4 Work Habits That Kill Productivity and How to Break Them

The modern workplace is full of productivity traps. Open layouts look nice but cause distractions. Cubicles offer privacy, but discomfort pulls workers’ minds away from tasks at hand. And chairs are more comfortable than ever, but sitting in them for long stretches can harm health, wellness, and focus.

When you need to promote productivity in the workplace, start by examining what causes discomfort, stress, and distraction, and adjust from there. Even small changes can make a big difference. In this blog, we’ll share four tips that can help increase productivity in your office.

4 Productivity-Boosting Changes You Can Make Today

Eliminating pain, discomfort, and barriers to efficient work are the first and most critical steps to increase your team’s productivity.

1. Correct Bad Posture

Good posture is more than simply sitting up straight (although that will certainly help!). Poor posture happens anytime the body gets forced into unnatural positions that increase unnecessary strain. The resulting complications can cost your company time and money, not to mention leaving your employees in physical discomfort. Back pain alone costs companies $7 billion a year in workdays and lost productivity, and this pain epidemic largely stems from our bad posture and sedentary work lifestyle.

Correcting poor posture leads to reduced pain, which in turn increases workplace happiness and productivity. One proven solution is to outfit your office with height adjustable desks, which let employees dial in their posture so they can avoid fatigue

2. Avoid the Pitfalls of Sedentary Life by Staying Active Throughout the Day

The average office worker sits for 15 hours a day between work and free time. This excessive amount of sedentary time has led some health experts to call sitting “the new smoking.” Height adjustable desks can help cut down on sitting time, but you also need to help your employees do more.

Make sure your office policies encourage employees to move, whether it’s hiring an instructor for lunchtime yoga classes or organizing group walks in the afternoon. You can even explore active workstations, such as treadmill walking desks or bike-style pedaling desks, for employees who are interested in fighting inactivity for the long haul.

3. Increase Access to Collaborative Workspaces

Open offices are popular these days, but studies have indicated that they don’t actually encourage that much collaboration. In fact, compared to workers in traditional offices, coworkers in open layout offices are actually more likely to send each other emails and messages and less likely to gather and collaborate on projects. This habit of messaging instead of investing in collaborative worktime impedes productivity and creativity.

The solution? Your office needs a designated space, like a multipurpose room, that’s designed specifically for collaboration and creativity. You shouldn’t try and design this space in a way that directs how employees use it; instead, make it an inviting area full of possibilities and different uses. Workers will naturally gravitate there, and collaboration will follow.

4. Maintain Private Workspaces

Formerly lauded as the future of office work, open offices can’t catch a break lately. Research has indicated that they stifle creativity and productivity by depriving workers of the privacy they need. While we’re not ready to call for a return to cubicle farms just yet, a more functional approach is in order. Designated collaboration rooms for smaller teams, divided spaces, and even privacy screens for desks can all help create a sense of privacy and calm at work.

RELATED: Use Ergonomics to Get More Comfortable at Work

ZGO Solutions: Helping You Create Beautiful, Productive Office Spaces

No matter your office configuration, ZGO Solutions has a desk or workspace solution that can introduce movement, flexibility, and opportunities for collaboration. From single desks to thoughtfully designed benching solutions, you can customize your workstations to meet your employees’ needs.

If you’re interested in implementing the suggestions we’ve provided in this article, explore our Harbor collection. Our most comprehensive and versatile collection, the Harbor family of products includes both cost-effective and intelligent performing configurations depending on the needs of your organization. The Harbor collection includes both freestanding and benching solutions that allow for privacy-preserving screens, so desks from this collection function equally well in collaborative areas or private spaces.

Want to learn more about how a reimagined workspace can cut down on distractions and increase productivity in your office? Contact us today by filling out our simple online contact form and someone from the ZGO team will follow up with you shortly.

References

Akpan, N., & Griffin, J. (2018, July 27). Here’s proof that open office layouts don’t work, and how to fix them. PBS News Hour. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/heres-proof-that-open-office-layouts-dont-work-and-how-to-fix-them

Leech, J. (2019, June 19). Is sitting too much bad for your health? Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-sitting-is-bad-for-you

Valentic, S. (2017, January 26). Bad posture leads to a decrease in productivity. EHS Today. Retrieved from https://www.ehstoday.com/health/article/21918319/bad-posture-habits-lead-to-a-decrease-in-productivity