaigns or products you want to emulate, positive quotes, and previous successes to spur you on.
5. De-clutter
'Tidy room, tidy mind' is a popular refrain - and for good reason. When our space is messy, cluttered, and disorganised, it's not only unpleasant on the eyes, but can also make it genuinely harder and more time-consuming to carry out activities.
If you want to design something new for a client but you can't find the stylus you use for your tablet, it will obviously take you longer to get creative. To combat clutter, schedule a weekly de-clutter and get rid of anything taking up space that you don't actually use by recycling it or selling it.
6. Get the Creative Juices Flowing
Would you believe that exercise actually helps with creativity? The problem is, when we're at work in an office we tend to spend most of our time sitting, which doesn't exactly count as movement. That's where standing desks come in.
With the help of a standing desk, you can transform your sedentary working day into an opportunity to get moving, by placing a treadmill under the desk and using it to get your steps in throughout the day and get the blood flowing to your brain.
