Designed to produce: How to create the best workspace

Look to the light

If you've worked in an office building, you've probably spent a lot of time under glaring, industrial fluorescent lights. But science shows that lighting can have a major impact on productivity. If you work at home, you can choose the best lighting for your workspace, but even if you work in an office, you can tweak the lighting in your workspace to improve not only productivity but also your health.

Another lighting strategy that could yield better productivity is using blue light that put out shorter-wavelength blue hues that provide a natural wakening effect and could help improve performance on important tasks. With any lighting choice, it's important to make sure to limit glare that can be hard the eyes, ultimately decreasing productivity.

Create color

The psychology of color has been used in marketing for decades. Restaurants look for appetite-stimulating colors to use in their décor like yellow and red. Therapy offices and hospitals often look to calming blue hues.

So what colors are best for increasing productivity in the workplace? A University of Texas study took an extensive look at the effect of color on performance in the workplace and found that the plain white and beige palate often used in traditional office buildings induce feelings of sadness and depression. Colors abundant in nature, like blues and greens were found to improve focus and efficiency. Not surprisingly, red is associated with urgency and intensity, and yellow is often associated with energy and creativity.

Tweak the temperature

Sweating it out in a too-hot office or suffering in a tooth-chattering cold office are clearly limiting factors when it comes to productivity. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, workplace performance increases with temperature increases up to a point — 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit. At colder temperatures, workers made more errors and functioned more slowly.

If you are able to, set your temperature at the optimal 71.6 degrees (or a temperature where your own personal productivity is at its best). But if you share an office space or can't control the temperature in your work environment, dress in layers or have a sweater handy so you can regulate your own temperature.

Bring the outside in

Office and workspaces in many cases are the exact opposite of being out in nature. But research shows that bringing some of that outside indoors can help boost productivity. Adding plants to your office or workspace can increased productivity by as much as 15 percent, the research found. Having plants in the work environment is associated with better air quality, higher levels of concentration, lower absenteeism and increased workplace satisfaction.

Office plants that are ideal workplace companions include Philodendrons, ferns and succulents.

Get comfortable

Nothing will derail productivity like being uncomfortable, whether it's a chair that leads to back pain or computer keyboard that causes achy fingers and hands. Making sure you have the right equipment to do your job functions comfortably will have a dramatic impact on your level of productivity.

Improving your office comfort may be as simple as making sure your chair is adjusted properly so you are at eye level with your computer monitor. Or it might mean investing in a different keyboard or mouse, or even a sit/stand desk. Ergonomics Plus lists a variety of workspace modifications that can improve workplace comfort along with ideas about actions you can take to improve physical comfort in the office, like taking breaks and doing stretches.

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