The three distinct categories of well-being – cognitive, emotional and physical – each play a critical role in our overall health. Image © RDG Planning & Design.
From lighting to storage to decorating, there are literally thousands of articles with information on how to create the ultimate home office.
This is not one of those articles.
As a workplace strategist, I work with companies to help them create spaces to fit and (if necessary) transform the culture of their organizations. For years, designers have been studying and applying best practices for something called the distributed work model, an organizational approach in which a team of co-workers is dispersed throughout an open office plan rather than being assigned to one desk. This approach allows individuals to select the space that best meets their needs for any given task throughout the day. Does this sound familiar to you?
Now, amid the COVID-19 virus pandemic, many in the U.S. are working in a landscape that has taken the distributed work model and expanded it to a local, regional, even national scale. Instead of opting to sit in the office café to tackle emails, we’re now sitting in our own kitchens, dining rooms, and home offices. We’re working during unique hours to keep up with the care of loved ones. We’re working – and we’re certainly distributed.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the countless strategies and tips on ways to maintain productivity in this new working environment. I prefer to focus on the reason we’re all working from home in the first place: our health and well-being. Very few U.S. workers have studied the standards of ergonomics; yet, under normal circumstances, many have the advantage of working in a space that has been thoughtfully designed and constructed to meet their unique ergonomic needs. Now as we observe physical distancing, we’re all having to adapt to our new normal of the home-office. No one knows with certainty how long it will be until we can venture back to our professionally designed offices; in the interim, however, we can look at ways to create workspaces that serve us now and also for the long term. Doing so will help you not only stay engaged and productive, but you’ll feel better too.
Many researchers break well-being up into three categories: cognitive, emotional, and physical. Each plays a critical and distinct role in our overall health. Let’s look at each of these and what steps you can take to enhance your cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being while working from home.
For Your Cognitive Health: Bring Nature In and Give Yourself a Break
When choosing a spot to work for the day, consider biophilic design. Biophilic design is a strategy used in the building industry to respond to the innate connection that humans have to the natural environment. Because Americans spend about 90 percent of our lives indoors, it’s important to be purposeful about introducing nature into your space. Engaging with natural materials, organic patterns, and allowing yourself views to the outdoors and natural daylight patterns can help you re-energize, increase productivity, and promote alertness.