5 tips on encouraging good habits in your office interiors

During the heat of a working day, it can be easy to get lost in what we’re currently doing; even if it means we forgo the things we usually do. Whether that’s not taking any breaks due to the need to finish up on a project, getting something ‘quick’ for lunch as we’re in a rush or sitting in the exact same position for hours on end; these single incidences can easily turn into habits that will affect us in the long term.

As a provider of bespoke office interiors, many of our previous clients have cited the need to encourage ‘good habits’ as one of the reasons they’re looking to refresh their workplaces. Sadly, many of these ‘bad habits’ are prevalent in offices and will go on to affect an employee’s health and wellbeing and by extension, the work they produce.

If you run your own business, then you’ll know just how important it is to have your employees feeling happy and content. By taking a few simple steps, either by introducing new initiatives within the office or thinking about using the space better, you can help them to avoid picking up bad habits and instead, set them on the path to workplace fulfilment.

The habits you should consider introducing in your office interiors

Without further ado, here are some office habits you should encourage your employees to do:

1. Bringing own lunch to work.

Instead of settling on ‘something quick’ during a busy day, employees bringing their own prepared food means that they took the time to think about what they’re eating. More often than not, with time to think, the meal they chose to prepare will be a healthy option. If your office interiors contain a serviceable kitchen area or break room, this will provide them with everything they need to create their own healthier meals.

2. Encourage healthy snacking.

On a similar theme, it can be too easy to reach for the sugary snacks in search of an energy boost (especially during particularly stressful days). Instead of them reaching for the umpteenth chocolate bar of the week, why not stress the benefits that healthier snacks, such as a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts or a low-fat yoghurt has? Many businesses will even lay on such snacks in a drive to encourage their employees to ditch sinful snacking; healthier bodies will mean healthier minds, so the business will ultimately benefit.

3. Emphasise the importance of taking breaks.

It’s easy when we’re so focused on work, just to stay in the same spot for the entirety of the day. Whilst this is good to get the work done, if it persists over a long period of time it will eventually lead to stress and perhaps physical injury. Then no work will get done at all.

You should advise your employees to move more whilst they’re sat down; a little stretching, flexing and position readjustment will help with blood circulation and will place less strain on any muscles that are having to work hard. Standing up can be a big help too; this is precisely the reason why standing desks are a growing trend in the business world.

Sitting on the same chair at a computer screen for much of the day is also potentially harmful to our vision; staring at the same thing for hours on end will lead to dry and irritated eyes, which affects our mood, energy and productivity. You should advise your employees to take regular breaks from their screens every hour or two. Whether that’s through taking a walk around the office interiors to chat with someone about the project, making a cup of tea in the kitchen or relaxing for 10 minutes in the breakout room; getting away from the screen for a while will help them to refocus and carry on working without any kind of irritation affecting them.

4. Battle stress.

Another great reason to take breaks is to combat stress. We all approach work with the best intentions but sometimes it can be a struggle for us to focus on the task at hand and we lose our way. Being lost will lead to worry – and worry leads to stress. Such situations will not help anything, so establishing an environment away from the stressful work arena (such as quiet rooms, a breakout room, a cafe etc), will help anyone struggling to find their way to take time out, relax and re-align their thoughts. It’s likely that they will return to work feeling better and even if they do not, they can at least arrange to speak to someone about their worries in this more informal environment.

It isn’t just breaks that businesses use to cut down on stress in the workplace; many introduce facilities for employees to take advantage of the Wi-Fi to work outside, some will arrange for exercise classes that are designed to refocus the mind (yoga/pilates/meditation). Others use their office interiors to arrange for social functions or teambuilding exercises, designed to allow employees to build camaraderie that will make them feel at ease to ask for help whenever they may need it.

5. Underline that with an organised desk, comes an organised mind.

We’ll leave probably the most common bad workplace habit till last; the organisation and cleanliness of one’s desk! With the sheer pace of work sometimes, it can be easy to let a desk get messy; files and papers flung everywhere, certain tools not correctly packed away, food and drink positioned perilously...it can be easy to lose things, not find them or to mess them up completely. By encouraging/making the time in the day for employees to better organise their desks, they will avoid falling into such habits. Introduce desks with built-in storage facilities, create tea points for them to brew up, give them access to waste/recycling bins to clear things away. If you don’t have any of these facilities currently, why not think about making an investment? If it helps your employees, it will help your business and therefore, it will be an extremely wise investment.

Improve your office fit out with us

If you’re looking to create a workspace that can help your employees with any of the points we’ve made in this blog, why not get in touch with our office fitters to learn more about how we can help?

Our office design service comes with a completely FREE, no obligation consultation service that learns your requirements and the set-up of your office space and turns them into 2-D and 3-D designs for you to evaluate. This gives you the ideal opportunity to see what your ideal office fit out looks like before you even spend a single penny!

To learn more, please do not hesitate to give our team a call on 0345 21 86955 or send an e-mail to us at hello@oaktreeoffice.com

5 Tips On Encouraging Good Habits In Your Office Interiors